WB moves date for BvS

[Earth 2 Chris]

I'd argue that Justice League is a known brand. The cartoon was quite popular, and there was plenty of merchandise in support of it. Heck, many DC t-shirts still carry Justice League tags, sometimes with the animated JLU logo.

Plus the Super Friends were also called the Justice League on that show.

As much as we love it, there are probably just as many moviegoers familiar with Timm's Justice League animated series.

Chris

[madmarva]

^^^Yeah, Gadot and MamoA look interesting (though not right for the parts, imo) but there's very little charisma, there.

On the other hand, Marvel's done a great to genius job casting. Downey Jr. and Pratt are so likable in their parts. Evans and Hemsworth bring life to roles that could be really stiff and bland in lesser hands, and that's just the leads.

And while I like Affleck as a choice for Batman, unless WB comes up with something truly great, any new Batman movie will likely suffer from the same fatigue that struck Spider-man this summer. The Spidey movie wasn't bad, but the thrill is gone.

As big of gamble as Gauardians was for Marvel, it was smart to throw some fresh meat out there, and with their brand already established, the audience gave it a look and liked what it saw.

But again Fiege and Marvel's casting people understand the characters and know what they are looking for in auditions and they have made fine choices so far.

Also, while I think audiences are smart enough not to be confused if there is a different actor playing Flash on the big screen than on the tube, what if audiences really fall in love with the guy on TV and like him more than the actor cast for the film. Plus, with WB doing 22 episodes a season, what kind of stories will be left to tell on the big screen if the show is a hit and runs for 4 or 5 seasons before a Flash film debuts.

I agree Shazam seems like WB's best bet beyond a JLA film, but something a little quirky like Doom Patrol or Metamorpho or Deadman might hit the right spot and not be as expensive to produce.

[hedrap]

I'm still amazed that for as long as this has taken WB they could have gone with Welling and Rosenbaum, who had a built-in audience/recognition, and simply applied a variation of Earth-2 rules; CW is Earth-2, WB Movies are Earth-1. It would have allowed them to drop everything else from Smallville, while not having to focus on Smallville because on Earth-1, Superboy didn't happen.

This way, they wouldn't haven been trapped redoing the origin or dealing with Reeve's ghost, and would have been so far ahead of Marvel, they would have released a JLA film before Avengers and hit the billion jackpot first. Just an incredible failure by everyone who ran WB for past decade.

[madmarva]

^it really goes back to what so many on this forum have said, the WB didn't know or understand what it had with DC or how to use it. Marvel has has shown the way.

I'm hoping they get the cart on the track at some point, but as you pointed out between Warner Execs, the Financiers, Snyder and Affleck, there are so many power players involved that egos are likely to get in the way.

[enyawd72]

Out of everything DC has cooking, the only thing that looks good to me is the Flash TV series. I think all those movie dates are just a smokescreen to make it seem like they have something in development. There's not a snowball's chance in hell they have nine movies in the works right now. They must think the public and their shareholders are incredibly stupid.

[samurainoir]

I'm thinking all it would take is for one or two of these unannounced DC films to under-perform to knock the rest off schedule, much like Green Lantern did. They had a bunch in development at the time and it all slowed down after that (other than Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel). I think they are hedging their bets by putting the Potterverse films into production.

I"m rooting for DC to succeed, but I"m currently Team Marvel right now in the movies and comics.

It's the DC TV stuff that I'm really hoping does well... Constantine, Flash, and I Zombie. Much less riding on it, and thus hopefully less cooks in the kitchen.

DC really should have proceeded with Joss Whedon's Wonder Woman years ago. The underperformance of Serenity aside (imagine if they had marketed THAT like they did Guardians of the Galaxy), we've all seen what Joss is capable of now that Avengers has come and gone. Here is hoping DC is taking the lesson of Guardians to heart... Green Lanterns shortcomings were not because it was a "space" movie, but because they actually made us CARE about Rocket Raccon, Star Lord et al.

