Death to ‘El Muerto’? Sony’s Bad Bunny Marvel Adaptation Faces Challenges Beyond the Strike

The standalone “Spider-Man” film, featuring the previously scheduled baddie, is now set for January 2024.

If the strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) were to impact it, the first superhero movie “Muerto” won’t be released as originally scheduled. There are enough challenges here to make one wonder. The ongoing dates of the tour musician and the rescheduling of the release are both complicated factors. However, if “Muerto” ends up being re-slotted, the strike writers will be affected.

This morning, Sony sent an email to the press containing three updates regarding its release calendar for the domestic market.

  • Seth Rogen’s “Dumb Money” has been rescheduled from October 20, 2023 to September 22, 2023.
  • “The Clarence Book” is being rescheduled from the September 22nd date to January 12, 2024.
  • The release date for “El Muerto” is now considered “To Be Determined.”
  • There were multi-paragraph descriptions for both “Dumb Money” and “The Book of Clarence.” There was no synopsis at all for “El Muerto.”.

    The superstar Latin artist Bunny Bad, who headlined Coachella this spring and released a new track last month, could potentially change course soon. Currently, there have been no announcements regarding the dates of Bunny Bad’s entire tour. Additionally, there have been no significant updates or additional public castings since the initial announcement. Bunny Bad himself announced that “El Muerto” was meant to begin shooting in Los Angeles in August 2023. Bunny Bad also announced “El Muerto” at CinemaCon 2022.

    It’s not uncommon for production delays to happen, but it would be quite unusual for a derailment to not have any impact on the end result. IndieWire reported that fans of Bunny Bad were reassured that the delay for “El Muerto,” which is not associated with the movie’s producer, would not be a long one.

    The producer, who conversed with us under the promise of confidentiality, expressed, “I wouldn’t automatically dismiss it simply because they modified the release date. It is definitely feasible, and the entertainment industry currently has an excess of material and is in a critical condition.” “However, if your production is being postponed due to the writers’ strike, which in turn delays the timeframe, and you end up missing out on Bad Bunny, it is conceivable that a situation may arise where ‘We will lose a month on this, and considering the scheduling, we might need to sacrifice six months or even a year.'”

    In the “Backlash” event, Damien Priest faced Bad Bunny, a professional wrestler who has been putting in time learning the ropes. Sony surely wants to keep Bad Bunny heavily involved in the marketing of their action movie “Bullet Train,” featuring Brad Pitt. Other words, today’s news does not make El Muerto.

    BULLET TRAIN, Bad Bunny, 2022. ph: Scott Garfield /© Sony Pictures Entertainment /Courtesy Everett Collection
    BULLET TRAIN, Bad Bunny, 2022. ph: Scott Garfield /© Sony Pictures Entertainment /Courtesy Everett Collection©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

    The next steps involve Sony also considering the performance of the film, which is the first superhero movie to feature a Latino lead. “Muerto” El is written by Dunnet-Alcocer Garrett and directed by Alfonso.

    The past weekend saw only $55 million in domestic box office earnings, with tentpole superhero films like “The Flash,” “Gods of Fury Shazam!,” “Quantumania Wasp: the,” and “Ant-Man” underperforming. This year has already witnessed the underperformance of these films, even for the biggest comic book nerds. The character El Muerto, who appeared as a villain in just two Spider-Man comics in the 2000s, is relatively obscure. “Superhero fatigue” is a genuine concern, according to the producer.

    “Sony has also been strong in the works, debuting their first trailer for “Kraven-rated,” a movie starring Dakota Johnson as Madame Web, and doubling down on their own Spider-Man spinoff with a new movie featuring the villain-Man Venom. Since its early opening in June, “Spider-Verse” sequel has grossed nearly $500 million globally, proving to be the exception to the trend. On the bright side, “El Muerto” has not been anything like a Spider-Man adjacent-Man.”

    The producer expressed, “perhaps individuals are prepared to progress and witness something distinct.” There are indications we’re observing that, “however, I perceive we might be reaching a point of saturation,” there is still originality and newness that can be introduced to the category.