The film division of Warner Bros. Discovery has not been having a very good go of things over the last year and a half or so. For every hit they had like “Dune: Part Two” or “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice,” they had massive financial failures like “Joker: Folie a Deux.” 2025 wasn’t looking much better with the back-to-back bombs of “Mickey 17″ and “The Alto Knights.” Then along came “A Minecraft Movie,” and the fates of co-chairpersons / CEO’s Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy turned around quickly.
And their plan to continue that good fortune involves confirmation of more sequels; for better or worse.
In an exclusive and exhaustive interview with Deadline, De Luca and Abdy covered a lot of territory, involving everything from dealing with bad press to what their plans for the future of Warner Bros. Pictures. Of particular note was when the questioned was asked, “Are you already developing sequels for both Minecraft and ‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice?.'”
De Luca’s answer was fairly succinct. “Imminently. The ink might not be dry on the deals yet, but imminently.”
Makes sense considering how the former is destroying the box office like a bunch of kids seeing a chicken jockey on the big screen and the latter was a bright spot in a dismal 2024. “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” ended up grossing over $450 million, over four times its budget and showing that the undead shenanigans of the titular character still had a lot of life left in them. Those sequels are just the tip of the iceberg though for what Warner Bros. Pictures has in store for existing IPs.
Abdy followed De Luca’s comment by mentioning some other projects that they have coming up, all based on old properties. Including among them, new entries in the “Gremlins” and “Goonies” franchises, both with the involvement of Chris Columbus as well as a “Cat in the Hat” adaptation and “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.” There’s also another film in “The Matrix” franchise, written by Drew Goddard, rumored. Goddard previously wrote and directed “The Cabin in the Woods” and “Bad Times at the El Royale.” In other words, Abdy confirmed that they’re doubling down on sequels and franchise expansions.
There’s a lot to be keeping an eye on as Warner Bros. Pictures tries to execute on this strategy. While working with existing properties seems like a surer bet than original material, let’s also not forget the financial loses that came from sequels like those to “Joker.” This may not be as sound of a strategy as De Luca and Abdy think but we’ll provide updates on these projects as they come closer to fruition and release.
