We are heading into months of the WGA Strike and weeks of the SAG-AFTRA strike, and Hollywood is beginning to shake in their boots, so much so that one major studio is debating sitting out the rest of 2023.
In a new report from Variety, Warner Bros. Film Group is looking to move some of its biggest releases, including Dune: Part Two, The Color Purple, and the already long-delayed Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Per the SAG-AFTRA strike rules, actors cannot promote past or future work made and released by struck companies; that would include any of these upcoming films, and some would be dependent on heavy promotion from its star-studded casts.
Variety notes that the Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya tentpole would go to next year from its November 3rd release date. An insider notes Dune Part Two “is a co-production with Legendary Entertainment, and both parties must agree on a new release date,” adding, “Legendary has yet to be approached by WB about a move.”
Warner Bros. will also reportedly look for new dates for the movie musical The Color Purple, as well as the DC Studios sequel Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom – the latter has already been delayed quite a few times from its original 2022 release date to the end of 2023.
Another source close to the situation tells Variety, “ Warner Bros. said that releases are moving forward as originally planned and no formal discussions have been had, but noted that the duration of the union battles are completely unpredictable.”
Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment have so far declined to comment on the matter.
