Warner Bros. Pictures announced theatrical release dates for three big event movies tonight — and their intention is that they’re going straight to the big screen, not HBO Max and theaters. Those three are the George Miller Max Max prequel Furiosa on June 23, 2023, Dave Green’s animated hybrid Coyote vs. Acme on July 21, 2023 and The Color Purple musical feature on Dec. 20, 2023. The announcement was made today by Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, and the intent is to launch the trio as global theatrical releases (not timed with a simultaneous HBO drop; which is the intent for their 2021 theatrical release).
Furious stars The Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role, alongside Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Miller penned the script and produces alongside his longtime partner, Oscar-nominated producer Doug Mitchell (Mad Max: Fury Road, Babe).
Coyote vs. Acme features the the age-old rivalry between the Roadrunner nemesis and his preferred mail order supplier. The screenplay is from James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, Jon Silberman and Josh Silberman and Samy Burch, based on the Wile E. Coyote character and fictitious Acme corporation from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, and the fictional New Yorker magazine article entitled “Coyote v. Acme,” written by Ian Frazier. Former DreamWorks Animation boss and Tom & Jerry producer Chris DeFaria and Gunn are producing, the latter under his Two Monkeys, A Goat and Another, Dead, Monkey production banner.
The Color Purple musical feature is based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, and the film, as Deadline first told you, will be directed by Blitz Bazawule (Black is King, The Burial of Kojo, Cherish the Day), and produced by Oprah Winfrey under her Harpo Films production banner, Steven Spielberg under his Amblin Entertainment production banner, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones. EPs are Alice Walker, Rebecca Walker, Mara Jacobs, Carla Gardini, Kristie Macosko Krieger and Adam Fell. The script is by Marcus Gardley (The Chi), with a score including music and lyrics from the stage musical by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. Both the new film itself and Gardley’s script are based on Alice Walker’s book, the 1985 Warner Bros. Pictures film and the stage musical.