‘The Batman’ Swings to 2022

The re-shuffling of the deck at Warner Bros. continues. The same day the studio announces the move of Denis Villaneuve’s remake of Dune to October 21, 2021 (here, in case you missed it), the WB movie that already was holding that date, The Batman, has now been shifted to March 4, 2022, according to Variety.

It’s been a tumultuous few months for the studio, with the forced rescheduling of Wonder Woman 1984, the much-publicized shutdown of production on The Batman after star Robert Pattinson tested positive for COVID-19, and the less-than-successful theaters-only release of Tenet, a film that an entire industry was viewing as the canary in the coal mine to measure the public’s willingness to go back to the theaters. In light of Tenet’s disappointing results, WB is now looking to Wonder Woman 1984, which is now set for a Christmas Day opening, to save their year.

As for The Batman, there was already enough pressure on Warner Bros.’ latest incarnation of the beloved DC property, directed by Matt Reeves, and with Pattinson now donning the famous cowl as the Caped Crusader. WB is looking to build on the recent successes of Wonder Woman and Aquaman to reinvigorate the DC Comics Film universe.

Other Warner Bros. moves made today were director Lana Wachowski’s sequel Matrix 4, which has been moved up to December 22, 2021, The Flash moving to November 4, 2022 and Shazam 2 to June 2, 2023.