‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ and More Warner Bros. Movies Shift Release Dates

(L to R) Ben Affleck and Jason Momoa on the set of 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.' Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa's Instagram account.

Warner Bros. Discovery has, according to Deadline, decided to shift the release dates for a batch of its upcoming movies. And it mostly means that those expecting to see James Wan’s ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ next March will be waiting a few months longer.

No, the much-anticipated ‘Aquaman’ sequel isn’t suddenly headed off into a vault as a tax write-off. Instead, the reasoning is that the backlog of visual effects work means that Wan and co. need more time to finish the FX-heavy superhero sequel.

The result? Instead of its original planned March 17th, 2023 release in theaters, the new movie will be a DC Christmas present for fans, releasing on December 25th next year.

The new movie, which sees the returning likes of Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, Temuera Morrison, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Dolph Lundgren joined by Jani Zhao, Ben Affleck and Pilou Asbæk, is still considered a big priority for Warners (especially given that the first movie crossed the billion dollar mark at the box office), and the company wants to make sure it’s as ready to make as big a splash as possible.

It's also good news for director David F. Sandberg, who, while he has almost finished work on ‘Shazam!’ sequel ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ was staring down the barrel of his movie going up against James Cameron’s return to the world of ‘Avatar’ with ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’.

Disney is already busy priming the pump for the sequel’s arrival by yanking the original from tis Disney+ servers and putting the movie back in theaters from September 22nd in a shiny new 4K remastered version.

Anticipation for the next ‘Avatar’ remains high despite naysayers trying to claim that it won’t have the same impact. Even if it gets close, ‘The Way of Water’ will be a giant movie, and no one should ever bet against James Cameron.

(L to R) Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene, Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Grace Caroline Currey as Super Hero Mary, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D. J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2022 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.

So ‘Shazam’s second outing (which sees Zachary Levi back leading the cast as the titular hero, who transforms upon saying his name from more regular teen Billy Batson, played by Asher Angel) will now reside in the much more comfortable March 17th slot vacated by its watery superhero sibling, and won’t have to worry about fighting for regular screens and IMAX slots with Cameron’s behemoth.

It also represents Warners considering a March slot to be a winner following this year’s ‘The Batman’.

'The Conjuring’s ever-expanding franchise continues, meanwhile, with ‘The Nun 2’, directed by Michael Chaves, set for September 8th, 2023. Fellow horror ‘Salem’s Lot’ had been penciled in for April but is now awaiting a new date.

Those weren’t the only announcements. A ‘House Party’ reboot is headed our way this December 9th, while Lee Cronin’s ‘Evil Dead Rise’ is scheduled for an April 21st slot. Both of those movies had originally been targeted for HBO Max, which will add fuel to the fire of those rightfully upset that ‘Batgirl’ is being denied a similar chance.

Finally, Warners also confirmed an untitled event film (whether that’s DC or something else) for February 10th next year, to take advantage of Super Bowl Weekend.

Jason Momoa in 2018's 'Aquaman.'