As VFX companies return to full operating capacity, it looks like some tentpole movies have suffered delays because of a pandemic-related logjam across the industry.
Back in March we saw Warner Bros make some sizeable changes to its release schedule over the next two years or so, announcing a wave of delays that saw some films pushed back by up to seven months. The studio’s DC Extended Universe projects were the hardest hit, with the upcoming Black Adam which was due in the summer now arriving in October.
Whilst the upcoming big screen solo debut of The Flash was pushed back a whopping seven months, there are a number of ongoing high-profile issues that may have caused Warner Bros to delay that film into the summer of 2023. With regards to Black Adam, at the time of the announcement we speculated that the delay could be down to the lingering effects of the global pandemic and it seems that this may indeed be the case.
The film’s producer, Hiram Garcia spoke to The Wrap about the delay, explaining that the VFX industry is still returning to normal following the pandemic and that means dealing with a backlog of work that has caused something of a logjam.
“I think we’re just in a world right now where there was a huge and understandable freeze-up when the pandemic hit and a lot of productions were put on hold. Now that the industry has really roared back, the pipeline for VFX is so jammed. Obviously, all these superhero movies just require so much VFX, and we’re just in a situation where the majority of the VFX houses are just completely swamped with work. I think that’s why you saw seismic shifts across the board, and you continue to see those giant properties just moving further down the line. And it’s just a matter of the vendors being able to accommodate the amount of VFX they have to do, the shots that have to be done”, he explained.
So there you go. We’ve seen this affect the release dates of a few Warner Bros tentpole movies including perhaps the Wonka movie which was pushed back to December 2023. If Garcia’s assessment is accurate, other studios may be forced to follow suit. We’ll keep you posted…
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