The Latest Date Changes 2: The New Batch

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Universal is already planning a sequel to M3gan solely on TikTok views for the trailer, ignoring that getting a lot of views doesn't always mean box office success (see Breakthrough a few years back).

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Alien: Romulus will be a Hulu exclusive. I have to wonder if it will set up the planned streaming series or if that's been officially shelved in favor of more movies.

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Tubi has picked up Bed Rest. I was sure Paramount+ would take it as a tie-in with Scream 6.

In other news, TV vet Yann Demange will be the new director of Blade. As Disney passed on Mahershala Ali's choice of Elegance Bratton due to some meetings that didn't go well, I wonder if Ali's off the project as he'd had issues with the script in addition to issues with the choice of director.

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New dates:

Marlowe 2/3/2023 (from 12/2/2022)
Mummies (Spanish-produced animated film picked up by Warner Bros.) 2/24/2023

Meanwhile, it looks like The Inspection will expand wide on December 2nd.

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Looks like Fear is indeed being released. The ad campaign has begun with a listed January 27th date.

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There's a rumor now going that Apple might be interested in buying a major studio, first Warner Bros. and now Disney. I don't think Disney will happen until Disney is willing to divest Pixar but Warner Bros. could very well fall apart in the next few years and Apple gets them in a bankruptcy auction.

Currently, I could see Apple making an offer for A24 or a major independent in anticipation of going after a studio.

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It looks like even the non-sequel projects at Warner Bros. will have sequels. Kevin Costner's undated Horizon is set to be the first of four films.

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After the last Scream decided against being called Scream 5, the sixth entry will officially be going with Roman numerals. I could easily see part of the m forming the VI if Paramount wanted to have fun with the title font.

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Legendary has entered a pact with Sony to distribute their upcoming titles.

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I have to imagine a lot of those titles are going to end up being Stage 6 titles that either only get theatrical releases to meet guild requirements or go to other distributors with Sony retaining post-theatrical. The titles that aren't staying with Warner Bros. won't be hits and might have been better off as streaming titles.

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Channing Tatum returns to the action comedy sub-genre with Red Shirt, which has just been picked up by Amazon. Tran should love it, as it's going to be David Leitch's next film after The Fall Guy.

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When You Finish Saving the World opens on January 20th, pretty much looking like a dump by A24.

Speaking of A24, it looks like they've either canceled or delayed the wide expansion of The Inspection. It seemed like an odd choice to expand wide, as it's a rather small film.

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Paul Thomas Anderson is apparently working on a martial arts film, as he's taking casting calls for teenage actresses with martial arts experience for the lead role. Maybe this is an apology for Licorice Pizza?

Meanwhile, Crunchyroll has an untitled film scheduled for Valentine's Day, which is supposedly the new film from Makoto Shinkai, Suzume's Door Locking. However, an English voice cast has not been announced yet and Crunchyroll usually releases Japanese and English language versions of their films simultaneously.

Lastly, Women Talking will now expand wide on January 6th.

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Lionsgate will open The Blackening on 6/16/2023. The date was picked with Juneteenth in mind, making it the first wide release to do so.

Meanwhile, anyone remember when Neuromancer was going to get adapted into a film but never did as the rights holders are a pair of very shady domain squatters? Well, Apple is now planning to adapt it into a miniseries with Miles Teller starring. I'll believe it when I see footage.

Speaking of Teller, Paramount is reissuing Top Gun: Maverick this weekend as part of an Oscar campaign that shouldn't even exist but only does because 2022 was a weak year for Hollywood and the industry loves fetishizing the military (also, the Academy refuses to acknowledge the US is no longer the biggest country for quality cinema, leading them to latch onto films that had mixed critical response such as Elvis as top awards contenders). This will also its last weeks reporting box office as Maverick will hit Paramount+ in time for Christmas.

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MGM is rumored to be killing Orion again. I guess streaming isn't even safe for movies not aimed solely towards angry white men.

Meanwhile, an unauthorized horror version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas called The Mean One is getting a semi-wide release on December 9th. How is it that something like this can be released but The People's Joker gets cease-and-desisted into oblivion?