Warner Bros
NEW YORK —
Warner Bros. on Tuesday delayed the summer release of “Wonder Woman 1984” and removed the adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” from its schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With much of Hollywood’s spring release calendar already vacated due to the virus, major summer movies are also increasingly reshuffling. “Wonder Woman 1984,” the sequel to 2017’s “Wonder Woman,” will now hit theaters on Aug. 14 instead of June 5.
“In the Heights,” directed by “Crazy Rich Asians” filmmaker Jon M. Chu, had been slated for June 26 but now isn’t dated for release. Miranda, in a recent livestream interview with Rosie O’Donnell, said the score was being recorded when post-production work slowed due to the outbreak.
“There’s a lot that remains to be done on that movie,” said Miranda. “We were finishing the score and the mixing and just getting the music exactly right.”
The studio also took several other films off its release schedule including the “Scooby-Doo” movie “Scoob,” previously planned for May 15, and the James Wan thriller “Malignant,” previously set for Aug. 14.
Several likely spring and summer blockbusters have already been delayed, including Marvel’s “Black Widow” (previously May 1, now unscheduled); the “Fast and Furious” movie “F9,” (now slated for 2021); the Bond movie “No Time to Die” (moved to November); and “A Quiet Place Part II” (not currently dated).
While some recent releases have moved to streaming platforms or on-demand with theaters closed, Hollywood’s top productions have opted to wait until they can play in cinemas.
“We made ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ for the big screen and I believe in the power of cinema,” director Patty Jenkins said on Twitter. “In these terrible times, when theater owners are struggling as so many are, we are excited to re-date our film to August 14th, 2020, in a theater near you, and pray for better times for all by then.”