DC Films

After the divisive reception of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros. Pictures made moves to stabilize the direction of the DC Extended Universe. The studio reorganized in May 2016 to have genre-responsible film executives, thus DC Entertainment franchise films under Warner Bros. were placed under a newly created division, DC Films, created under Warner Bros. executive vice president Jon Berg and DC Comics chief content officer Geoff Johns. This was done in hopes of competing more directly with Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe. Johns also kept his existing role at DC Comics.[1][4] However, the division's formation was not designed to override the "director-driven" mandate.[1]

Justice League had one of the biggest film budgets (nearly $300 million) but grossed about $96 million in its opening weekend. An analysis in The Washington Post expected that there would be a course correction again, with a possible change in leadership.[5] The DC Extended Universe operated under a "director-driven" mandate.[1] Forbes contributors felt that the course correction would be for DC Films to give up on the shared universe, while continuing with the Wonder Woman films and occasionally other films, as Warner Bros. has other franchises they can work with.[6] Despite this, in December the studio reiterated their current film slate for the unofficially titled DC Extended Universe.[7] That same month, Warner Bros. announced that a new strategy and organization of DC Films would occur with Berg leaving his position as studio's co-president of production to form a Warner Bros.-based production company with Roy Lee, the producer of The LEGO Movie and It. In January 2018, it was announced that Warner Bros. executive Walter Hamada will be the new president of DC Films, and will oversee the films in the DC Extended Universe. Hamada has been closely associated with New Line Cinema, and helped develop horror films, such as It and The Conjuring film franchises.[2]

DC Films' "director-driven" mandate has been met with skepticism. Suicide Squad actress Margot Robbie, who played Harley Quinn and the producer of several upcoming Harley Quinn-related movies stated that (DC) producers must trust their director's vision. "In the DC Universe, too, once you decide on who your director is, and they have a vision, you have to enable that vision and step in at moments to keep it on course if need be. I think that's the way. I think that's what a producer should do," Robbie said.[8] Zack Snyder dealt with studio pressure to make Justice League funnier and lighter in the wake of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's negative reviews because of its dark tone. Eventually, he stepped down, and Joss Whedon was hired to do re-shoots for the movie. Whedon originally wanted a funnier opening sequence involving Batman. However, instead of adhering to Whedon's vision the studio tweaked the scene to make it serious. Later, Whedon was tasked to make the movie under two hours long.[9][10] Director Rick Famuyiwa, who was originally involved with the upcoming Flash movie, disparaged Justice League over the success of Black Panther, which surpassed the total U.S. gross of Justice League in just four days and became one of the highest-grossing films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He parted ways with Warner Bros. due to creative differences. In November 2017, it was reported that the studio wanted to recast Kiersey Clemons who was Famuyiwa's pick to play Iris West. Her scene was cut from Justice League. It was also hinted that it was the studio's decision to move away from Famuyiwa's take on the Flash.[11]

• DC Entertainment
• DC Extended Universe
• List of films based on DC Comics
• List of unproduced DC Comics projects

• Official website
• DC Films on Facebook