Superman is returning to theaters —
only now, along with saving the world, he has to prove that Warner Bros. has
finally, without question, found a winning superhero strategy.
اضافة اعلان
DC Studios, a newly formed Warner division
dedicated to superhero content, unveiled plans on Tuesday to reboot Superman
on-screen for the first time in a generation, tentatively scheduling the
yet-to-be-cast “Superman: Legacy” for release in theaters in July 2025. James
Gunn, known for “Guardians of the Galaxy”, is writing the screenplay and may
also direct the movie, which will focus on Superman balancing his Kryptonian
heritage with his human upbringing.
“He is kindness in a world that thinks of
kindness as old-fashioned,” said Peter Safran, CEO of DC Studios, a title he
shares with Gunn.
“Superman: Legacy” will begin a story that will unfold (Marvel style) across at least 10 interconnected movies and TV shows
Moreover, “Superman: Legacy” will begin a
story that will unfold (Marvel style) across at least 10 interconnected movies
and TV shows and include new versions of Batman, Robin, Supergirl, Swamp Thing
and Green Lantern. Those marquee DC Comics characters will be joined by
lesser-known personalities from the DC library, including Creature Commandos
and Booster Gold, a time traveler. One of the shows will explore Themyscira,
the mythical island home of Wonder Woman.
The 10 projects will roll out over four to
five years — at which time a second batch of related films and shows will be
announced, expanding the “Superman: Legacy” saga to nearly a decade and perhaps
helping David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, to keep a promise to
Wall Street about growth.
“Part of our strategy is drive the hell out
of DC,” Zaslav said at an RBC Capital Markets event in November. Discovery took
over Warner Bros. last year as part of a $43 billion merger.
If it all comes to fruition, the “Superman:
Legacy” universe of projects will add to a roster of unrelated superhero movies
left over from a previous Warner Bros. administration. These movies, sequels
all, include “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”, “The Flash”, “Aquaman and the Lost
Kingdom”, “Joker: Folie à Deux”, and “The Batman — Part II”.
The superhero rivalryWarner Bros. bought DC Comics in 1969, and
has since used DC characters to make more than 40 movies and at least 30 television
shows, including cartoons. But the DC library has been widely viewed on Wall
Street as underexploited because a competing comics-to-screens company, the
Disney-owned Marvel, has provided an example of what is possible.
Over the past 10 years, Marvel has been a
blockbuster machine, delivering slates of interconnected superhero movies that
have collected $23 billion at the global box office. Movies based on DC
characters and released by Warner Bros. have generated about $9 billion over
that period.
Warner Bros., which invented the big-budget superhero movie in 1978 with “Superman”, has been under pressure to get its act together.
Suffice it to say, Warner Bros., which
invented the big-budget superhero movie in 1978 with “Superman”, has been under
pressure to get its act together. In a restructuring in October, Zaslav ended
the studio’s decentralized approach to superhero management — separate film and
television divisions developed material independently, sometimes causing
friction — and put Gunn and Safran in charge of superhero films, series, and
animated offerings.
“The stakes are massive for us, and for
Warner Bros. Discovery,” Safran said.
Gunn called Warner’s old system “pretty
messed up”.
“Nobody was minding the mint,” he added.
“They were just giving away IP like they were party favors to any creator who
smiled at them.”
Superhero movies remain reliably popular at
the box office, but a glut of them has prompted worries that studios are
wearing out the audience.
“I think it’s real,” Gunn said, referring
to superhero fatigue. “You have to make the stories diverse and different. Good
guy, bad guy, giant thing in the sky, good guys win — you can’t tell that story
again. You need to tell stories that are more, you know, morally complex.”