Warner Bros delays ‘Dune’, ‘The Batman’ movies

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 Warner Bros delays ‘Dune’, ‘The Batman’ movies

ON OCTOBER 6, 20209:19 AMIN ENTERTAINMENT

Warner Bros said late Monday it is delaying the release of “Dune” and “The Batman” movies, another setback for the entertainment industry hit by COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and social distancing measures that have closed theatres worldwide.

“Dune”, a sci-fi movie directed by Canadian director Dennis Villeneuve, is now scheduled to open in October 2021, instead of December.

The release of “The Batman”, starring Robert Pattinson, has been moved to the spring of 2022 from October next year.

Movie releases have been getting delayed even after restrictions were eased, with people still wary of stepping into cinema halls, and many theatres still not operational.

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On Monday, the world’s second-biggest cinema chain, Cineworld, decided to temporarily close its UK and U.S. movie theatres in an attempt to survive a collapse in film-making and cinema-going.

Credit rating agency Fitch promptly downgraded the company.

“Our base-case forecasts indicate that, the company’s current liquidity levels may only be sufficient until November to December 2020, assuming no revolving credit facility (RCF) extensions,” Fitch said in a statement.

Earlier, the filming of “The Batman” was also shut down for two weeks after a member of the production – widely reported to be Pattinson – tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Filming resumed in Britain last month and Warner Bros never confirmed or denied reports about Pattinson’s diagnosis.

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“Dune” has gained a lot of traction for its cast that includes 24-year-old Timothee Chalamet, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 2017 film “Call Me by Your Name.”

Other big-budget Warner Bros movies to have their releases delayed include “Tenet” and “Wonder Woman 1984”.

The release of the new James Bond movie “No Time to Die” from MGM and Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures has also been delayed until April 2021.

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Facebook calls splitting off Instagram, WhatsApp a ‘nonstarter’

ON OCTOBER 6, 20202:00 AMIN NEWS, TECHNOLOGY

Facebook views the idea of splitting off Instagram and WhatsApp as a “nonstarter” that would cost billions of dollars and harm users, a new report says.

The social-media giant has outlined its arguments against undoing two of its biggest acquisitions in a 14-page document as it faces crackdowns from federal regulators and congressional lawmakers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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The document contends that breaking up the popular apps would be extraordinarily difficult given that Facebook has made big investments to support their growth and taken steps to integrate their operations, the paper reported Sunday.

Unwinding the acquisitions would also hurt the user experience, weaken security and force Facebook to spend billions of dollars to maintain separate systems for the apps, the document reportedly claims.

“A ‘breakup’ of Facebook is thus a complete nonstarter,” the document reads, according to the Journal.

The details of Facebook’s arguments for keeping its various platforms attached at the hip followed reports that the Federal Trade Commission could bring an antitrust lawsuit against the company by the end of the year.

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The House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel has also been investigating competition concerns about Facebook along with Google, Apple and Amazon and could release a report on the allegations this week.

While the FTC allowed Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp to proceed, the agency has been probing concerns that the Silicon Valley titan uses its dominance in the social-media market to crush the competition.

NY Post