Back when Batman v Superman was supposed to clash with the Civil War at the box office, Warner Bros. decided it didn't want to share, and moved the release date of DCEU's second installment. Was it a lost game of chicken for the studio? It may have been, even though we’ll never know now which of the two movies would have had the upper hand.
But this was also a great move by Warner Bros, since Batman v Superman will now have no opponents at the box office for the following two weeks, until The Jungle Book (another Disney production) arrives. On the other hand, May seems like a busy month, even if we only take the comic book movie releases into account (Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse). So, we can say that Warner Bros played it safe, but also smart.
We say that because the studio made yet another schedule adjustment for its movies, including a DC offering.
Episode VIII (source Cinema Blend)
Until a couple of weeks ago, Star Wars: Episode VIII was supposed to be released in May 2017. However, the studio decided that a December release date would suit the movie better, allowing it to replicate the box office success of The Force Awakens ($2 billion and counting). The new release date is the 15th of December, a release date that prompted Warner Bros. to make some changes.
Previously, the studio scheduled Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One to be released on the 15th of December. Seeing that Star Wars is a force to be reckoned with, Spielberg's movie will now be released on the 30th of March 2018. This move also affects The Flash, which was supposed to be released on the 23rd of March 2018.
Warner Bros’ Ready Player One (source IGN)
In order to let the movies breathe for a bit, and allow them to reach their full box office potential, Warner Bros moved the Flash release date to the 16th of March. We guess we will see this year if this month is suited for big superhero movie events.
Source: Screen Rant
Source for the featured image: Movie Pilot
