Warner Bros delays release of Dune, The Batman movies

Culture & Entertainment
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2021-01-23

Warner Bros said late Monday it is delaying the release of Dune and The Batman movies, another setback for the entertainment industry hit by COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and social distancing measures that have closed theatres worldwide.

Dune, a sci-fi movie directed by Canadian director Dennis Villeneuve, is now scheduled to open in October 2021, instead of December. The release of The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, has been moved to the spring of 2022 from October next year.

Movie releases have been getting delayed even after restrictions were eased, with people still wary of stepping into cinema halls, and many theatres still not operational.

On Monday, the world’s second-biggest cinema chain, Cineworld, decided to temporarily close its U.K. and U.S. movie theatres in an attempt to survive a collapse in film-making and cinema-going.

Earlier, the filming of The Batman was also shut down for two weeks after a member of the production — widely reported to be Pattinson — tested positive for the new coronavirus. Filming resumed in Britain last month and Warner Bros never confirmed or denied reports about Pattinson’s diagnosis.

Dune has gained a lot of traction for its cast that includes 24-year-old Timothee Chalamet, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 2017 film Call Me by Your Name.

Other big-budget Warner Bros movies to have their releases delayed include Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984.

The release of the new James Bond movie No Time to Die from MGM and Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures has also been delayed until April 2021.

Today's Vocabulary

1. setback (n)
something that happens that delays or prevents a process from developing

2. restrictions (n)
an official limit on something

3. eased (v)
to make or become less severe, difficult, unpleasant, painful, etc

4. wary (adj.)
not completely trusting or certain about something or someone

5. diagnosis  (n)
a judgment about what a particular illness or problem is, made after examining it

6. release (n)
the act of making something public or available for use

7. traction (n)
the fact of an idea, product, etc. becoming popular or being accepted

8. production (n) 
the activity of organizing the practical and financial matters relating to the preparation of a movie, play, or television or radio program

QUESTIONS
  1. Who is the actor mentioned in the article that tested positive for coronavirus?

  2. What is the name of the world’s second-biggest cinema chain?

  3. When does the movie Dune schedule to open?

  4. Who is Dennis Villeneuve?
DISCUSSION
  1. Who is your favourite superhero?

  2. Who is your favourite actor, and why?

  3. Who is best – Batman, Spiderman or Superman?

  4. If you could make a movie, what would it be about?

  5. If someone made a movie of your life, what kind of movie it would be?
  6.