Like Disney, major film studios like Warner Bros and Sony have decided to pull off their upcoming theatrical releases from Russia due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. WB is all set to dispatch its much-anticipated DC project, The Batman, on March 4 with Robert Pattinson donning the cowl and Matt Reeves at the helm. On the other hand, Sony is looking to expand its Spider-Man Universe with Morbius. Jared Leto is playing the titular character who is desperate to discover a cure for his rare blood disease. But he ends up paying a heavy price for his cure in the form of transgenic vampirism.
“Given the ongoing military action in Ukraine and the resulting uncertainty and humanitarian crisis unfolding in that region, we will be pausing our planned theatrical releases in Russia, including the upcoming release of Morbius,” a spokesperson from Sony said recently. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been impacted and hope this crisis will be resolved quickly.”
Many big movie production studios have halted their upcoming theatrical releases in the Russian territories to support Ukraine. Disney has already announced the postponement of all its forthcoming releases in the country. Turning Red will have a limited theatrical release in some nations including Russia in addition to its premiere on the Disney+ streaming platform.
“Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including the upcoming Turning Red from Pixar,” Disney said in a recent statement. But the studio is preparing heavily for MCU’s next instalment, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The movie has a release window in May this year.
Warner Bros’ The Batman will dispatch on March 4 and Sony’s Morbius will hit the theatres on April 1.