Future of DC Films (DCEU)

[ironwez20]

I love the extra brutality in the Wonder Woman previz there. The similarities to what ended up in the movie are definitely more indisputable proof that Snyder and Damon Caro are the ones responsible for the quality of the action scenes in Wonder Woman 1. This is the Twitter link to a cleaner version of the video:

Interesting. Well thank you snyder for that. I don’t agree with his work but good on him for actually pushing for a Wonder Woman movie cause let’s be honest here. She is the most popular female superhero and DC/WB have been treating her like trash for decades.

 

[JediJones]

Toby Emmerich Out As Warner Bros Motion Picture Group Chairman; Michael De Luca & Pam Abdy To Lead Studio​

By Anthony D'Alessandro, Mike Fleming Jr
June 1, 2022 9:19am

https://deadline.com/2022/06/toby-emmerich-warner-bros-departure-1235036598/

 

[Alatar]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/michael-de-luca-pam-abdy-warner-bros-1235157014/
In addition to Toby Emmerich leaving, Hamada will be replaced as well, the article says.

Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy will head the entire film division. Zaslav is still looking for someone to head what will be the newly created DC Studios, to be “czar” of DC films in roughy the same way the Kevin Feige is for the MCU.

Mike DeLuca at one point was going to produce the sequel to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad before WB shut down development of the Snyderverse. He’s worked before with Chuck Roven. Extrapolate from that what you will!

 

[JediJones]

It's difficult to find a theme in De Luca's producing resume. He does seem to lean much more to darker or more adult-geared stuff. But also often schlockier stuff. There aren't a lot of kids movies on his resume. He had credits on Ghost Rider, Spawn, Blade, Dark City, The Mask, DC's The Kitchen, the 50 Shades series, Dracula Untold, Fright Night, Judge Dredd, Austin Powers, The Love Guru, American History X, various Paul Thomas Anderson movies, etc. Combined with Zaslav's love for the Joker movie and apparently bringing in Todd Phillips to advise on DC films now, we could end up getting a weirder approach to DC films where the films get lower-budget and less kid-friendly. Which would be the antithesis of the MCU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_De_Luca

 

[Alatar]

More reporting to the effect that Zaslav wants to make a Cavil Superman film. Question here is does “start from scratch” mean literally? Like s in erasing MoS, BvS, and ZSJL? Personally, I highly doubt that. But time will tell.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/inside-david-zaslav-overhaul-warner-001756251.html

 

[Alatar]

It's difficult to find a theme in De Luca's producing resume. He does seem to lean much more to darker or more adult-geared stuff. But also often schlockier stuff. There aren't a lot of kids movies on his resume. He had credits on Ghost Rider, Spawn, Blade, Dark City, The Mask, DC's The Kitchen, the 50 Shades series, Dracula Untold, Fright Night, Judge Dredd, Austin Powers, The Love Guru, American History X, various Paul Thomas Anderson movies, etc. Combined with Zaslav's love for the Joker movie and apparently bringing in Todd Phillips to advise on DC films now, we could end up getting a weirder approach to DC films where the films get lower-budget and less kid-friendly. Which would be the antithesis of the MCU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_De_Luca

Yeah, I noticed that as well. He‘s all over the map.

 

[Victοr]

It's difficult to find a theme in De Luca's producing resume. He does seem to lean much more to darker or more adult-geared stuff. But also often schlockier stuff. There aren't a lot of kids movies on his resume. He had credits on Ghost Rider, Spawn, Blade, Dark City, The Mask, DC's The Kitchen, the 50 Shades series, Dracula Untold, Fright Night, Judge Dredd, Austin Powers, The Love Guru, American History X, various Paul Thomas Anderson movies, etc. Combined with Zaslav's love for the Joker movie and apparently bringing in Todd Phillips to advise on DC films now, we could end up getting a weirder approach to DC films where the films get lower-budget and less kid-friendly. Which would be the antithesis of the MCU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_De_Luca

So you're telling me that they could potentially cancel JJ's awful productions, and give us some proper Vertigo? I don't care, that's my headcanon now. Now I'm off to hype myself with literally 0 proof and then be inevitably let down when I don't get Dan Stevens as JonCon...

 

[Garlador]

With Amber Heard’s headlines-making courtroom loss, what are the over/under odds WB just cuts her few scenes or recasts with an interchangeable model?

 

[ironwez20]

WB is in deep water. Amber heard and Ezra. Like they are probably scrambling right now.

