DC Films The DC Studios News and Discussion Thread

[flickchick85]

Was there ever a comprehensive sum up done of whether it was profitable or not? I'm guessing from the lack of any hard data I can find that the answer was a resounding no.

The post-mortems done on the Discovery takeover by the trades AND the SnyderCult-focused piece in Rolling Stone indicated that it did not meet viewership expectations, and that Jason Kilar - the main proponent of the Snyder Cut at AT&T and the reason it got made - is largely responsible for the dire financial straits they find themselves in now, so yeah I think the safe answer is probably “no,” lol.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Someone really needs to write a book about the last decade of DC movies and all the behind the scenes changes in leadership and direction. Start with the development of Man Of Steel and Snyder getting the directing gig and go from there all the way up until now, maybe ending with the production of this new Gunn Superman movie to bookend it. That would make for one hell of a book.

 

[TheVileOne]

Its ironically his best received film on RT. lol

I'm happy we got it too and glad it stopped there. Snyder's plans beyond that movie did not sound very good and even more polarizing.

I am anxious to see a brand new Justice League movie with a fresh new direction.

Dawn of the Dead

Dawn of the Dead is still higher at the moment.

 

[TheVileOne]

The post-mortems done on the Discovery takeover by the trades AND the SnyderCult-focused piece in Rolling Stone indicated that it did not meet viewership expectations, and that Jason Kilar - the main proponent of the Snyder Cut at AT&T and the reason it got made - is largely responsible for the dire financial straits they find themselves in now, so yeah I think the safe answer is probably “no,” lol.

I'm still very skeptical about the streaming model because all I keep seeing are giant headlines about streamers losing millions upon billions.

Now honestly I don't know if this is true, but Variety did report this on the Snyder cut of Justice League:

From 'Batgirl' Fallout to Superman Reboot, What Awaits Next DC Chief - Variety

Privately, studio insiders have lamented that “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” never should’ve happened. Rather than quiet the unceasing online campaigning to #ReleasetheSnyderCut, the four-hour HBO Max feature only further entrenched the vocal and extremely online “Snyderverse” fanbase in opposition to the leadership at the studio in general and at DC in particular.

It does seem like there is some buyers remorse over the Snyder cut.

 

[Invader Joker]

That's the issue...

Only The Batman was great this year, thanks to Reeves and everyone (or not, cough WB cough) involved. Even with the Covid of it all and when the Volume was getting a lot of flack in Obi-Wan, we had Greig and Matt not letting those things hinder their production or output.

Raimi tried to with varying degrees and opinions... with DS2; yet was messy and ultimately Marvel tweaked too much with it.

Black Panther 2 was fine, from what I've heard. Yet still hindered by Marvel and outside forces like Chadwick's death. (didn't make it yet - rather go to Fabelmans/Banshees/Armageddon Time)

Thor 4 was easily a miss-step/failure for fans and the general opinion, more issues with Marvel production values, etc..

Black Adam, lol.

Morbius, lol... lol.

4 out of the 7 highest grossing films of the year are superhero movies.
The only reason the numbers for MCU films don't seem as high as other years is because of the lack of the China release.
If you discount China from the Thor Ragnarok box office, you'll see Love and Thunder actually made more. Dr. Strange made about the same amount as Civil War.

The only movie that had a significant decline was Black Panther and I think it'd be wise to attribute that to the passing of the lead character and the fact the movie was in a way a 2 hour and 40 minutes funeral.

Thor Love and Thunder alone proves superhero fatigue is not a thing because if a movie as mediocre as that one managed to surpass Ragnarok (again, discounting China from Ragnarok, since Love and Thunder did not release in China so it's obviously dumb to do a 1-1 comparison) then it's obvious audiences are still invested.

 

[Mani-Man]

It does seem like there is some buyers remorse over the Snyder cut.

They had little choice left sadly.
Once the "Fans" tricked the public into Support, WB had no choice.
The Momentum, the whedon scandal, they were in a place they couldnt get out.

But i think ZSJL ended up Not as Big of a success right?
Didnt raise the subscriber numbers that much and if i remember correctly, the number of people who never Finished the movie compared to how many started watching it, was very high.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I'm still very skeptical about the streaming model because all I keep seeing are giant headlines about streamers losing millions upon billions.

Now honestly I don't know if this is true, but Variety did report this on the Snyder cut of Justice League:

From 'Batgirl' Fallout to Superman Reboot, What Awaits Next DC Chief - Variety



It does seem like there is some buyers remorse over the Snyder cut.

The fact that the SnyderCut of JL ended with at least two sequel hooks didn't help matters any (Steppenwolf was just doing Darkseid's bidding, the post credit scene with Luthor and Deathstroke). The movie provided no sense of closure, so if you are a Snyder fan it only made you want to see more of it.

Unless they were prepared to allow Snyder to make more, they really shouldn't have greenlit giving him the money to finish the cut just for the sake of more subs for HBO Max.

