Warner Bros. Shuffles Release Dates for ‘Mortal Kombat’ and ‘Tom and Jerry’ on HBO Max & In-Theaters
The Warner Bros. theatrical slate continues to change, but the company is not upending plans this time though. The studio has switched premiere dates for Mortal Kombat, Tom and Jerry as well as Reminiscence.
Mortal Kombat, a live-action adaptation of the video game, was originally set for Jan. 15, 2021, but will instead premiere on April 16, 2021. Tom and Jerry, an animated remake of the popular cartoon will now premiere on Feb. 26, 2021, instead of March 5, while the Hugh Jackman-led Reminiscence, which was initially slated for mid-April, was removed entirely from the studio’s calendar.
The three films will be part of an 18-film 2021 theatrical slate which will debut on HBO Max the same day as theaters. Parent company WarnerMedia made the announcement on Dec. 3. More dates are subject to change as the company revealed in their announcement video. Other films on the docket include Godzilla vs. Kong, The Suicide Squad, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Dune and Matrix 4.
Also expected to debut next year in HBO Max is Zack Synder’s Justice League. According to the famed director, the film has seen so many changes that it may be rated R. “The movie is insane and so epic and is probably rated R — that’s one thing I think will happen, that it will be an R-rated version, for sure,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “We haven’t heard from the MPAA, but that’s my gut.”
The film’s debut was officially announced earlier this year. Snyder initially left the production to tend to a family tragedy, leaving the film in the hands of Joss Whedon. The final version was a disappointment to fans and it seems the actors didn’t enjoy working on it either. (“Cyborg actor Ray Fisher called out the director on social media this past summer saying his ‘on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional and completely unacceptable,’” Deadline reports.)
The Snyder cut is rumored to be 214 minutes (3 hours 34 minutes long), compared to the 120 minutes of the Whedon version.
Snyder also spoke to Entertainment Weekly regarding WarnerMedia’s decision to premiere their 2021 films on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously. “It felt like a pretty bold move and that maybe the implication wasn’t 100 percent thought out. I feel like there’s a lot of people panicking during COVID. I hope that, in the end, that’s what this was — some sort of knee-jerk to COVID and not some sort of greater move to disrupt the theatrical experience,” he stated.
“I thought we were kind of already getting very close to the ideal theatrical window where you still had marketing material out there and you hadn’t forgotten about the film by the time it came out on DVD or streaming. I thought we were starting to hone in on that sweet spot, but this kind of throws a monkey wrench in the works.”