Aside from “Scream,” major studio films have essentially abandoned January this year. February sees two action tentpoles (“Uncharted,” “Moonfall”), a mid-budget mystery (“Death on the Nile”) and several films targeting select audiences.
The biggest tentpole film of the first quarter however is Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” which is currently slated to open on March 4th. With so many other events having been cancelled or delayed, there’s the obvious question as to whether Warner Bros. will follow suit with that film.
Speaking with Puck News, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar says the film is still on track for that date despite the omicron variant surge:
“We’re certainly paying attention to everything going on with omicron. We feel good about the date right now. We’re gonna watch it day by day.”
The film has an exclusive 45-day theatrical window, marking the first major Warners title not to simultaneously stream on HBO Max after a year of releases that went day-and-date.
Kilar says the studio “took understandable heat from a number of people” for that decision, but is paid off with HBO Max beating forecasts and ending 2021 with 73.8 million subscribers.
He’s also quite clear that Warners is sticking to that window to the letter for all its key tentpoles (no matter how successful), recently telling Vox’s Recode podcast that: “movies are literally going to be showing up on day 46 on HBO Max in a variety of territories all over the world… that is a very, very big change that I don’t think people appreciate.”
By that number, and should the film’s March 4th theatrical release hold, “The Batman” will likely be available on HBO Max from April 19th.
