Mad Max: Fury Road image courtesy Warner Brothers

First, the good news: movies are returning to exclusive theatrical release.

Now the inevitable bad news: for Warner Bros., at least, it won’t happen until 2023.

Warner Bros. announced release dates for several new movies today, including the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa, Coyote vs Acme and a musical based on The Color Purple.

The announcement was made today by Toby Emmerich, Chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, possibly to hint that there is an end date on 2021 strategy of releasing features simultaneously theatrically and on streaming. The studio called the unprecedented release strategy, which was extremely unpopular, a “unique one-year” model in response to the pandemic. 

Earlier in December, Warner Bros. announced it would premiere its entire 2021 slate, including The Matrix 4, Dune and The Suicide Squad, on the company’s streaming service HBO Max and in movie theaters on the same day. No 2022 releases were announced today, so the company may walk back the “one year” strategy, depending on how well the vaccine works to open up society.

Furiosa, starring The Queen’s Gambit lead Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role, alongside Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, will be released on June 23rd.  Miller wrote the script and is producing alongside his partner, Oscar-nominated producer Doug Mitchell (Mad Max: Fury Road, Babe).

Coyote vs. Acme is an animated/live action hybrid the depicts the enmity between Wile E. and the company that ships him his weapons of self-destruction.  The screenplay is from James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, John and Josh Silberman and Samy Burch. It’s based on the Wile E. Coyote character and fictitious Acme corporation in the Looney Tunes shorts. It is slated for a July 21st release.

The Color Purple musical feature, to be released on December 20th, is based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, and will be directed by Blitz Bazawule (Black is King, The Burial of Kojo), and produced by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones.  

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