At the beginning of the year, Warner Bros announced the acquisition and hiring of Walter Hamada, who will be taking over as the head of the DC Films division. Hamada’s first task in his new role is restructuring the current series of superhero movies that Warner Brothers is producing. This comes after many of the Studio’s previous superhero films were met with disappointment, both financially and critically. The studio hopes that Hamada will be able to put everything back on track for the upcoming superhero blockbusters that are currently in the works.
It was recently revealed that Geoff Johns, former DC Entertainment co-president and chief creative officer would be leaving Warner Bros, which means that he would no longer be directly involved with any of the films that are currently underway. His leaving means that Hamada now has full reign over the DC Entertainment division, and over the last few weeks Hamada has been working through the various future films that have been proposed, choosing which ones to put through and which ones to axe.
The first in line to go into production is a Joker origin film that will be starring Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role. Director Todd Phillips will be taking over in a move like online betting, who has worked on movies such as the Hangover series and will be working with 8 Mile scriptwriter Scott Silver. It has been reported that the film will begin production during the fall, and will have famous Martin Scorsese as an executive producer. The budget for the film is reported to be around $55 million.
Alongside this announcement, it was also stated that a new DC series is in the works that is set to launch not long after the Joker film has hit the theatres. The series, referred to as “DC Dark” or “DC Black” will be stories told alongside the main DC movie universe, and will be lighter in tone than previous iterations.
The Batman
Another movie currently green-lit by Warner Bros is The Batman, but a timeline on when it will be released is yet to be revealed by the company. Matt Reaves will be directing the flick that will be focused on DC’s favourite anti-hero. It has also been reported that Ben Affleck will not be involved in the film, as the main theme of the story will be set on a younger Bruce Wayne and his exploits leading up to him becoming Batman. It has yet to be announced whether Batman will be making any appearances in future DC films, but because the famous hero is such a favourite among fans, it seems more than likely.
The Flash
Warner Bros also has some other popular heroes that are being reworked, including The Flash, which will be a feature film of its own. Game Night, and Spider-Man: Homecoming director John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein will be co-directing on the project. The aim of Warner Bros is to abandon the darker tone of previous movies.
