Due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, several corporations, organizations, film festivals, and such have announced that they are boycotting or cutting business ties with Russia. There have been questions for the past few days if the film industry will be making a move as well. Now, it looks like Hollywood is also responding as some films will no longer be released in Russia as a result of the invasion (at least for now).
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has decided to halt the release of The Batman in Russia as a result of the ongoing crisis. The film was scheduled to be released in the country on March 3. "In light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, WarnerMedia is pausing the release of its feature film The Batman in Russia," a spokesperson said in a statement. "We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves. We hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to this tragedy."
Sony also followed suit by halting the release of the upcoming film Morbius in Russia which was supposed to be released on March 24. "Given the ongoing military action in Ukraine and the resulting uncertainty and humanitarian crisis unfolding in that region, we will be pausing our planned theatrical releases in Russia, including the upcoming release of Morbius," a Sony Pictures Entertainment spokesperson said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been impacted and hope this crisis will be resolved quickly."
Before Warner Bros. and Sony decided to halt their respective films, Disney was the first studio to make a move as they announced that they are halting the release of the upcoming Pixar animated film Turning Red which was supposed to be released on March 10. It is unknown if other upcoming films such as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or The Lost City will also follow suit. There are also no details yet if other upcoming films from Disney, Warner Bros., and Sony will also be halted.
The decision made by the studios is not surprising since a lot of other corporations and industries have announced similar decisions prior. Of course, that doesn't mean that the Russian audience won't ever get to see the films as the studios only announced that they are halting and there is still a chance that they will get released depending on the situation which is still unfolding.
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If the ongoing crisis continues, other upcoming films such as Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness might also get halted in the country as well. In addition, given the European Union’s decision to remove Russia from the global banking system SWIFT (where studios get their money back from the Russian distribution partners), the release of Hollywood films in Russia is currently uncertain unless the situation resolves.
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