Posted in: Movies, Recent Updates | Tagged: batman vs. superman, ben affleck, dc comics, entertainment, film, warner brothers

Four Reasons Why Batman Vs. Superman's Delayed Release is a Good Thing

By Hilton Collins

It was the announcement that jolted entertainment media with something sizzling to gossip about, at least for a week or two. On Friday, January 17, Warner Bros. announced that they were pushing back the release date for the much-talked-about Batman vs. Superman film from July 17, 2015 to May 6, 2016, a staggering 10-month delay.

In Warner's official statement, the company claimed that it simply wanted to give the studio folks more time to "realize fully their vision, given the complex visual nature of the story," which makes sense.

But tongues are wagging fiercely over the whys and hows, and rumors of problems abound. Forbes, for example, writes that the project's troubled by creative differences, and Batman News speculated that Ben Affleck's injury caused the delay.

People will be tossing around theories for quite a while about the delay, but here are four reasons why the delay could be a good thing for the movie, regardless of the cause.

1. It gives Warner Bros. more time to make a quality film. This is a movie that will have Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and most likely other superheroes in it, and the requisite supervillain (or villains) they'll fight, as well as a truckload of special effects. It's better to have more time to work on all that than less, and 10 months is a huge extension on the deadline. There's also more time for actors to get in superheroic shape so they can look all hot and muscular for the big screen, and writers have more time to tweak the script if they need it. Warner Bros. has to get this movie right so audiences (and executives) will have more faith in future DC movies. The cast and crew have little room for error, and the last thing they want is another Green Lantern-level dud turning their cinematic dreams into nightmares… again.

2. It gives Warner Bros. more time to get their cinematic house in order. You can bet that, at this point, the company plans to launch more DC movies if Batman vs. Superman is successful. The delay gives them the breathing room to decide which comic book characters to introduce in future movies, and how. It also gives them time to think about how they'll introduce the ones they're planning to debut in Batman vs. Superman in the first place. DC fans want their Wonder Woman ushered in right, and they're waiting for her solo movie, as well as movies about other heroes, like the Flash, and the holy grail of DC movies, the Justice League. And speaking of Justice League, if rumors about it being filmed back-to-back with Batman vs. Superman are true, then that extra 10 months will come in handy.

3. The movie won't have to compete with Avengers 2. Batman vs. Superman would have come out the same year as the Avengers sequel if it had kept its July 2015 release date, which would have been risky. The Avengers was the third-highest grossing film of all-time, so of course its eagerly anticipated sequel will be the No. 1 film the year it comes out, no matter how good any other movie is that year — audience anticipation is just too high. Warner's wouldn't want Marvel's biggest movie to overshadow DC's biggest movie, especially when the studio has so much riding on Batman vs. Superman's legacy. But 2016 isn't exactly a wide-open playing field either. Marvel's got a film scheduled for that year too, and it's supposed to come out the same month as Batman vs. Superman. Whatever Marvel's got planned for that May, though, it likely won't be an Avengers 2-caliber juggernaut, so Warner's will fight a much less fearsome beast in the cinematic boxing ring.

4. It creates media buzz for the marketing blitz. Scuttlebutt about the release date's change keeps the movie in the news about a year-and-a-half before it even comes out, which is great for marketing. You're reading and thinking about it now, which is exactly what the studio wants — to keep its product in the public consciousness. Warner's will ride this wave right up until the movie lands in theaters. And who knows? Maybe the studio never even planned to release the movie in 2015 to begin with, which would mean that this entire "delay" was orchestrated from the beginning to get attention. How's that for a conspiracy theory?

So there you have it, folks. Four reasons why Batman vs. Superman's release date benefits the production. A lot of the news coming out about it is heresy this early in the game, but no matter the reason for the 10-month change, it's a good thing for everyone who wants this movie to be good.

Hilton Collins is a writer and video producer who loves sci-fi and fantasy, and if he had to choose between comic books, video games, movies, books, and TV shows, he'd have an aneurysm. Check out his website, www.imaginationunplugged.com for articles and news for writers and creative artists.

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