The Future of the DCEU (2022)

That’s an interesting choice. I don’t know if he’s fan friendly enough but then again fans are very divided these days. What about Phillips being an advisor appeals to you?

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@mccaggers91

That’s an interesting choice. I don’t know if he’s fan friendly enough but then again fans are very divided these days. What about Phillips being an advisor appeals to you?

Of course, his movie is the third highest grossing movie in the history of Warner Bros. – behind Aquaman, surprisingly at number #1, and The Dark Knight Rises at number #2.

So fan-friendly or not, people saw his movie. :smiling_face:

But yeah, I know what you mean. Online it’s mixed. But in the real world it made a billion dollars and got 11 Oscar nominations. And of course the real world is what matters.

And why does he appeal to me?

Well, I consider the Joker to be the greatest comic book movie ever made.

I consider The Batman to be the greatest super-hero movie ever made; and comic book for Joker because he’s not a super-hero.

So I like what he did with the movie.

I didn’t even see the Joker in the theater. When they announced it I thought it was an interesting idea. And I thought the trailer was interesting.

But I didn’t bother to go see it in the theater. I was still living in New York and was really busy that fall – the only movie I think I got a chance to see for a couple of years was First Man, that Neil Armstrong movie (it was probably the only movie that I wanted to see anyway too).

Anyway, I saw Joker when it came to HBO. And that’s when it was like, “Oh my god, this is really good. Great, even.”

So yeah, I like his sensibilities. I like that he can take a character like the Joker and do something really fascinating with him that I would have never really thought of… but yet is kind of an obvious thing to do.

I have no problem whatsoever with different takes on these characters – and really prefer it, to be honest. Them being similar to the comics has never been a criteria for me – I can just read the comics for that. No, just make them interesting to me is all I care about.

That’s why I was so excited about Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Superman project.

I love Superman, but my god, I haven’t really liked much of anything that Warner Bros. has done with him since 1980 when I was a little kid. So this was an opportunity for something potentially interesting to me.

I’ve read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ essays and articles for a number of years, and so I like his sensibilities too. So let me see what he would do with Superman, and a Black one to boot. The rumored take of “can’t fly, but able to leap tall buildings in a single bound; and a love letter to Siegel and Shuster” sounds perfect to me.

It sounds like something that Todd Phillips might do. :smiling_face:

So Todd Phillips as an advisor is cool with me.

Better probably though like I said, for something like a “DC Black” or “DC Black Label” movie studio. Or, y’know, just stand-alone stuff. Character studies like the Joker. That sort of thing.

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So here’s one possible thing in the future…

Journalist Erik Davis posted on Twitter about an interview he had with Elba. “I just spoke with Idris Elba about his new film Beast,” he said. “I asked what we’ll see him in next - a Marvel project or DC, and he said DC. He said he’s got a really big thing cooking for DC right now.”

In The Suicide Squad, Elba starred as Robert DuBois/Bloodsport, a deadly assassin equipped with a vast arsenal of expanding weapons. Elba has stated his interest in exploring the event that got Bloodsport locked up in Belle Reve in the first place: shooting Superman with a kryptonite bullet. “It wouldn’t be next, it would be what came before. I would be really interested to see why he went to jail, why did he shoot Superman,” Elba said. “I would love to see that narrative come alive.”

The Suicide Squad I didn’t really care about it, and I never even bothered with the first one.

Just the same, I’d check out an Idris Elba HBO Max series with him respiring his role as Bloodsport. I could get into that.

And a Black person actually getting work at Warner Bros. under David Zaslav. Will wonders never cease. :smile:

(And I kid.)

Anyway, James Gunn is working on more DC stuff, isn’t he?

If so, this could be one of them.

I loved Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation

I remember subscribing to Netflix specifically to watch that. I think it was one of their first “original” movies.

I’d of course love Idris Elba for Icon, but that’s probably a pipe dream.

So no Augustus Freeman, but I guess maybe more Robert DuBois Bloodsport.

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Yes, but a studio’s idea of “the best film possible” isn’t the same as everyone else’s idea of the best film possible. :wink:

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Actually no. They very often just try to make a cheaper film that has a goal of making everybody go “meh, I kind of liked it.”

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More possible future stuff, from a couple of days ago…

And this is what’s of interest to me…

WBD President and CEO David Zaslav spent time with Abrams before the close of the merger earlier this year and is a fan. The issue is that not enough of his creations have been realized. Part of this is down to timing, some of it is down to money. On the feature side, Abrams is coming off a major deal at Paramount, where he launched Cloverfield, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. The rub: he is still involved in these franchises, particularly with another Cloverfield movie in the works and a Star Trek sequel poised to start production later this year.

