A lot of DC movies have shifted their release dates due to the Covid19 pandemic, films like The Batman, Wonder Woman 1984 have revised their release dates from time to time. But this hasn’t been the case with The Suicide Squad which is set to release in August 2021. Director James Gunn’s maiden DC superhero movie wrapped up its shooting earlier this year. Although there is still a risk factor involved, and we cannot confirm that theatres are surely going to open anytime soon, James Gunn has already supported the idea of releasing The Suicide Squad on demand if and only if it was the only option.
The director is often answering questions on Instagram from fans about the movies he’s working on. This time, Gunn was asked whether he’d consider releasing The Suicide Squad or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 straight to VOD if he had the choice. He is actually open about the possibility but under one condition, “Only if that was the only way they could be seen.”
Seeing the impact of the pandemic, many films are already choosing the plausible option like OTT and VOD. Recently, The King of Staten Island and Kenneth Branagh’s Artemis Fowl had to find the way out and release themselves on OTT, this creates major business for OTTs like Netflix etc to hold ground with good business as they get newer and newer releases every week. But big franchises like Marvel and DC cannot consider this option of releasing on OTT or VOD. Their films make millions world-wide through theatrical releases, and to be frank, why would you even make a superhero movie if it cannot make millions on the theatrical release?
Studios like Warner Bros. have furiously stood by their films to be released on the theatres and Wonder Woman 1984 or Black Widow are the prime examples, we can’t think of a director or a studio executive who would want a movie to be released directly on VOD or OTT. Especially when it comes to superhero stuff, the target audiences are always kids and teenagers, who, unlike the adults, have some motivation left to enjoy their lives and they love to go to the theatres. But the problem is, the second wave of the pandemic hasn’t started yet and it could be there- just waiting. Beijing has just announced a war-time emergency due to significant new covid19 cases and China seems to be the most profitable market for Marvel and DC films. The Suicide Squad is safer in this regards as it has almost more than a year left for its release and hopefully, till then all theatres would open, but still, James Gunn agrees to the idea of a non-theatrical release and we can’t agree more. It’s like a director might do all the things possible for his/her dear film to be seen by the audience and this is the prime example of those sorts.