Sequels Release date speculation

[Black Narcissus]

WB moved up WW and killed. I trust whatever date change they go with. I kinda wish James Cameron would give the disney folks hell with his Avatar films. I dont care how many nerds come at me with their colored swords...Never ever count out James Cameron at the box office. He is the one bastah on the planet who would make the disney folks sweat if his films came out next to Star Wars.

 

[mclay18]

The whole notion of 'summer' movies needs to be removed from the equation moving forward because we're seeing more and more examples that the blockbuster season doesn't have to be confined to a specific time of the year. As for WW I only see one option and that's to bump her to 2020. November she would be surrounded by both Bond 25 and Frozen 2. WW should slot into that February spot WB has already reserved for a DCEU film. She'll have virtually the entire month to herself. June/July of 2019 is out of the equation simply because you're asking Jenkins to be finished 6 months earlier than what she signed on for.

Not if WW2 opens on November 1, 2019 -- which is a little over a month early and not unreasonable. There's not much audience overlap with Diana and 007, so they won't eat into each other. Frozen 2 doesn't come out until November 27, which is 3.5 weeks away.

Early 2020 will be fine like February 14 or April 3 but WB would probably prefer a surefire blockbuster for 2019.

 

[Greenlite]

I would move WW2 to late July/early August 2019 and move SS2 to October/November 2019.

Diana would eat up the whole month of August/Sept, while SS2 gives Gavin O'Connor more time to prepare for production with Will Smith unavailable till fall 2018 anyway, and they will make almost all of their money within 4-6 weeks anyway, and their demo is different to 007 and Frozen.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Moving up WW in 2019 means giving Patty less time to work in post. Ya'll should take this into account. lol

Perhaps October/November might work, but early 2020 is my money bet.

 

[jmc]

Not if WW2 opens on November 1, 2019 -- which is a little over a month early and not unreasonable. There's not much audience overlap with Diana and 007, so they won't eat into each other. Frozen 2 doesn't come out until November 27, which is 3.5 weeks away.

Early 2020 will be fine like February 14 or April 3 but WB would probably prefer a surefire blockbuster for 2019.

I think Bond and Wonder Woman will have cross over appeal, it's not in either films best interest to go up against each other. Feb gives WW a clear month to herself plus it relieves the pressure on Jenkins to finish earlier.

 

[wonder213]

How about Nov 2019? Or June, August or Sept 2019. Movies can do very well in August (Suicide Squad), Sept (It) or Nov (Frozen).

Geoff Johns and Patty Jenkins have been working on the script for a while. June 2020 is too far away. Strike while the iron is hot, right? Well, maybe early 2020.

Hindsight is 20/20. What if The Mummy, Cars 3, Transformers: The Last Knight, Despicable Me 3, or War for the Planet of the Apes were big hits?

As it happened, the biggest problem for Wonder Woman this summer wasn't the "competition" - The Mummy or Cars 3 or Spider-man: Homecoming.

It was Dunkirk, from the same studio. Losing a ton of theaters and 3D screens thanks to the Chris Nolan movie. Wonder Woman was still plugging along even after the release of digital until it lost half its theaters no thanks to Stephen King's It, from Warner Bros./New line.

So... if the sequel is anything like the original - great reviews, word of mouth, amazing LEGS - it'll be a big hit REGARDLESS of its release date or competition.

It may or may not be #1, but so what? Losing to Star Wars is no shame.

 

[Greenlite]

Moving up WW in 2019 means giving Patty less time to work in post. Ya'll should take this into account. lol

Perhaps October/November might work, but early 2020 is my money bet.

How about Nov 2019? Or June, August or Sept 2019. Movies can do very well in August (Suicide Squad), Sept (It) or Nov (Frozen).

Geoff Johns and Patty Jenkins have been working on the script for a while. June 2020 is too far away. Strike while the iron is hot, right? Well, maybe early 2020.

Hindsight is 20/20. What if The Mummy, Cars 3, Transformers: The Last Knight, Despicable Me 3, or War for the Planet of the Apes were big hits?

As it happened, the biggest problem for Wonder Woman this summer wasn't the "competition" - The Mummy or Cars 3 or Spider-man: Homecoming.

It was Dunkirk, from the same studio. Losing a ton of theaters and 3D screens thanks to the Chris Nolan movie. Wonder Woman was still plugging along even after the release of digital until it lost half its theaters no thanks to Stephen King's It, from Warner Bros./New line.

So... if the sequel is anything like the original - great reviews, word of mouth, amazing LEGS - it'll be a big hit REGARDLESS of its release date or competition.

It may or may not be #1, but so what? Losing to Star Wars is no shame.

I think Johns and Patty have been working on the story for a while so that should cut down the pre-production time, depends on when that TNT project get started and finished, she's only doing a pilot, she's still got 23 months before an August release.