Abrams does have a number of feature films in the works at WBD: they include a Superman film that Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing, supernatural revenge-western The Pinkerton, a project based on Dr. Seuss book Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, a DC movie based around Zatanna that Emerald Fennell writing and a live-action Hot Wheels live-action movie. But Warner Bros. Pictures is facing some of the same issues that Paramount faced when Abrams was directing Star Wars films for Disney.

As for Abrams’ television slate, the decision on Demimonde came down to budget. Bad Robot wanted to stay firm on the Danielle Deadwyler-fronted series’ budget of around $240M while Warner Bros. Television and HBO were looking to rein in costs. This wasn’t the first Abrams’ series to be canned at the company. HBO Max opted not to proceed with The Shining spinoff Overlook, which was part of the inaugural Bad Robot slate at the streamer, last August.

So the Ta-Nehisi Coates Black Superman is still not dead yet.

So maybe it will still happen…

Fingers crossed on my part. :smiling_face:

And this other JJ thing…

One HBO Max project that sources point to as being on solid ground and moving along is Constantine, a darker reboot of the DC Comics character from British writer Guy Bolton. The project is set around a diverse lead, rather than the one played by Matt Ryan in the 2014 NBC series and The CW’s Arrowverse, or the 2005 Keanu Reeves feature film.

The Constantine thing with rumored British-Nigerian actor Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù.

That’s not dead yet either.

Very interesting. Because I would watch that. And I can see them doing that.

And I won’t make another “Black actors still working at Warner Bros. under David Zaslav” joke. I can’t think of a funny one. :smile:

Warner Bros. Stock keeps falling. Its down to $13.05. Seems to me that Zaslav is bad for Business.

Hopefully this will make them halt their idea to merge streaming services and to treat those working for them better. Maybe not cancel movies that are 90% done in the future.

But yeah unless Black Adam, Shazam 2 & Aquaman 2 can make money back DC live action films are going to be in a bad place. Because you know that The Flash is gonna bomb. Ezra Miller is too toxic at this point to do the brand any good. They keep commiting crimes and that’s definitely going to negatively effect the box office!

Anywho here’s hoping WBD eventually gets better management and people that will step back and let the creatives at the studios do their jobs without fear of a project being axed after it’s finished!

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I think we should buy the company and make it work for us! :moneybag::moneybag::dollar::money_with_wings:

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@SuperBrainiac

Warner Bros. Stock keeps falling. Its down to $13.05. Seems to me that Zaslav is bad for Business.

The whole market was down today. :laughing:

Relax.

And curious what you’re going to say when the stock goes up?

Anywho here’s hoping WBD eventually gets better management and people that will step back and let the creatives at the studios do their jobs without fear of a project being axed after it’s finished!

Warner Bros. I believe are doing 12 movies next year, and who knows how many television shows – the pressroom page is constantly updated.

How many movies did they cancel: two or three? And all of them were coming to HBO Max.

And they cancelled that Strange Adventures show that I don’t think anyone was going to watch. And I guess the rumor (and it’s only rumor at this point) that the Green Lantern show is cancelled too.

Neither one of those surprise me.

Anyway, give it about a year… not like three days or whatever. :smiling_face:

No one turns things around overnight.

EDIT:

And scratch that, I guess the Green Lantern show is going forward after all, per The Hollywood Reporter…

Green Lantern remains on track at the streamer, sources say, with Finn Wittrockand Jeremy Irvine set to star and Lee Toland Krieger (Superman & Lois, You) on board to direct the first two episodes. Sources say all involved are taking their time with the effects-heavy show — the priciest series Berlanti Productions has ever mounted — in order to get it right. (Berlanti co-wrote the screenplay for the 2011 Green Lantern feature film, which was panned by critics and considered a flop, grossing $219 million worldwide against a $200 million budget.)

Other DC shows under the Berlanti umbrella, including the final season of The Flash, season three of Superman & Lois and newcomer Gotham Knights at The CW, are also moving ahead as planned.

However, I guess it may not appear until 2024.

So it was announced in 2019, and may not appear until 2024.

So… yeah, I’m not sure if that long of a development period for a television show is… I dunno.

Anyway, it looks people who like the Superman “Green Acres” show can breath a sigh of relief. :smiling_face:

And I see that Gotham Knights will go forward. Interesting. That show will tide me over until the Penguin HBO Max show.

EDIT (again):

And I guess Black Canary is still a go…

I liked Jurnee Smollett in Lovecraft Country.

Give it time

They are going to promote the film mainly on Keaton Batman and push Ezra to the side. The movie is still coming out either way, most people don’t know who Miller is let alone his controvious.

