The spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus across the world has resulted in Hollywood needing to adjust its plans accordingly. Not only are movies that were set to hit theaters soon being delayed, but various productions have also had to press pause for the foreseeable future. However, Warner Bros has decided that it’s going to be moving ahead with shooting some of its upcoming movies.
This update comes from Variety reporter Justin Kroll, who shared on Twitter that he’s heard that The Batman, The Matrix 4, King Richard and Fantastic Beasts 3, all of which are either filming or about begin doing so, will proceed ahead with production. It’s possible that Warner Bros could change its mind on any of these productions, as this is a very fluid situation, but for now, those four movies are chugging along as scheduled.
The Warner Bros news came shortly after Disney announced that it was suspending production on many of its live-action movies, including The Little Mermaid and Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings. Movies from other studios that have delayed production include Mission: Impossible 7 and Elvis, with the latter being halted due to star Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson testing positive for the coronavirus.
Assuming those four Warner Bros movies continue their productions unimpeded, one would imagine they’ll still all come out on their current release dates. Right now, King Richard is set to arrive first on November 25, followed by The Matrix 4 on May 21, 2021, The Batman on June 25, 2021 and Fantastic Beasts 3 on November 12, 2021.
As for upcoming Warner Bros movies like The Suicide Squad, The Little Things and Reminisce, they’ve already finished principal photography and are in the midst of postproduction. That’s not to say these three movies couldn’t still find themselves being hindered by how the coronavirus is shaking up the film industry, but at least they already have footage ready to be cut and edited.
Then there are movies that are still a ways off from principal photography, like Shazam! 2, Black Adam and Aquaman 2. Those first two DC movies won’t roll cameras until this summer, while the return of Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry won’t shoot until next year, but that doesn’t guarantee that they still won’t be impacted in the long run.
King Richard, starring Will Smith, is currently filming in Los Angeles, while The Matrix 4, which will bring back Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss and a few other familiar faces amongst a large cast of brand-new characters, is filming San Francisco, with cameras also set to roll in Germany and Chicago. Across the pond, we have the Robert Pattinson-led The Batman filming across England, while Fantastic Beasts 3 will film in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the film and TV industries. For now, you can keep track of the movies that are still coming out this year as planned in our 2020 release schedule.
