WB Reportedly Considered Delaying ‘Blue Beetle’

Hollywood is currently experiencing something that hasn’t been seen since 1960. The guilds of both writers and actors in America are collectively on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) after failing to reach a new agreement. Apart from funding, the biggest issue seems to be the AMPTP’s wish to invest more into using AI in the filmmaking process, which writers and actors are opposing for obvious reasons.

With these strikes going on simultaneously, the entire Hollywood is currently frozen, and only a few movie or tv productions haven’t been put on hold indefinitely. However, apart from stopping the productions, the actors also aren’t allowed to do any promotional work, interviews, or red-carpet events while the strike is ongoing. This questions how the movies that will be released during the strike period will perform commercially.

Some imminent movies like ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ probably don’t need to worry that the strike will affect their commercial result, considering we’re talking about some of the most anticipated movies of the year that were heavily promoted before the strike began. However, some other movies, like DC’s ‘Blue Beetle,’ could find themselves in trouble since three previous DC movies have all been box-office failures, and lack of promotional work certainly won’t help.

‘Blue Beetle’ was almost delayed because of the SAG-AFTRA strike

While it’s expected that some movies will be delayed since the productions have been halted, all movies that have been completed are still expected to be released as planned regardless of that lack of actor’s promotional work. However, according to Puck News (via DiscussingFilm), Warner Bros. reportedly considered delaying Blue Beetle until next year, but that idea was ultimately abandoned.

Delaying the movie is always frustrating, especially for the fans. However, it’s hard to say that delaying the movie would do much damage here since ‘Blue Beetle’ is already completed, and its delay might just clear up the confusion about how the movie is set in DCEU, even though DC Studios CEO James Gunn confirmed that Xolo Maridueña’s titular character is the first superhero of DCU, which will kick off in July 2025 with Gunn’s ‘Superman: Legacy.’

With everything going on and only one month until the premiere in theaters, it’s not expected that Blue Beetle will be a Summer box-office hit, but we can only wait and hope for the best. Judging by the first two trailers, the movie looks like it will provide a lot of fun, and we can only hope that the movie will reach a box-office result proportional to its overall quality. We personally can’t wait for the movie to come out.

Directed by Angel Manuel Soto and starring Xolo Maridueña in the title role, DC Studios’ ‘Blue Beetle’ is set to be released on August 18, 2023.

Are you looking forward to ‘Blue Beetle’? Do you think it should be released next month or wait for the strike to be finished if it hopes to get a better box-office result? Let us know in the comments.