Warner Bros. shakes up 2027 slate, moves J.J. Abrams’ The Great Beyond to a new date

Warner Bros. has decided it’s time to shake up its 2027 slate, and the main headline here (unless you’re Batman-obsessed) is that J.J. Abrams' new sci-fi project The Great Beyond is getting bumped up the calendar. If you had the previous date pencilled in, get your erasers out.

The Great Beyond Joins the October Club

Instead of landing on 13 November 2027, The Great Beyond will now open on 1 October 2027. Not a random choice — Warner Bros. have a habit of dropping big hitters in early October. Look at past releases: Gravity, Joker, Dune, and A Star Is Born all did rather well in that slot. It’s essentially become a prime date in their calendar, and now Abrams' film is getting the treatment.

For those who haven't been tracking this one: The Great Beyond is proper original sci-fi from Abrams, both written and directed by him. That’s his first original feature in over ten years, having spent the last decade mostly wrangling spaceships for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker.

Here’s a quick look at the cast and situation:

• Glen Powell takes the lead (if Anyone But You hadn't already made him inescapable, good luck now)
• Jenna Ortega (who's everywhere at the moment)
• Emma Mackey
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Sophie Okonedo
• Merritt Wever

The Great Beyond is clearly being treated as a premium title: Warner Bros. reportedly test-screened it recently and are gearing up to give it a shiny 70mm IMAX rollout. As it stands, there’s no direct competition — not a single other wide studio release currently on the schedule for 1 October 2027, which makes this a clean shot for the film to grab the box office.

People have been talking since CinemaCon, where those in attendance got a first look. Between Abrams’ sci-fi credentials and the casting, it hasn’t exactly slipped under the radar.

Other Warner Bros. Shuffle: More Than Just Sci-Fi

That’s not the only change. A couple of other 2027 dates have been switched around:

Sam Esmail’s Panic Carefully (that’s the new cyber-thriller starring Julia Roberts, Eddie Redmayne, Elizabeth Olsen, and Brian Tyree Henry) is moving back about six weeks, from 26 February to 9 April 2027. Warner aren’t just pushing it for the sake of it — the new date lands the film an IMAX release, so expect even more dramatic hacking montages than usual on those giant screens. If that Esmail/Roberts tag team sounds familiar, they last worked together on Leave the World Behind.

Meanwhile, New Line’s horror sequel Revenge of La Llorona is now pulling forward, swapping dates with Panic Carefully. Instead of 9 April as previously set, it's now coming out 26 February 2027. Santiago Menghini directs, this time sending a dysfunctional family (with distant curandero granddad in tow) up against the resurrected Weeping Woman. The original film, The Curse of La Llorona, was released back in 2019 and pulled over $120 million globally off a budget that barely registered by studio standards.

'The Great Beyond will now open 1 October 2027, after previously being scheduled for 13 November 2027. The new date has no other major releases, so it’s got the field to itself.'