^ WB announced 10 other dates for DC movies along with the move of the SvB film. So it doesn't appear they are backing away from DC material as tent poles. The WB event films are suspected to be 2 of the 3 Harry Potter spinoffs that were announced last fall. Now, who knows if any of these films will ever get made.

2016:
March 25: Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Aug. 5: Untitled DC Film

2017:
June 23: Untitled DC Film
Nov. 17: Untitled DC Film

2018:
March 23: Untitled DC Film
July 27: Untitled DC Film
Nov. 16: Untitled WB Event Film


2019:
Apr. 5: Untitled DC Film
June 14: Untitled DC Film

2020:
Apr. 3: Untitled DC Film
June 19: Untitled DC Film
Nov. 20: Untitled WB Event Film


Link to Variety's article on the WB move with WB comments/spin.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I really want DC to succeed too. The more comic-based movies, the better. And at heart, I'm more of a DC guy, traditionally. BUT, I hope they learn a bit from Marvel and realize that a little levity isn't a bad thing, and that each movie can have it's own tone and flavor, and still coexist with the other films.

Chris

[madmarva]

Ed, you're right about Whedon's Wonder Woman. If there is anyone who could make a heroine work, it's Whedon. Like with their characters WB had no clue what they had in their hands.

I may be naive, but I do believe WB likely has a number of DC properties in development with plans for sequels, which could add up to the slots it announced. But, there is no telling how many films are in active development at the moment that will never be produced.

There is no doubt the announcement of those dates in conjunction with moving BvS was an attempt to save face and control the story. It might have been a little less transparent had the WB would have waited until Guardians made it out of the theaters, lol.

With filming BvS and Justice League back to back, it seems both with make it to the theaters. After that who knows? If WB is to have another DC film in theaters in 2016, it would have to start filming in early 2015 if not before. Maybe, a Shazam film will be announced soon, based on the rumors about the Rock?

[hedrap]

I keep going back to one thought - if they made the announcement during SDCC, right after showing that half-arsed teaser, the speculation would have gone nuts and DC would have owned the Con. All the talk would have been about the upcoming DC/Marvel fight which could have withstood the GotG media bomb. And all because the decision wouldn't have appeared to have been made in a panic.

I mean, Snyder could have simply said "We're way ahead of schedule, so we're going to move the release date up a few weeks", and why, after a year pushback, would anyone question the reason? Sure people would have speculated, but the answer would have had sound logic.

Instead, someone craps the bed at T-W after the stock plummets cause now they're not getting a cushy buyout. So a call is made to the WB head and he's told they better make big news or holders are going to start clamoring to sell while the IP is hot. It's not an accident we start getting more DC TV bits the very next day as we build towards the schedule unveil.

[samurainoir]

Maybe, a Shazam film will be announced soon, based on the rumors about the Rock?

I think the Rock is potentially good casting given that he's shown his potential for Deadpan humour... particularly with the really earnest thug he played in Be Cool.

Usually I'm a lot more optimistic about these things, but I'm suspecting the new 52 Shazam is the kind of approach that they might be taking with the film. Which I guess could work if they are taking more of a Harry Potter angle on things. Harry was not always the most like-able person in the room and they allowed him to evolve through constant antagonism into something heroic. I'm usually on Team Geoff Johns, but since his exit from Green Lantern and Aquaman, I've been less enthusiastic about his DC writing (not that most of it still isn't fairly solid).

Me personally, I would love for them to do something closer to Jeff Smith's version, and animate it. Not that they should shy away from darker material... but Frozen/Toy Story over Hunger Games/Harry Potter in my book.

[madmarva]

^i didn't think Captain Marvel needed revamping, but if it had to be done, what Johns did was pretty good. I don't like the redesign of the the costume. Busy isn't necessarily better.

But, I agree his work has not been as strong of late. He has his hands in film, TV and comics, so he may be pulled in too many directions.

I'd like to see what Pixar would with Shazam. Short of that, I'd like to see Brad Byrd direct the live action film.

You know, the Rock might end up in BvS as Shazam. I could see merging aspects of the Public Enemies storyline from the Superman Batman Comic with Dark Knight Returns as the plot. It would explain the other heroes. Just, a guess, though.