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Well lets hope she doesn’t ruin her career like her brother did

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@Clonegeek18

Well lets hope she doesn’t ruin her career like her brother did

Yeah, that takes an extraordinary amount of effort to do that. :smile:

And some of that stuff from that trial is still hilarious to me.

Ah, family… you can’t pick 'em, but I guess you still gotta love 'em regardless.

Speaking of Warner Bros.’ stock:

Here’s an easy way to watch it…

And for today, August 10th, 2022, and at the time of this posting, before the markets open, Warner Bros. is set to open higher today.

Whad’ya know… :smiling_face:

The market overall is set to open higher today too, so…

And by like 400 points, so it’s probably going to be a good day for everyone.

And in other news:

The live-action DC Films world has gone through some surprising evolutions over the years, with new creators and characters being brought into the ever-growing franchise. In recent weeks, the topic of the franchise’s long-term future has been on a lot of fans’ minds, especially amid the recent surprise cancellation of the already-completed Batgirl movie. While we’ll have to wait a while to see what Warner Bros. Discovery’s proposed “ten-year plan” for the DC universe entails, a new report from The Hollywood Reporter might shed light on almost was. In their reporting about the current state of DC Films — and DC Films president Walter Hamada almost quitting after Batgirl’s shelving, but reportedly staying on at least through the release of Black Adam in October — they reveal that Hamada’s plans “were said to have included a Crisis on Infinite Earths event.”

Whad’ya know… :smiling_face:

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Terrible move to do a Crisis on Infinite Earths movie. It will just be seen as a more expensive version of the Arrowverse event and make people watch that instead.

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I mean that doesn’t sound theatrical worthy but at this point I’m not really excited by it. Maybe I will be later down the line but as of right now I could take it or leave it. I feel like if their going to copy the Marvel formula they need to stay away from similar storylines. I know its hard considering how much crossover there is but they should try.

I thought Hamada was out after Black Adam? Is he not anymore? Also I admire your optimism @ds090ddsl!

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@MatthewHecht

Terrible move to do a Crisis on Infinite Earths movie. It will just be seen as a more expensive version of the Arrowverse event and make people watch that instead.

Yeah, they may or may not do it.

It is an easy way to get out of everything though.

“We moving to another Earth now… we’re done on this one.” :smiling_face:

Do The Flash movie and introduce the Infinite Earths as a concept, and then blow everything up in a Crisis on Infinite Earths movie.

And once the dust settles… voila, new Justice League – and the beginning of the new 10-year plan.

Or they can do something entirely different. :smiling_face:

@mccaggers91

I mean that doesn’t sound theatrical worthy but at this point I’m not really excited by it. Maybe I will be later down the line but as of right now I could take it or leave it. I feel like if their going to copy the Marvel formula they need to stay away from similar storylines. I know its hard considering how much crossover there is but they should try.

I thought Hamada was out after Black Adam? Is he not anymore? Also I admire your optimism @ds090ddsl!

Yeah, it’ll most likely still be an HBO Max movie if it happens.

And they are at a stage right now where you would think that it could still be reworked to fit into whatever they want to do going forward. Or just make it a stand-alone thing.

And I could take it or leave it too. I just like the writer and star involved in it. And if the trailer doesn’t look stupid I’ll watch it.

As for Walter Hamada: is anyone ever truly out? :smiling_face:

No, yeah, he’s probably gone. I think he might be like the only one left from the past couple of years.

And you have to be optimistic. It’s tiring being upset about things. I just find stuff that I like and focus on that.

Anyway, speaking of stuff that I like: Pennyworth season 3…

Alfred at your service. Season 3 of Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler, arrives this October only on HBO Max.

Yay.

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We live in the strangest timeline where an Alfred show gets at least 3 seasons and a Batgirl movie gets canned.

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@Clonegeek18

We live in the strangest timeline where an Alfred show gets at least 3 seasons and a Batgirl movie gets canned.

Yeah, of course the thing with Pennyworth is that it’s totally stand-alone.

The new season is about…

Logline: The DC origin series PENNYWORTH: THE ORIGIN OF BATMAN’S BUTLER follows Alfred Pennyworth (Jack Bannon), a former British SAS soldier, who forms a security company in 1960s London and goes to work with young billionaire Thomas Wayne (Ben Aldridge) and his wife Martha (Emma Paetz), before they become Bruce Wayne’s parents. Season three of the psychological thriller begins after a five-year time jump: the civil war is over, and a cultural revolution has changed the world for better or worse – ushering in a new age of Super Heroes and Supervillains.

