Warner Bros. Hopes Third Time is a Charm as a New DC Films Head is Announced



First it was Zack Synder who was tasked with being the backbone of building the DC Extended Universe and that didn't go too well as he was replaced after BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE was critically panned and saw historic second weekend box office drops. So Warner Bros. turned to Jon Berg and Geoff Johns to head up their DC superhero films after SUICIDE SQUAD was critically panned, too.

WONDER WOMAN looked to be turning a corner for Warner Bros. and the DCEU, but then JUSTICE LEAGUE released this past November and is the worst performing DCEU movie yet. A change of directors, reshoots that cost at least a reported $10 million (and potentially much more), a $300 million-plus production budget, and a poor marketing campaign all combined to the problem of its bad performance.

JUSTICE LEAGUE was supposed to the film that took Warner Bros. to the next level and into the $1 billion tier. It was their big ensemble DC movie fans everywhere eagerly anticipated for decades. Seeing Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg together on the big screen for the first time should've netted at least $1 billion worldwide but instead it might not even hit $665 million worldwide. Heck, it might not even beat out Superman's solo movie MAN OF STEEL, which took in $668 million worldwide.

Which bring us to the third attempt by Warner Bros. to right the ship as a new head of DC Films has been named, per Variety. Walter Hamada, who has produced huge horror hits for New Line (owned by WB) including IT, THE CONJURING, and several others has taken over.

As part of a shake-up of its DC film operations, Warner Bros. is promoting Walter Hamada to oversee its comic book movies, Variety has learned. He will serve as president of DC-based film production. In December, the studio decided to replace Jon Berg and Geoff Johns as the heads of the DC movies. Berg became a production partner with Roy Lee, the producer of “The Lego Movie” and “It,” who has a deal on the lot. 
Johns remains at DC as a president and chief creative officer, but his portfolio doesn’t just involve film. He will continue to provide creative guidance into the company’s television and comic book efforts. In an official announcement of Hamada’s hire, Warner Bros. said Johns will “work closely” with the new production president. 
The move comes as DC is looking for more quality control of its big-screen efforts — the studio captured acclaim and box office bonanza with last summer’s “Wonder Woman,” but was savaged by critics for “Suicide Squad” and “Justice League.” There is widespread frustration over DC’s failure to match the popularity of Marvel movies.

This task might be one of the most challenging with constant reports of Time Warner and Warner Bros. executives allegedly mandating reshoots and recuts of past DCEU films during post-production giving moviegoers a subpar theatrical release. Warner Bros. execs have tried to fix this problem by releasing extended cuts for BATMAN V. SUPERMAN, SUICIDE SQUAD, and one for JUSTICE LEAGUE now rumored to possibly be coming soon too. Although this seems to have just angered fans even more wondering why those longer cuts couldn't have just been released in theaters in the first place.

If Hamada can fix the DCEU, so critics and fans enjoy these films as they did with WONDER WOMAN, then that's fantastic. But that is also easier said than done... just ask Snyder, Berg, and Johns.

Currently, AQUAMAN is in post-production for its release this December. WONDER WOMAN 2 is in development, as is director Matt Reeves' Batman movie, and SHAZAM! is in pre-production and will begin filming in the coming months. There are other films rumored to be in some early development, too, but that could all change now that Hamada is in charge of DC Films.


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