Warner Bros. pulled Batman from the 11th hour Russian release schedule. The decision comes amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine and follows Disney’s move to halt upcoming films coming out of the country.
“Amid the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, WarnerMedia is suspending the distribution of its feature films Batman in Russia,” a WarnerMedia spokesperson said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops. We hope for a speedy and peaceful resolution to this tragedy. “
Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, will open March 3 in Russia as part of the film’s global rollout. Other upcoming Warner Bros. movies. Scheduled release in Russia includes Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (April 14) and animation DC League of Super-Pets (May 19).
Russia is one of the leading global box office markets and lucrative territory for Hollywood films, with Sony’s Spider-Man: There’s no way home earned more than $44.5 million to date since opening in December. On the weekend of February 25-27, the first time since Russia launched an unprovoked attack against Ukraine , several Hollywood films have debuted in Russia, including Joe Wright’s Cyrano and by Paramount Celebrating 50 years of the Godfather. Holdovers including Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile and from Sony Not detected yet.
The decision whether to continue sending films to Russia sparked conversation behind closed doors in Hollywood throughout the weekend. At the end of Sunday, Warners still intends to release Batman there, but rapidly evolving events changed those plans.
On Monday afternoon, Disney became the first major Hollywood studio to say it was hitting the pause button to open its films in Russia.
“Given the gratuitous invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are suspending theatrical release of films in Russia, including the upcoming film. Turn red from Pixar,” a spokesperson for Walt Disney Co. said in a statement. “We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation. Meanwhile, given the scale of the refugee crisis emerging, we are working with our NGO partners to provide emergency aid and other humanitarian assistance to refugees. “.
Disney and Pixar’s Turn red was scheduled to open on March 10 in Russia. WarnerMedia statement regarding Batman quickly followed Disney’s announcement.
Soon after, the Motion Picture Association – the main lobbying organization for major studios and Netflix – made its first comment on the invasion.
“The Motion Picture Association stands with the international community in upholding the rule of law and condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. On behalf of our member companies, leaders of the film, television and streaming industries, we express our strongest support for Ukraine’s vibrant creative community, who, like all people, deserve to live and work in peace,” the MPA statement said. “We will continue to monitor the situation, working closely with our members and partners across the entire global creative sector.”
Sony followed within an hour with its own announcement that it would not release Morbius in Russia next month. By Jared Leto Morbiusis part of Sony’s shared universe based on mythological characters from Spider-Man, which will launch on March 24 in the country.
“Due to the ongoing military action in Ukraine and the consequent uncertain humanitarian crisis unfolding in that region, we will be suspending our planned theatrical releases in Russia. , including the upcoming release Morbius,” said a spokesperson for Sony Pictures Entertainment. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected and hope this crisis will be resolved quickly.”
Other upcoming event photos scheduled for release in Russia include Paramount’s The Lost City and Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
A flurry of announcements by Hollywood studios on Monday follows the European Union’s decision over the weekend to exclude Russia from the SWIFT global banking system. Without SWIFT, studios could not get any money back from their Russian distribution partners.
This story has been updated with additional statements from the MPA and Sony.