So that has nothing to do with anything remotely about the movies, and the future of the movies.

I was hoping that Batgirl was going to be set in the 60s too. If it was, that might have saved it.

Mixing the Zack Snyder universe with the Tim Burton universe was probably just a bit too out there.

Stand-alone works… mostly.

That’s why the Joker worked. And if they do the Ta-Nehisi Coates Black Superman… stand-alone is the only way that will work.

The Batman of course was stand-alone, and it did fine.

When you connect stuff… it all better be bangers.

I wonder who they are

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@Clonegeek18

I wonder who they are

Probably just original British characters.

I’d like to see their take on Hugo Strange.

I like what they did with Lucius Fox…

A curious thing I see from yesterday on Warner Bros.’ stock…

The stock of Warner Bros. Discovery dropped sharply on Aug. 5 after the recently merged Hollywood conglomerate cut its profit projections and CEO David Zaslav, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels and their team outlined course corrections to entertainment business strategies pursued by WarnerMedia when it was owned by AT&T.

Wiedenfels, who is working with Zaslav and the rest of the executive team to reach or exceed a cost savings target of $3 billion from the merger, told a conference call on Aug. 4 that, “the strategic logic behind bringing these two great companies together is as apparent and sound as when we announced the deal.” He also seems to have seen Friday’s 16 percent drop in the stock as a buying opportunity, scooping up half a million dollars worth of shares this week.

According to a regulatory filing on Wednesday, he acquired 34,340 shares for a weighted average price of $14.09 (at prices ranging from $13.95 to $14.46 per share) and 1,120 shares for a weighted average price of $14.19 (at prices ranging from $14.193 to $14.195 per share). The purchases on Monday add up to a combined weighted average price of $499,743.40. After them, the executive holds 663,723 shares of the company’s Series A common stock, the filing said.

As is typically the case, the company didn’t comment on the stock acquisitions. But Wiedenfels’ mantra has been that “cash never lies.” In line with that, investors often look at stock purchases by top executives as a sign of their confidence that share prices should be or go higher than they currently are.

The CFO had in late April also added to his stock holdings at a higher price, purchasing close to $500,000 in shares for $19.95 a piece. Back then, Zaslav also doubled down on his faith in the newly merged conglomerate by buying about $1 million in stock.

Well, they believe in what they’re doing. :smiling_face:

And like I said, when the stock dropped, that was the time to buy (but of course that’s no special insight on anything). :smiling_face:

Anyway, I hope what they’re doing works.

And I really just hope that they make stuff that I like.

They always have, and I’m sure it will continue – they of course already have stuff coming up that I want to see.

And non-super-hero, but I do want to see that Bene Gesserit series.

I do hope that still happens.

I hope Dune: Part Two does well, and I hope they do Dune: The Sisterhood.

And super-hero related:

David Zaslav is a JJ fan, so maybe he will still do the Ta-Nehisi Coates thing.

I’m keeping hope alive. :smile:

And as Scooby would say: Ruh Roh…

The fate of Warner Bros.’ The Flash hangs in the balance as actor Ezra Miller continues to make headlines for their controversial behavior and various arrests. An outright shelving of the film is not off the table, though it would a last resort.

Warners — and its new parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery — had hoped to avoid the line of fire, because its big-budget DC superhero tentpole isn’t scheduled to hit theaters until June 23, 2023. But the pressure is mounting by the day.

A source with knowledge of the situation says the studio appears to be preparing for three possible scenarios.

First, Warners has received indications that the 29-year-old Miller, whose mother has accompanied the actor in recent days, will seek professional help after returning home to their farm in Vermont after being away. If that help happens, Miller, who goes by they/them pronouns, could give an interview at some point explaining their erratic behavior over the past few years. The actor could then do limited press for The Flash, and the movie would open in cinemas as planned.

The second scenario: Even if Miller doesn’t reach out for help, Warners could still release the film. But don’t expect Miller to play a prominent role in terms of marketing and publicity. Nor would Miller be The Flash going forward, as the role would be recast in future projects.

The third case: Things go from bad to worse, with the situation with Miller deteriorating. This would see Warners killing the movie outright, as it could not be reshot with a different actor. Miller plays multiple characters and is in almost every scene. Scrapping a $200 million film would be an unprecedented move.

And as Shaggy would say: Zoinks. :smile:

Fun times ahead.

Oh boy.

EDIT:

And I was never going to see it in the theater anyway, it’s not the kind of thing that I like. And I probably wasn’t going to watch it on HBO Max either, but I am curious to whatever it sets up or whatever.

So fine to me if it stays, or fine to me if it goes.