Warner Bros Discovery’s search for a Kevin Feige of its very own is finally over, with the appointment of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Ever since the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery, the company has been looking to kickstart its line of DC films which have largely sat in the shadow of Marvel’s success for many a year now.
Key to that aim has been the appointment of a creative overseer in the shape of Marvel Studio’s Kevin Feige. That means somebody who can at the very least, impose some sort of quality control over future films and hopefully do even more, such as unlocking the true potential of the DC brand, placing its films on an equal footing with Marvel.
At least one attempt to appoint somebody has already been aborted, when efforts to woo Dan Lin, producer of The LEGO Movie – broke down over money. However, Warner Bros Discovery seems to have finally got its man, or ‘men’ in the form of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Unlike the failed appointment of Lin, the hiring of Gunn and Safran has presumably been less complicated due to the fact that both of them already have existing deals in place with the company. The reason for the double hire is to split the role across creative and production lines. Gunn will handle the creative aspects whilst Safran will make sure that things are working out on a production level.
Whilst we’ll likely have to wait for a little while to see what direction this takes us in, there are a few things that we know straight from the off: for the next four years, James Gunn is now exclusively signed to Warner Bros, meaning he can’t direct elsewhere. Gunn is already in the process of winding down his commitments to Marvel with the release of the Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special and then the series’ third film (which launches next summer) marking the end of his relationship with Marvel Studios.
Safran is currently producing a spate of DC projects and has the sequels to Aquaman and Shazam! launching next year.
This new-look DC Films will be re-christened as DC Studios with everything officially rumbling into gear on November 1st.
There’s no word as yet as to whether Matt Reeves’ collection of projects based around The Batman fall under the purview of Gunn and Safran. We only mention that because we have heard that the upcoming Joker sequel, doesn’t despite being a DC film.
We’ll bring you more on this story as details unfold but we’d bet that a Marvel-style unveiling of an ambitious film slate must surely be on the cards at some point…
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