 

[kguillou]

I dont think they EVER intended on greenlighting sequels to JL, i simply think Kilar saw an opportunity to use all that Snyder footage to his advantage and went with it. Also, remember the actual execs at Warner Bros proper: Emmerich, Hamada, Sarnoff etc did NOT want the Snyder cut. They were strong armed into it by Kilar and the At&t heads since they were their boss technically at the time. If it were up to WB, the snyder cut never would have been released.

Warner Bros unfortunately seems to be the most internally fractured major studio in Hollywood, none of the people in charge seem to be on the same page.

 

[Frodo]

I remember the days when a superhero film tanked or underperformed , the cast and crew, etc, would just take the L , move on, and try not to shine a light on it .

Even with the much derided B&R, Everyone involved during the immediate aftermath, were like
" Yeah... let's not talk about it".

They eventually did talk about it over the years of course , but back in the day, " A Turkey" wasn't something to linger on, publicly ,at least .

In terms of behind the scenes drama , the worst I remember hearing about in the 90s was the infamous Sean Young Catwoman incident ,and the tensions behind the scenes of Batman Forever.

But it was a different time and context anyway.

 

[Rijowhi]

Someone really needs to write a book about the last decade of DC movies and all the behind the scenes changes in leadership and direction. Start with the development of Man Of Steel and Snyder getting the directing gig and go from there all the way up until now, maybe ending with the production of this new Gunn Superman movie to bookend it. That would make for one hell of a book.

Go one step further…a movie. The documentary movie might make more money than the actual properties did…

 

[TheVileOne]

I dont think they EVER intended on greenlighting sequels to JL, i simply think Kilar saw an opportunity to use all that Snyder footage to his advantage and went with it. Also, remember the actual execs at Warner Bros proper: Emmerich, Hamada, Sarnoff etc did NOT want the Snyder cut. They were strong armed into it by Kilar and the At&t heads since they were their boss technically at the time. If it were up to WB, the snyder cut never would have been released.

Warner Bros unfortunately seems to be the most internally fractured major studio in Hollywood, none of the people in charge seem to be on the same page.

If I read it correctly I believe in one of the trades, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who are the heads of Warner Bros. were apparently on board with Cavill coming back as Superman and wanted him back.

Just to add to the whole internally fractured thing.

I guess that means Safran and Gunn can overrule De Luca and Abdy on some decisions where DC is concerned? It's still a weird situation to me.

 

[Invader Joker]

If I read it correctly I believe in one of the trades, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who are the heads of Warner Bros. were apparently on board with Cavill coming back as Superman and wanted him back.

Just to add to the whole internally fractured thing.

I guess that means Safran and Gunn can overrule De Luca and Abdy on some decisions where DC is concerned? It's still a weird situation to me.

De Luca and Abdy have zero control over DC whatsoever currently. They had control over DC only before Gunn and Safran came in, now they have none. They'll only collaborate when it comes to distribution and marketing but that's it.

James Gunn And Peter Safran Named DC Films Co-Chairmen & CEOs – Deadline

The duo will report to Zaslav, but will also be in close correspondence with Warner Bros Film Group co-chairs and CEOs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy on such matters as marketing, distribution and capital spend — just so everyone is on the same page.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

If I read it correctly I believe in one of the trades, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who are the heads of Warner Bros. were apparently on board with Cavill coming back as Superman and wanted him back.

Just to add to the whole internally fractured thing.

I guess that means Safran and Gunn can overrule De Luca and Abdy on some decisions where DC is concerned? It's still a weird situation to me.

My understanding is that De Luca and Abdy were only overseeing things until people were found to run the new DC Studios. They made the decision to bring Cavill back all the while they had to know that it wasn't likely to stick (maybe they assumed Black Adam was going to gross billions and The Rock was going to have all this clout afterwards... so they basically backed the wrong horse).

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

The post-mortems done on the Discovery takeover by the trades AND the SnyderCult-focused piece in Rolling Stone indicated that it did not meet viewership expectations, and that Jason Kilar - the main proponent of the Snyder Cut at AT&T and the reason it got made - is largely responsible for the dire financial straits they find themselves in now, so yeah I think the safe answer is probably “no,” lol.

Wow.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

The post-mortems done on the Discovery takeover by the trades AND the SnyderCult-focused piece in Rolling Stone indicated that it did not meet viewership expectations, and that Jason Kilar - the main proponent of the Snyder Cut at AT&T and the reason it got made - is largely responsible for the dire financial straits they find themselves in now, so yeah I think the safe answer is probably “no,” lol.

WB is in dire financial straits because AT&T loaded them with its enormous debt. The whole HBO Max debacle of 2021 is a blip on the radar compared to that.