 

[Alatar]

It's difficult to find a theme in De Luca's producing resume. He does seem to lean much more to darker or more adult-geared stuff. But also often schlockier stuff. There aren't a lot of kids movies on his resume. He had credits on Ghost Rider, Spawn, Blade, Dark City, The Mask, DC's The Kitchen, the 50 Shades series, Dracula Untold, Fright Night, Judge Dredd, Austin Powers, The Love Guru, American History X, various Paul Thomas Anderson movies, etc. Combined with Zaslav's love for the Joker movie and apparently bringing in Todd Phillips to advise on DC films now, we could end up getting a weirder approach to DC films where the films get lower-budget and less kid-friendly. Which would be the antithesis of the MCU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_De_Luca

Yeah, I noticed that as well. He‘s all over the map.

 

[Alatar]

WB is in deep water. Amber heard and Ezra. Like they are probably scrambling right now.

Ezra is reportedly currently completing ADR. I don't think they're firing him. This assumes that he's in treatment and keeps a low profile moving forward.

Heard... yeah they could very well replace her entirely. Court of public opinion is, overall, most definitely against her after all that court room drama.

I think things are looking up. Otherwise everything will undergo a massive overhaul, I think. They're abandoning the direction Emmerich and Hamada had taken.

Nothing concrete will be announced until they hire the new DC Studios (if that's what they call it) "czar." But I predict the new direction will actually be well received overall.

Here's a prediction: The first thing that will be announced will be a Henry Cavill Superman solo film set between MoS and BvS that shows him being a much more classical Superman. And the audience will eat it up.

 

[Alatar]

Re: the Wrap article article that says Zaslav wants to “start from scratch” regarding Superman, I suspect that means to scrap the other two projects that were on the slate for Superman, scrap the idea for Supergirl to replace Superman, and go back to continuing with Cavill as Superman. Presumably the original plan was for Henry to get MoS 2 before WB decided to pull the plug on the Snyderverse after the poor critical reception to BvS.

But if whoever is quoted in that article meant ”go back to the original plan” and they chose this language instead that is curious.

Anyway, imho by now they have far too much invested in the current universe to simply pretend none of it ever happened. Wonder Woman 2017 and Aquaman are very popular films. Presumably they still wish to complete those trilogies. ZSJL has been well received. Even at the r/DC_Cinematic subreddit most Snyder haters still like MoS overall. I honestly don’t know how popular Shazam, BoP, and TSS are. They were well received critically but none of them made a lot of money at the box office. I rarely see posts about them at DC_Cinematic. Like once in a blue moon, really.

There’s definitely plenty of interest among the fanbase to see the Ayer Cut. Mike DeLuca, the new co-CEO of the WBD film division, in 2016 wanted to produce the sequel to Ayer’s SS!

In any event, I just don’t see them somehow completely undoing the groundwork they have already laid to try to retell all these stories of the JLers starting from scratch. I do see them course correcting the stories to tell a more coherent MCU style narrative. With Henry Cavill back atop that pyramid. Despite what Dwayne Johnson says, lol. And it wouldn’t surprise me the slightest bit if Johnson truly hoped that he could convert the clearly villainous Black Adam character into an antihero who eventually becomes a “good guy” that replaces Superman in that universe. Because WB felt Superman is too boring. If so, I think that will now not happen, thankfully.

 

[JediJones]

The Wrap article has two quotes about Hamada that says he either might stay, or that he's set to be just a placeholder until they choose a new DC leader. It definitely seems questionable he'll stay now that almost everyone else has been booted who had authority over DC Films. Hamada is essentially the architect of the post-Snyder DC film slate, having exec. produced every film from Aquaman through Flash next year, including Joker and The Batman. He had no involvement with DC films before Aquaman. The one defining mantra of this era has been to almost completely abandon shared universe continuity and treat every film as a stand-alone. That's predictably led to wildly inconsistent box office results. One thing it's not is a good plan for taking on the MCU head-to-head. So I'd say that's why he'll likely get the boot. These articles so far make it sound like Zaslav is trying to model the new WB structure off of Disney, which probably means he wants DC to compete on the same level as the MCU.

The article says "start fresh" with Cavill only in the context of abandoning any current plans for a Superman movie, such as Abrams'. It means continuing with Cavill, but starting the script from a blank page, likely with new creatives. This is what the article says about Cavill:

What could the new DC plan be going forward? Will the new DC chief follow the plan laid out by “The Flash” movie or start something new altogether?

“If anything, they’ll go back to individual movies unless De Luca has some plan,” according to a DC insider. “They need to get a f—ing Superman movie off the ground, and if the plan is a shared universe, a [Henry] Cavill-led Superman needs to be the focal point.”

The DC insider added that Zaslav’s team “should scratch every Superman project in development and start fresh with Cavill.”

Abandoning the DCEU and starting from scratch definitely seems to be much riskier than continuing with what they have, when many of these films have been solid successes. And it's clear there is huge fan and/or general audience support for Cavill, Gadot, Momoa and Affleck in their roles. And Zaslav seems to be the antithesis of a risk-taker. He's trying to go back to a larger theatrical-exclusive film slate, rolling back all the 'new thinking' of the streaming era to go back to what they were doing 10 years ago. He wants streaming to essentially function as the old HBO, not something they'll sink huge budgets into to make theatrical-style films.

