CinemaCon is currently ongoing at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and like previous years, studios have come to the annual event prepared with major announcements to impress and attract movie theater owners. Among them is Warner Bros., which confirmed during a presentation this evening that Matt Reeves’ The Batman would be getting a sequel. Reeves will be back to write and direct the Dark Knight’s next adventure, while Robert Pattinson is also set to return in the cape and cowl.
Robert Pattinson Returning for ‘The Batman’ Sequel (Variety)
“The Batman,” a gritty three-hour superhero adventure, debuted on the big screen in March, kicking off with $134 million domestically. Those ticket sales still rank as the biggest opening weekend of 2022, as well as only the second pandemic-era movie to cross the $100 million mark in a single weekend following “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” With $759 million to date at the global box office, “The Batman” is currently the highest grossing movie of the year.
Notably, “The Batman” marked a return to exclusive theatrical releases for Warner Bros. after the studio released its entire 2021 slate simultaneously on HBO Max. Going forward, Warner Bros. plans to keep its new movies in cinemas for 45 days before putting its new titles on HBO Max. Its upcoming titles include includes “Elvis” (June 24), “DC League of Super-Pets” (July 29), “Creed III” (Nov. 23) and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” (Dec. 16).
A separate report from Variety can also confirm that Sony has greenlit new films in the Venom and Ghostbusters franchises. The first two Venom films have made over $1.3 billion worldwide, while the latest Ghostbusters installment, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, managed $200 million globally. No talent has been attached to either project yet, but Tom Hardy will presumably return to play the alien symbiote.
‘Venom 3′ and ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ Sequel in the Works at Sony (Variety)
Sony Pictures has greenlit a third installment in the Tom Hardy-led “Venom” franchise, following the back-to-back box office successes of 2021’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($502 million globally) and 2018’s “Venom” ($856 million globally).
The studio also announced plans for another “Ghostbusters” installment, which will serve as a follow-up to 2021’s reboot “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” ($200 million globally). Sony revealed its plans for both sequels during its Monday evening presentation at CinemaCon, the annual trade show for theater owners. Though the studio did not share any details about either movie, it revealed that new chapters were on the way.
CinemaCon will run until Thursday, April 28. Tomorrow could be a big day for James Cameron fans, as Disney will reportedly be releasing a first glimpse at the director’s highly anticipated and long-overdue sequel, Avatar 2. The film is scheduled to open on December 16, 2022.