All Things DCEU News, Discussion, and Speculation - Part 4

[superman-mos]

I know this isn’t really the place for the topic but I didn’t want to start a new thread elsewhere for nothing more than a thought. Anyone else think DC is missing the boat by not pushing their characters and their brands by not expanding on them in animation? I mean how awesome would a Superman, Batman, or Flash family animated series be? A cartoon that appealed to all fans of different ages that followed the adventures of Barry, Wally, Bart, and the other speedsters, Clark, Kara, Jon, and Conner, or Bruce, Dick, Barbara, Tim, and Damien ? I feel like they are sitting gold mines of potential that could expand their brands and bring more recognition. Also promote their comics... at the end of of the show advertise with a commercial like if you enjoy the adventures of Superman and friends be sure to check out their monthly adventures.... something more than what they do, I just feel like they are missing the boat

 

[Gamma Goliath]

The problem is cartoons have changed big time. There are barely any 30 minute cartoons that come on tv anymore. Which is why young justice season 3 is so much better off not on cartoon network anymore.

 

[2kt09]

Actually, that is what the rumored intent of this DC digital service is.
You get something new added every month.

 

[Limonade]

I've been watching Teen Titans Go! and it has so much charm and appeal, it's hard not to look at that and go, "I want to see a movie featuring these particular characters."

The writers seem to have so much fun coming up with this stuff... I hope one day most of them get picked up from the studio. Because it's too much fun not to have on the big screen.

 

[Gamma Goliath]

Do you mean adapting the characters in general or adapting TTG on the big screen. Because TTG is getting a movie already lol.

 

[MbJ]

Goyer gives a GLC update.

The Green Lantern Corps. film is "still in the works," despite a recent shakeup with the DC film universe, according to David Goyer.

Goyer confirmed the film is still coming when he spoke to IGN during the 2018 winter Television Critics Association press tour.

When asked when fans can expect updates on the film, Goyer said, "I don't know. Who knows, especially with what's currently going on with the DC universe? There's obviously a whole recalibration happening with that right now."

Goyer was referring to the reported reorganization of future DC films following the underwhelming performance of the Justice League film.

 

[2kt09]

Toby Emmerich has been named Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, with responsibility for worldwide production, marketing and distribution. Blair Rich will head global theatrical and home entertainment marketing as President, Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures Group and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

-Tsujihara

Under the new management structure, production, marketing, and distribution will report to Emmerich.

In 2016, Emmerich was promoted to president and chief content officer at the studio after a long run overseeing New Line, the Warners division responsible for “The Conjuring” and “Lord of the Rings” franchises. His latest promotion gives him more authority and autonomy. Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara will take a step back from day-to-day oversight of the movie operations.

 

[MydnightPhoenix]

Its just musical chairs at this point.

 

[brandeezy89]

Not exactly, so far Kevin's people have been demoted or fired. Sue Kroll was also apart of the green lighting process according to Variety. This is all leading up to Kevin being replaced

 

[MbJ]

What Warner Bros.’ Shake-Up Means for DC Films: Fewer Cooks, Finally

Warner Bros.’ disappointing “Justice League” has been called a “Frankenstein” — a mess of a movie patched together by too many parties, including two directors. But the studio hopes a major shakeup will make for a more streamlined process, and more successful superhero films.

After surviving two awkward years of greenlighting-by-committee, newly-minted Warner Bros. Pictures Chairman Toby Emmerich will now answer to no one but Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara.

“Toby has green light, I have red light,” Tsujihara told TheWrap.

The company announced Tuesday that 23-year veteran marketing chief Sue Kroll would step down to a producer gig. She was previously part of a committee to greenlight new film productions, a power that now solely belongs to Emmerich.

Fewer cooks in the kitchen will mean not just better decisions on what films to make, but on how to market them, one WB insider told TheWrap.

One marketing decision that seems misguided in retrospect? Excluding Henry Cavill’s Superman from “Justice League” advertising, in order to preserve the so-called surprise that the Man of Steel didn’t really die in “Batman v Superman.”

“The bizarre decision not to have Superman included in the marketing stopped ‘Justice League’ from potentially hitting $100 million opening weekend,” the insider said.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

wow so I guess killing off a superman, in just his second appearance, right before the first ever live action JL film turned out to be a not so great idea after all.

who would have thought.

 

[chamber-music]

They should of learned this after Green Lantern flopped. That movie was another too many cooks situation.

 

[Mandon Knight]

They should of learned this after Green Lantern flopped. That movie was another too many cooks situation.

Miss-type error there I think....

 

[MaceB]

They should of learned this after Green Lantern flopped. That movie was another too many cooks situation.

It really does seem to be their principle weakness in this genre. There's no one leading the ship. There are a lot of competing demands from folks who honestly don't appreciate the source material. They have yet to actually go all in with DC and actually play in the land that they've been given. A large chunk of folks just don't seem to get it over there.

