Warner Bros. has made several changes to its release slate, include setting a date for its upcoming film adaptation of “Minecraft” and a small holiday swap between “The Color Purple” and DC’s “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”
“Aquaman 2,” which was previously set for Christmas Day, will now be released on Wednesday, Dec. 20 while “The Color Purple” takes the spot on Christmas Day, which this year falls on a Monday.
The move will give the DC blockbuster extra time in the days leading up to Christmas weekend to build up word-of-mouth and potentially leg out through the holiday season. The first “Aquaman” did this to great success in December 2018, turning a $67.8 million domestic opening weekend into a $335 million domestic total and $1.14 billion worldwide.
The move will also put “Aquaman 2” head-to-head against Sony’s sequel to “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” a film which made $129.3 million domestically in November 2021. On the weekend prior, Warner Bros. is also set to release the musical “Wonka” starring Timothee Chalamet as Roald Dahl’s famed chocolatier, while Universal will release the Illumination film “Migration” on Dec. 22.
Warner has also set “The Wise Guys,” directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert De Niro, for release on Feb. 2, 2024, taking the spot of a “Wizard of Oz” spinoff called “Toto,” which has now been pulled from the slate. “Minecraft,” which will star Jason Momoa, is set for release on April 4, 2025.
“The Wise Guys” will star De Niro as not one but two famous mob bosses: Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, with Debra Messing and Kathrine Narducci playing their wives. The film is notable for being the first project greenlit by Warner Bros.’ new film group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