The big problem is The Flash, and its intentions for 'resetting' the DCEU. It could commit the DCEU to a future plan that Zaslav had no say in developing. Will it make sense under Zaslav's vision to have Michael Keaton enter the DCEU as its Batman? Or whatever happens with Superman? Will the film have to go through yet more reshoots to change the outcome? The Flash may be the perfect opportunity to 'reset' the DCEU however Zaslav wants to, but it would likely entail reshoots. And we still don't know how well Zaslav understands DC canon or things like the multiverse.

The obvious choice to produce a new Superman film is Chris McQuarrie, as it was in 2018 when Emmerich stupidly rejected him. Problem is, after the smash success of the new Top Gun, McQuarrie, Kosinski and Cruise will be being solicited by every studio in Hollywood. They'll be able to do whatever they want, and for a higher salary than they would've cost in 2018. But if they really want to do Superman or Green Lantern, and would turn down other things to do it, then it's still possible. Chances are though they'll be moving right on to the safe bet of another Top Gun sequel. It's possible McQuarrie could do both though since he's only a writer/producer on Top Gun.

As for what it means for Snyder, it's more likely he'll come back to do something if Hamada is booted. Hamada being booted also removes the last obstacle to having Ray Fisher return. But I think Snyder's going to have to make the first move. Him or his agent will have to make overtures to the new leadership at WB and make their pitch. A new executive is probably not going to want to revive any ideas from the past as his own personal suggestion. They're going to want to look like they're coming up with new ideas. And Abrams and likely others will be pitching too if WB is taking pitches.

I don't think Snyder would want to campaign to head up DC including the publishing arm. That's more of a business than creative position. If JL 2 and 3 aren't in the cards, I think a Dark Knight Returns HBO Max series could be a possibility. Snyder has said he wants to adapt it and that he didn't think it would cost that much. It would be in line with the kind of content Phillips' The Joker was. And it would give Batman a presence on the small screen that he hasn't had in live-action in 50 years. As a movie, it would probably be too large-scale to adapt as a single movie, and it would put potentially 3 Batmans in theaters at the same time, which seems like overexposure. Snyder is of course the obvious choice to adapt a dark Frank Miller graphic novel directly to the screen. And it would certainly be a huge viewership draw as an HBO Max exclusive. Especially if the leads are as strong as Josh Brolin and Willem Dafoe.

If the "stand-alone" strategy is abandoned, then I think Matt Reeves will be told to wrap up his Batman films in a trilogy, just like Nolan did. Maybe that will give him the freedom to take more risks and do something more original.

As for Amber Heard, the media is working full force to cover for her by claiming Depp and her "both" lost the trial, or both won or tied. I think WB keeps her in Aquaman 2, but does not bring her back for any sequels. Editing someone out of a movie seems extreme when they haven't been charged with a crime. I don't think Ezra would've been hired in the wake of these charges against him, but they're stuck with him now. And they don't have to worry about the media talking about him yet, but who knows what comes up when the movie publicity starts. If he can get mental health treatment and truly stay out of trouble, then he has a slim chance to come back again as Flash. If the DCEU continues, then I could see them simply recasting both roles a la Ed Norton in the MCU.

On a side note, it seems like only a matter of time before a new Austin Powers movie is made. De Luca produced the originals, and it should be a low enough budget that Zaslav would like to do it. Myers has been hinting about it for a while now. And even though his new Netflix series bombed, that may only help matters, by making it easier for WB to pay him less, and by making Myers want to return to a safe bet.

 

[jye4ever]

In five years, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man received three solo movies and starred in three Avenger films (including Captain America: Civil War). In a span of 10 years, the Guardians of the Galaxy will have starred in three solo films. In just 11 years, Chris Hemsworth’s Marvel superhero received four solo movies and starred in four Avenger movies while also playing an integral part in the MCU series What If…? on Disney+.

In nine years, Henry Cavill’s Superman has received just one film.

 

[JediJones]

Well, to be fair, He had one solo film, one team-up film and one team film (not counting its director's cut as a separate film). That was 3 films in a span of 5 years. The deafening radio silence in the 5 years and counting since is where it all went wrong. This would be the rough equivalent to Thor having never appeared again in the MCU after Age of Ultron.

And, of course, the DCEU's Batman isn't faring any better.

 

[jye4ever]

Rest assured the Snyder team is being reassembled.

 

[Alatar]

WB (Emmerich) developed an unbelievably bad plan to 1) bench Cavill/Superman, 2) drive Ben Affleck away (this happened when then newly appointed co-CEO of DC Films Geoff Johns attached himself as cowriter to his solo Batman film, after which Ben began to get peevish when asked about the film and complained that he “just couldn‘t crack the script”—please, lol), 3) replace Batman and Superman with Batgirl and Supergirl!

