Warner Bros. is having quite a solid month at the box office with “A Minecraft Movie” having another great weekend at the global box office, earning over $550.5 million over two weekends, and it sounds like the studio is striking while the iron is hot on a follow-up.
Despite insider chatter that Warner Bros. studio heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy are on the outs and looking to be replaced by David Zazlav, the duo spoke with Deadline and revealed that they are in early discussions to move forward with sequels to Tim Burton‘s paranormal comedy “Beetlejuice Beetljuice” (for fans, the title always hinted to a third film being in the cards), and the aforementioned “A Minecraft Movie” from filmmaker Jared Hess.
READ MORE: DC Studios’ Peter Safran Named As Possible Replacement For Michael De Luca & Pam Abdy At Warner Bros. Pictures [Report]
“Imminently. The ink might not be dry on the deals yet, but imminently,” De Luca said when asked directly about when sequels for the two box office hits are expected to be coming as they state that “Minecraft” has reached franchise status.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was an overdue legacy sequel that was in development for decades from Burton but thankfully earned a decent $452 million worldwide, giving the studio plenty of reasons to pursue a third installment, and with popular actress Jenna Ortega (“Death of A Unicorn”) now in the fold alongside returning stars Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder allows them to court a younger audience.
Some other project tidbits mentioned in the interview with the studio heads includes that they have a desire to reunite with “Weapons” director Zach Cregger once he finishes his “Resident Evil” reboot for Sony Pictures, Matt Reeves (“The Batman Part II”) is a producer on the horrific giant ant creature feature retelling “Them!” directed by Michael Giacchino (“Werewolf By Night”), and shared a minor update on their “Bodyguard” remake as director Sam Wrench (“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour”) and screenwriter Jonathan A. Abrams (“Juror No. 2”) are attached.
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The next big releases from Warners includes Ryan Coogler‘s buzzy vampire thriller “Sinners” starring Michael B. Jordan in dual roles, Paul Thomas Anderson‘s highly-anticupated next film “One Battle After Another” led by Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and are releasing the Joseph Kosinski racing drama “F1” starring Brad Pitt (recently got a nod from Tom Cruise at CinemaCon last month) which could have a great impact at the box office.
We’ll be curious to see how WB’s 2025 slate measures up in the coming months and how audiences react to them.
