Following last night’s report about the studio crossing $5 billion at the worldwide box office, The Hollywood Reporter brings word of new acquisitions and placements on the calendar for Warner Bros. Pictures heading into the new year. Though 2018 is pretty much set in stone for the studio, 2019 remains in flux, and WB is taking on a new stance for the year to release even more movies than usual.
First up is the revelation that the studio has acquired the rights to The Six Billion Dollar Man, the long in-development reboot of the 1970s TV series that is set to star Mark Wahlberg. The feature was previously set up at The Weinstein Company, from which WB previously bought the rights to the upcoming Paddington 2. Oscar-nominated and acclaimed filmmaker Damián Szifron (Wild Tales) is attached to direct from a screenplay he wrote.
Warner Bros. has also picked up Edward Norton’s feature adaptation of the Jonathan Lethem novel Motherless Brooklyn which THR reveals he will direct, write, and star in. In addition, the studio has scheduled a new film from director Clint Eastwood and a sequel to the New Line horror film Lights Out for 2019. Another potential big get for the studio is international distribution for the next James Bond film, the details for which are still being worked out.
The films Warner Bros. already has in place for 2019 include: The LEGO Movie 2 for February 8, the rom-com Isn’t It Romantic on February 14, the upcoming Godzilla sequel on March 22, Shazam on April 5, Minecraft on May 24, Shaft on June 14, IT: Chapter 2 on September 6, The Goldfinch on October 11, Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, and Margie Claus on November 15. In addition, several placeholder dates for various “WB Event films” and “Untitled DC Projects” have previously been set by the studio.
