The Batman 2’ Delayed to 2027, Alejandro G. Iñarritu’s Tom Cruise Movie Gets 2026 Date

Moviegoers will have to wait a little longer to return to Gotham City after director Matt Reeves' The Batman sequel was pushed back to 2027. The superhero sequel was originally scheduled for release on Oct. 2, 2026, but has now been pushed back a year and will be released in IMAX on Oct. 1, 2027, Warner Bros. announced on Friday. 

This still leaves room for new films from Alejandro G. Inisharitu and Tom Cruise to be released in 2026 in time for the start of awards season. The untitled film will hit IMAX theaters on October 2, the same day as Batman 2. 

Warner Bros. has made some more changes to its upcoming release lineup, swapping the opening credits of Bong Joon-ho's Mickey-17 and Ryan Coogler's The Sinners. Mickey-17, starring Robert Pattinson (who plays the Dark Knight in Reeves' comic book series), is set to open on March 7, 2025, while Coogler will star in Black Panther and The Man from Fruitvale Station. The release of Fruitvale Station, a film starring Michael B. Jordan, has been postponed to April 18, 2025. Studio sources said that "Mickey 17" was originally scheduled to premiere on this date, but the new release will allow Bong's film to run longer in the IMAX format. 

The film starring Cruise and Iniritu is shrouded in mystery, but Warner Bros.' official logline says it tells the story of "the most powerful man in the world" who "embarks on a manic mission to prove himself the savior of humanity before the cataclysm he unleashes destroys everything." The star cast includes Sandra Hülther, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Sophie Wilde and Riz Ahmed. The film is produced by Legendary Entertainment, the studio behind "Dune." It's a change of pace for Cruise, who's been busy saving the world in more conventional action movies like "Mission: Impossible" and "Top Gun: Maverick." Iniritu is a two-time Oscar winner whose credits include "Birdman" and "The Revenant." The collaboration is seen as a return to Cruise's earlier career, when he worked with big name auteurs such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone and Paul Thomas Anderson. "Mickey-17" tells the story of a man (Pattinson) whose job is to die in order to live. The cast includes Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and others. The film's release date has been postponed multiple times and was originally scheduled to hit theaters in spring 2024. 

"Sinners" is a horror film in which Jordan returns home as a twin brother to encounter a "greater evil." The ensemble also includes Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jamie Lawson, Omar Miller, and Delroy Lindo. The postponement of "Sinners" release date was due in part to a lack of post-production facilities to put the finishing touches on the film. These issues were exacerbated because "Sinners" was shot on film. 

"The Batman" premiered in 2022, when the film industry was still shaking off the effects of the COVID-19 shutdown. The film grossed more than $770 million worldwide and was praised for its moody, atmospheric portrayal of the title character. The film also inspired the HBO spinoff series "The Penguin." In a recent meeting with Zoe Kravitz, who stars as Catwoman, Reeves said he was finalizing the sequel's script and plans to "shoot next year."