Zaslav comes in and is like dude, wtf?! You’re so fired.

Because it was epically bad judgment. Whatever one feels about Snyder this is just horribly bad business sense.

 

[JediJones]

The other thing that led to the ruination of WB's DCEU strategy is WB hiring Matt Reeves. Reeves was hired to replace Affleck as director, while Affleck was still supposed to star in the movie. WB gave Reeves the full creative control he asked for, which he used to reject Affleck's script, decide to focus on Batman's "younger years," which seemed to be the turning point when Affleck was forced out as actor, and finally flat out deciding to set the film outside of the DCEU. WB fed into the ego of this director, to the detriment of their entire shared universe.

WB throwing out any serious concept of shared universe continuity may be seen as part of WB's "do everything exactly the opposite of what BVS did" strategy post-BVS. But I think it's really more about the studio executives' utter ignorance of DC canon. All they could do was hire a director and tell them to "knock themselves out" because the executives had no clue as to what a properly connected DC universe should look like. And there aren't many people around like Snyder who both love and respect the entirety of DC canon and who also understand filmmaking. So virtually any director WB hired was going to be all too happy to take full creative control and do a personal, auteur project where they didn't have to consult with anybody else.

Wikipedia's timeline says Reeves was hired and Affleck was intended to be removed from the movie MONTHS BEFORE Justice League even came out in fall 2017. Hollywood Reporter said the plans were in place to force him out even before Affleck appeared at SDCC to promote JL. It appears Affleck may not have publicly confirmed he was out of the movie until January 2019 though. The crux of the reasons he stated for leaving seem to be related to the JL rewrites and reshoots. But it basically sounds like it wasn't his choice. Matt Reeves made decisions that left no room for Affleck to be in The Batman, and WB seemed to have no interest in using Affleck in anything else, until of course The Flash.

The unreasoning, extremely over-reactive post-BVS "do everything the opposite of BVS" strategy can't be understated. This is why they forced Snyder out. This is why they tried to add "humor" to EVERY DCEU movie after that, both the ones currently in production and future ones. This is why they abandoned all efforts to do shared continuity, teases and crossovers in future movies, at least until The Flash. This is why they literally have refused to use Cavill and Affleck in any other movie again, except in The Flash, where apparently the plan was to write them out with one last hurrah for Affleck. It was pure insanity to not have a more logical, nuanced, measured, reasonable strategy to respond to some of the negative reaction BVS got.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Batman_(film)

Reeves...moved to the top of the shortlist and entered negotiations after meeting with Warner Bros. on February 10, 2017.[93] Warner Bros. sent Reeves a copy of the script, but Reeves felt that Affleck's take, while "totally valid", was not the film he wanted to make.[95] Reeves only wanted to join if he was guaranteed creative control, and Warner Bros. Pictures Group chair Toby Emmerich—who wanted an "auteur" to make the next Batman film—was impressed by his initial ideas.[96] ...Reeves was hired to direct The Batman on February 23.[97][98] Reeves was not willing to share his full vision with the studio while he was working on War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), and Warner Bros. agreed to delay production until he was available.[95]

Reeves began working on the script in March 2017.[100] He initially planned to keep The Batman's connections to the DCEU, and spoke with Affleck during the writing process,[101] but soon reworked the story to focus on Batman earlier in his vigilante career,[102] with plans to cast a younger actor to play Batman;[103] Warner Bros. was planning to replace Affleck by July 2017.[104]

When Reeves decided to focus on Batman earlier in his vigilante career, he began writing a new script from scratch.[102][104] Affleck's script had taken an action-driven, "James Bond-ian" approach, but Reeves wanted a more personal narrative that "rock[ed Batman] to his core".[95] He wanted to explore how the Batman mythos could exist in the real world...

Reeves originally intended for his version of The Batman to be set in the DCEU,[101][115] but eventually decided that this would distract from Batman's character arc and asked Warner Bros. for the creative freedom to move outside of the shared universe.[116] Reeves wanted to be able to create a version of Batman with a "personal aspect to it", and felt he should not be obligated to connect it to other aspects of the DCEU.[117] Warner Bros.' incorporation of the multiverse in its DC productions allowed Reeves to take the project in his own direction;[116] as a consequence, the film takes place in a separate world known as "Earth-2".[118][119]

 

[Prime Clone]

TB may have been a financial success, and yes it gave us yet another killer rendition of Bats... but at what cost?

 

[Garlador]

TB may have been a financial success, and yes it gave us yet another killer rendition of Bats... but at what cost?

Just you wait until the sequel.

Bruce: “Who the hell are you?”

John Stewart emerges from the shadows: “I’m here talk to you about the Justice League Initiative.”