 

[MbJ]

wow so I guess killing off a superman, in just his second appearance, right before the first ever live action JL film turned out to be a not so great idea after all.

who would have thought.

Yeah it was way too soon to kill Superman.

 

[Frodo]

In theory , it sounds as if they're moving in the right direction. We'll see if in practice that's what ends up happening. If they are truly leaving the Marvel approach behind , as the Wrap article suggests , that's even better.

 

[BestGirl]

Lol, sure, not including Superman in the marketing is what killed JL's opening weekend, not the fact that it followed the dumpster fire that was BVS.

 

[misslane38]

Justice League flopped because it was bad. It being bad exacerbated and/or enabled BvS to have an impact. Had JL been good, and got good critical and audience response as a result, then that would have drawn people to the theaters regardless of the lack of Superman marketing and the lack of enthusiasm for BvS.

It would have also been obvious, after people had seen the movie, that Superman was in it. Marketing could have even felt more free to push that angle following the premiere, if they felt it would help. Sure, opening weekend is when films make a lot of their money, but some films like Wonder Woman can build over time. Justice League could have been that if response had been good, and I doubt there is any actual data to back up the claim/excuse that the opening weekend would have been substantially improved with Superman in the marketing.

It was a dud movie that got the dud results that it deserved.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

I’d also mention that it has to do with audience reception of previous installments, but it’s all hearsay at this point.

 

[2kt09]

Warner Bros. has added Michael De Luca to produce “Suicide Squad 2,” sources tell Variety.

Variety first reported the news that Warner Bros. would be re-configuring the look of its DC Universe, including the arrangement of executives in charge of each film. The addition of De Luca seems to signal that the studio would prefer having a central figure focused on a single project rather then having one individual oversee several films, as Charles Rovin and Zack Snyder had been doing up until these recent stumbles.

 

[misslane38]

I’d also mention that it has to do with audience reception of previous installments, but it’s all hearsay at this point.

I found this blog post helped put things in perspective. It is an attempt at using actual data to draw conclusions about the effect of audience reception of previous installments on the box office of JL. The comments, however, were the most interesting and insightful, particularly this comment from "DrAwkward" who said:

I like the math but I think what you're trying to get at with it is distinguishing between opening reception (as influenced by prior films) versus subsequent reception (as influenced by the film itself, WOM, etc). There is justification in the figures you pick for the model but problems as well as we've discussed elsewhere.

That said, thinking about it, I feel like there's already a ton of math already addressing what you're trying to get at... and I think it's embodied in tracking. Professional tracking is by no means infallible but it's definitely highly multi-dimensional analysis attempting to predict pre-release box office. I have to believe that any credible attempt at tracking for JL would have factored in the general reception to BvS as part of the analysis. I have to believe that tracking is based on data, polls, etc. and not just blind guessing, otherwise no one would pay them for their analysis.

So that suggests that tracking firms collected data and still came away with generally optimistic (if soft-ish) views on OW and, therefore, whatever effect BvS may have had on JL (etc). Unless the tracking can be totally discredited and discounted, it seems that the outlook for JL WAS healthy and THEN turned.

I don't agree with the narrative that the turning is entirely because of what JL was as a product, but I don't think it's completely off the hook just because reception to BvS was mixed either. If it was, the tracking should have been lower throughout.

I could be putting too much faith in tracking... but then that means dedicated professional maths are failing to capture / predict the audience anyways, so we're not going to solve / absolve / vindicate / prove / exonerate narratives with maths regardless. We need people to be open to alternative explanations that don't agree with their preconceptions just in principle and this is a good attempt at trying to crack some of them.

Ultimately, while I think reception of prior films was a factor, I don't think it was inevitable its influence would have doomed JL. If JL had been a solid product by itself, it would have been able to overcome most of the effects of what came before it.

 

[BestGirl]

So why did JL tracking turn?

 

[TheVileOne]

Why does The Wrap article use a bunch of random tweets about the lack of Superman marketing for Justice League?

 

[TheVileOne]

What Warner Bros.’ Shake-Up Means for DC Films: Fewer Cooks, Finally

Yet another major shake-up to fix things. Welcome back to May 2016.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/batman-v-superman-fallout-warner-895174

 

[Superchan]

What Warner Bros.’ Shake-Up Means for DC Films: Fewer Cooks, Finally

Snyder's superman is derided by most and I really don't think that having him in the marketing would've changed much (if anything at all) in the box office.

IMO what really killed JL were 2 things: First is the crapfest that was BvS, a movie so hated by the general audience that it holds the dubious record for the worst multiplier for any 100 million dollar opening movie in hollywood history!
The second ofcourse is the crap fest that is JL, which was essentially yet another crappy Snyder movie with crappy Whedon dialogue added in for good effect.

As for the WB restructuring, well Tsujihara and co are still there and if the wrap's report about the bonuses was true then reshuffling the execs is the equivalent of fixing a ferrari with a faulty engine by changing the paint job.