Another option is to push WW back to Feb 2020 and put HQ/Joker movie in August 2019 and SS2 in November, which gives all directors more time and WB get to slot all their films on schedule, and we get 3 films per year without the creative teams rushing

 

[Primal Slayer]

Moving up WW in 2019 means giving Patty less time to work in post. Ya'll should take this into account. lol

Perhaps October/November might work, but early 2020 is my money bet.

If Patty needs the time then I'm fine giving it to her. But I don't think WE was being worked on up until it's premiere week.

 

[mclay18]

If Patty needs the time then I'm fine giving it to her. But I don't think WE was being worked on up until it's premiere week.

Wonder Woman was finished two months prior to its release. It's the more FX heavy films like X-Men: First Class, Bayformers, and the Marvel films tinkering with their films up to two weeks before the premiere.

 

[Boom]

March-June 2020.

 

[Black Narcissus]

If Patty needs the time then I'm fine giving it to her. But I don't think WE was being worked on up until it's premiere week.

Wonder Woman was finished two months prior to its release. It's the more FX heavy films like X-Men: First Class, Bayformers, and the Marvel films tinkering with their films up to two weeks before the premiere.

Film to film is different. We don't know how heavy cgi it will be for the next one.

 

[Greenlite]

They need the extra time to get the invisible jet right

 

[UncleSam1776]

They need the extra time to get the invisible jet right

Invisible Jet
Return of Steve Trevor
Cold War

 

[Greenlite]

Invisible Jet
Return of Steve Trevor
Cold War

Haha, and while Team JL resurrect Superman, Flash's like WTF, I'll time travel and bring Antiope and Steve's corpses back to Lazarus Pit to impress Diana

 

[mclay18]

How about Nov 2019? Or June, August or Sept 2019. Movies can do very well in August (Suicide Squad), Sept (It) or Nov (Frozen).

Geoff Johns and Patty Jenkins have been working on the script for a while. June 2020 is too far away. Strike while the iron is hot, right? Well, maybe early 2020.

They were working on the story treatment for at least several months, before Patty hand-picked David Callaham to write the actual script.

So I think WW2 will start filming early next summer unless Patty wants to start earlier depending on the drafts Callaham gives her.

If she wants the same amount of time she had with filming and editing the first WW film, then it seems inevitable that Warners will move it to early 2020 to keep her happy and to avoid Episode IX eating into its grosses.

 

[Patchwork Man]

WB should WW back to June-August release date tbh. Its better as a summer movie.

I agree. Maybe it should be an August release. Suicide Squad banked serious bucks that month. No school yet.

 

[Patchwork Man]

I would move WW2 to late July/early August 2019 and move SS2 to October/November 2019.

Diana would eat up the whole month of August/Sept, while SS2 gives Gavin O'Connor more time to prepare for production with Will Smith unavailable till fall 2018 anyway, and they will make almost all of their money within 4-6 weeks anyway, and their demo is different to 007 and Frozen.

Yes. I think there's plenty of time. The movie will be written this year, filmed next year.

 

[dhandler01]

The whole notion of 'summer' movies needs to be removed from the equation moving forward because we're seeing more and more examples that the blockbuster season doesn't have to be confined to a specific time of the year. As for WW I only see one option and that's to bump her to 2020. November she would be surrounded by both Bond 25 and Frozen 2. WW should slot into that February spot WB has already reserved for a DCEU film. She'll have virtually the entire month to herself. June/July of 2019 is out of the equation simply because you're asking Jenkins to be finished 6 months earlier than what she signed on for.

I predicted Valentine's Day 2020 when the speculation started before and it just makes too much sense not to move there now. It is a long weekend and it is a great date film because women flocked to see the first one in massive numbers. It is a flipping no brainer.

 

[Jonwo]

February 14th 2020, March 20th or 27th or April 3rd 2020 seem the most likely Spring dates.

 

[mclay18]

I predicted Valentine's Day 2020 when the speculation started before and it just makes too much sense not to move there now. It is a long weekend and it is a great date film because women flocked to see the first one in massive numbers. It is a flipping no brainer.

True. It would definitely surpass Deadpool as the highest opening February title, and fueled by family audiences as well as the 4-day weekend. But when WB initially set the Wonder Woman 2 date, they had picked an "Untitled WB Event Film" date, not one initially set for a DC film.

So it could move up or move back down the calendar. There is two 2019 'Untitled WB Event Film's for August 2 and September 27 as well. If Warners feels that February 2020 is an option, they could go a week earlier than Valentine's Day and have a better hold the second weekend in.

Also, March 6, 2020 is empty. But there is Fox's untitled Marvel films as well as an untitled Disney Pixar film opening the week after.

