Warner Bros. has made a couple of release date announcements, delaying two films, bumping up one film slightly, and staking out a release date for a highly anticipated sequel.
First, the delays. The biggest is The Six Billion Dollar Man, which has Mark Wahlberg set to star, but which has now been pushed from May 2019 to June 5, 2020. This isn’t a terribly surprising move as the TV series adaptation lost director Damian Szifron (Wild Tales) earlier this month, just as filming was intended to begin later this year. Warner Bros. had hoped to find a replacement quickly and keep the film on schedule, but it appears that’s not happening.
This is only the most recent setback for the actioner, which has been in the works for years. Wahlberg’s frequent collaborator Peter Berg (Lone Survivor, Patriots Day) was previously attached to direct, and one wonders if he might step in now. He replaced J.C. Chandor fairly late in the game on the Wahlberg-fronted Deepwater Horizon, so it seems like a possibility.
Additionally, Godzilla 2 is being pushed back a couple of months, but it’s a sign of confidence. Originally scheduled for release on March 22, 2019, Godzilla: King of the Monsters will now open on May 31, 2019—in the heart of the summer movie season. Trick r Treat filmmaker Michael Dougherty directs the sequel, which stars Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, and Vera Farmiga and will serve as a precursor to the Adam Wingard-directed Godzilla vs. Kong.
Godzilla 2’s new release date has the film opening opposite an untitled Blumhouse movie and a week after Disney launches Aladdin. It also gives the movie some breathing room from Avengers 4, which opens on May 3rd.
Warner Bros. has also now slated Doctor Sleep to open on January 24, 2020. The film is based on Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining and picks up with Danny Torrance as a middle-aged adult who has inherited his father’s more negative tendencies. Oculus and Gerald’s Game filmmaker Mike Flanagan is set to direct, and while January used to be a dumping ground, it’s now become a solid box office launching pad for certain kinds of movies, especially of the horror variety. Split memorably launched on January 20th and went on to gross over $270 million worldwide.
And finally, the highly anticipated Crazy Rich Asians will now open on August 15th of this year instead of August 17th, giving it a two-day head start on the weekend that also sees the debut of the R-rated puppet comedy The Happytime Murders.