James Gunn shook the foundations of the old DCEU and the newly forged DCU as soon as he became co-head of DC Studios. With irreversible changes and questionable decisions, the DCU made its way into 2023.
The DCU letting Ezra Miller continue starring in his movie while kicking out Henry Cavill from the role of Superman has people worried. With the ongoing content cancellation on DC’s streaming partner HBO Max, the WB CFO recently gave an affirming statement for 2023.
James Gunn’s Changes Will Stop in 2023
Henry Cavill was removed from the role of Superman before 2022 ended. The Batgirl movie worth $78 million was canceled while James Gunn allegedly tried to erase any mark of the Snyderverse. These all events took place during the end moments of 2022 as James Gunn became the co-head of DC Studios.
The then DCEU also had to cancel and cut several of its content on the streaming platform HBO Max after losing a whopping $2.5-3.5 billion in content production and development. With such a severe loss to the company, they decided to pull back some content and cancel many projects that did not pay well in return. The CFO of Warner Bros. Discovery (formerly Warner Bros.) Gunnar Weidenfels recently addressed the content cancelation issue.
“a reflection of an industry that went overboard, that went on a spending frenzy,” said Weidenfels while talking about the budget. “Rectified a lot of that content exuberance, as I would call it. There was a lot of thinking of, you know, let’s do more more more, not necessarily ‘let’s do the exact right things, let’s do what works. We have the ability, the benefit, to be Monday morning quarterbacks here.”
The CFO also further stated that the upcoming strategy will be applied by all other streaming services soon. Gunnar Weidenfels also stated that the current streaming prices are way too low and that a price hike is evident.
How James Gunn’s DCU Plans To Make Profit
James Gunn restructured the entirety of DC upon his arrival. Gunn along with co-head Peter Safran took it upon themselves to create a multi-year span of films that depict a singular and sane storyline much like the MCU.
The CFO of WB stated that they will soon be introducing their own streaming service which he thinks, will be the future of streaming. Along with some regrets, he stated that the company is looking better than ever and plans to have an adventurous 2023.
“We’re coming from an irrational time of overspending with very limited focus on return on investment, and I think others are going to have to make some adjustments that we frankly have behind us now. We have every intention to continue spending, content is the lifeblood of this company,” he added. “It’s obviously a hit-driven business, you win some you lose some. But if you look at the creative lineup that David [Zaslav] has been able to assemble, this is a first-flight lineup of creative talent.”
Although Gunn may have a solid strategy in mind to keep the people in check, it is surely interesting to see what the Guardians of the Galaxy director has up his sleeve. With their undivided attention on the upcoming Ezra Miller starrer The Flash, it is slated to release theatrically on 16th June 2023.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