 

[Jonwo]

True. It would definitely surpass Deadpool as the highest opening February title, and fueled by family audiences as well as the 4-day weekend. But when WB initially set the Wonder Woman 2 date, they had picked an "Untitled WB Event Film" date, not one initially set for a DC film.

So it could move up or move back down the calendar. There is two 2019 'Untitled WB Event Film's for August 2 and September 27 as well. If Warners feels that February 2020 is an option, they could go a week earlier than Valentine's Day and have a better hold the second weekend in.

Also, March 6, 2020 is empty. But there is Fox's untitled Marvel films as well as an untitled Disney Pixar film opening the week after.

August 2nd I imagine will be for Suicide Squad 2 or IT Chapter 2 although I'm thinking IT will probably be scheduled for early to mid September. The late September I believe was for a WAG film.

 

[mclay18]

Warners owns the record-breaking spots in January and July through October. Wonder Woman 2 will make a TON of money anywhere on the calendar, provided it's the only big film for that month or several weeks. Some arguments for specific dates:

October 4, 2019 -- Currently there are no big titles set for this month. Sci-fi fare like Gravity and The Martian tend to do fantastic business, and WB initially was going to release Aquaman October 2018 before the pre-Christmas spot opened up. I would imagine WW2 would have an IT-sized opening ($125M+) and then have good holds due to the lack of competition. WW2 probably wouldn't make as much as the first domestically, but similar numbers internationally would be a huge win.

November 1, 2019 -- Marvel Studios has had great success opening their films in early November, but none of those titles (or 007) opened higher than $90M+ (as opposed to the lucrative pre-Thanksgiving spots the HP/Twilight/HG films got). It is possible, as someone else pointed out, that the next Bond film opening the week after could eat into its grosses. Or both 007 and Diana could peacefully coexist.

December 13, 2019 -- It's possible WB could leave it on its original date and counterprogram it against the one-two punch of Star Wars: Episode IX a week after and Frozen 2 several weeks before. But considering how the last two Disney SW films sucked the air from the competition (like TFA sapping the life from In the Heart of the Sea), it's very unlikely it will stay there. WW2 could go up a week to December 6, the infamously slow post-Thanksgiving weekend, but I don't see that happening.

January 17, 2020 -- It's sufficiently away from Episode IX and the first big title of 2020, so people will be eager to see something other than Star Wars. It's also MLK weekend, so the 4-day weekend will really help grosses. Will easily surpass American Sniper's $89M 3-day/$107M 4-day opening significantly.

February 2020 -- Similar case. Open it on February 7, and it will easily surpass WW's original $103M gross, with a fantastic second-week hold for Valentine's Day and President's Day weekend. Or open it on Valentine's Day/President's Day weekend, and it will easily surpass Deadpool's February record ($132M 3-day/$152M 4-day) due to audience goodwill and PG-13 rating.

March / April 2020 -- Aside from the summer, March and April are probably most ideal for Wonder Woman 2. Opening it the first weekend of March, and it will easily hold its own against the Pixar film the week after (WW successfully beat the pants off Cars 3). Or put it on April 3, as Easter weekend proved hugely successful for the last few Fast & Furious films, as well BvS's huge opening weekend.

 

[UncleSam1776]

Moving WW 2 to 2020 means that WB will be forced to remove another DC movie from the schedule. Let's assume that WB plans on releasing Cyborg, Flashpoint & a Green Lantern Corps movie in 2020. That plan changes once you move WW to 2020 as I doubt they will want to release 4 DC movies in the same year. I still think the best option is Oct 2019.

 

[Greenlite]

Thanks for the analysis mclay18

I'd pick Oct 2019 then, so WB will have

April 2019 Shazam
July/August Suicide Squad 2
Oct 2019 Wonder Woman 2

Feb 2020 Harley Quinn
June/July 2020 Batman
Oct-Dec 2020 Flashpoint

All films nicely spread out, and SS2 gets to have the whole summer to itself, it's pretty much done and dusted by the time WW2 comes out.

Also didn't they shoot IT in a short amount of time? Is there a possibility they might have IT2 ready by the first half of 2019?

 

[mclay18]

Also didn't they shoot IT in a short amount of time? Is there a possibility they might have IT2 ready by the first half of 2019?

IT was shot in the spring/summer of 2016, roughly four months (likely due to the kids' schedule), but not ready until this past summer. I imagine Warners will want IT: Chapter 2 ready for September 6, 2019. They've just started writing the screenplay and Andy Muschietti isn't secured for director yet.

I honestly don't know whether Warners will copy Marvel Studios' 3 films a year strategy until they've regained their momentum. It's possible that two of their spots for DC films for 2019 and 2020 will go to other non-DC Warners films.

I can easily see the following:

Shazam - April 2019 (likely since filming begins early next year)
Wonder Woman 2 - October/November 2019

Cyborg - February 2020
Flashpoint - June 2020
Batman Solo - July 2020