 

[Herolee10]

Unless they plan on using "The Flash" to provide a story reason for relaunching the new DC Universe, I don't understand why they needed to remove Henry and Gal's scenes from the final film. Personally, I would have preferred seeing them make their final appearance together with the other OG members.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Unless they plan on using "The Flash" to provide a story reason for relaunching the new DC Universe, I don't understand why they needed to remove Henry and Gal's scenes from the final film. Personally, I would have preferred seeing them make their final appearance together with the other OG members.

I think the scenes they removed of them were post-credit scenes setting up their appearances in future movies (that are now not going to be made).

 

[Herolee10]

I think the scenes they removed of them were post-credit scenes setting up their appearances in future movies (that are now not going to be made).

Even if they were just post credit scenes, the film itself ends on a pretty big cliffhanger as well. Since it's a given that we won't see a continuation of this storyline, I don't see the harm of just keeping Henry and Gal's scenes as well.

 

[Revolverr]

That's the issue...

Only The Batman was great this year, thanks to Reeves and everyone (or not, cough WB cough) involved. Even with the Covid of it all and when the Volume was getting a lot of flack in Obi-Wan, we had Greig and Matt not letting those things hinder their production or output.

Raimi tried to with varying degrees and opinions... with DS2; yet was messy and ultimately Marvel tweaked too much with it.

Black Panther 2 was fine, from what I've heard. Yet still hindered by Marvel and outside forces like Chadwick's death. (didn't make it yet - rather go to Fabelmans/Banshees/Armageddon Time)

Thor 4 was easily a miss-step/failure for fans and the general opinion, more issues with Marvel production values, etc..

Black Adam, lol.

Morbius, lol... lol.

Black Panther II got the same critical reception as The Batman and will likely get more academy nominations, while TB will only get 1 for Makeup (tragic). So considering industry support BP takes the lead, it's the CBM doing the best this year.

Now if your post is just about personal opinions, forget my comment. You can consider great whatever you like

 

[FunkMiller]

Unless they plan on using "The Flash" to provide a story reason for relaunching the new DC Universe, I don't understand why they needed to remove Henry and Gal's scenes from the final film. Personally, I would have preferred seeing them make their final appearance together with the other OG members.

If the synopsis I’ve seen of the plot of The Flash is accurate, they just can’t end it like that anymore. There will have to be more reshoots done if the DCEU is dead, surely.

 

[Iceman]

These roles are meant to passed down from generation to generation .

Christopher Reeve said that he considered himself a temporary custodian of the Superman role, while he had it.

That's what I think of every actor who's donned the Batman and Zorro cowls, put on the Red S, put on the tux as Bond, etc.

I know there are fans nowadays who don't like the idea of recasts , but for me , it's a positive thing to see these characters carry on after an actor or actress has vacated the role.

It doesn't end just because an actor leaves the role.
The mantle goes on to the next actor or next generation , and then they do their own thing with it.

Nice compilation of transition pics there

I also believe these roles should continue to live on with new talented actors for new generations after the original classic actors have had their time.

 

[Herolee10]

Nice compilation of transition pics there

I also believe these roles should continue to live on with new talented actors for new generations after the original classic actors have had their time.

While I agree that recasts are necessary in the long run, I think the issue here is the timing and reason for why the DCEU cast were replaced.

 

[Frodo]

While I'm skeptical now is the time to reboot Wonder Woman, and especially after a billion Dollar film like Aquaman, the fact that they're all tied to a shared universe means, that if all the other characters are rebooted and recasted , than WW and Aquaman have to be recast as well in principle at least.

While I understand the principle, I'm still not convinced it's that great an idea to reboot a franchise like Aquaman ,which just started with a billion dollar entry .

Unless Aquaman 2 is garbage, it still seems a pretty risky thing to do , putting aside the desire to reboot the universe it belongs to.

This is one of the reasons why I'm glad Reeve's The Batman is remaining a standalone series.

If it's folded into a shared universe , and these new films aren't as strong or bad, Reeve's films are tied to them through continuity, in addition to limiting what Reeves can do story-wise because it has to be accountable to other films and filmmakers stories.

 

[kguillou]

This may sound like a crazy idea but I would have Wonder Woman III act as the final film in the DCEU and conceive it as a proper closing out of the universe. Gal is very well liked by the GA as Wonder Woman and I think she deserves at least one more more movie to go out on a high note. I would have Jason Mamoa, Cavill and Affleck guest star for one final definitive time and craft the story as a pseudo JL epic that says goodbye to everyone and then do a full reboot.

But thats just me.

 

[JannTosh]

1. Because Cavil is damaged goods with a poor public reputation as the character, while Robbie and Cena aren't?

2. Because Cavil clashes with Gunn's creative sensibilities and plans, while Robbie and Cena don't?

People need to stop treating movie casting as if its some act of karma, where refusing to fire everyone is an act of evil.

If Robbie and Cena are playing the same versions of the characters they played before then this isn’t a full reboot and it will make things more convoluted