'Batman v Superman' Fallout: Warner Bros. Shakes Up Executive Roles (Exclusive)

The fallout from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice continues to ripple through Warner Bros.

The Burbank-based studio is making changes to the way it handles its DC Entertainment-centered films, giving oversight of the feature projects to a pair of executives and creating a dedicated division for the films. Current exec vp Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, DC's CCO who successfully launched the comics label's foray into television, will co-run DC Films, according to multiple sources. Warner Bros. declined to comment.

This move is part of a broader refinement of executive roles at Warners, which has suffered a disappointing run of movies and has vexed producers and filmmakers, some of whom complain about a murky greenlight process.

Instead of a broad range of movies to oversee, executives will be charged with managing “genre streams" while reporting to Warner Bros. Pictures president Greg Silverman. In many cases, these streams formalize interests and specialties for specific execs. Courtenay Valenti, for example, will now oversee all Lego Movie projects as well as the Harry Potter line that begins with November's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Senior production executives Jesse Ehrman and Niija Kuykendall will focus more on comedy/family and sci-fi/action, respectively, according to sources

hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/batman-v-superman-fallout-warner-895174?utm_source=twitter.

Further executive changes are anticipated, including a potential hire at the senior level.

Berg was already working on BvS, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and Justice League. He also is the conduit to Ben Affleck, having worked with the actor-filmmaker on Argo and Live By Night, the crime thriller Affleck recently wrapped as director, writer and star for the studio.

Comics writer-turned-exec Johns, meanwhile, masterminded the ascension of shows such as Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl and is the writer behind DC's upcoming Rebirth, the publishing side's reboot of its titles that will play out over the summer months. Johns is not leaving DC, according to sources, but adding film to his portfolio.

Johns will still report to DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson while Berg will report to Silverman.

With Berg and Johns, Warners is attempting to unify the disparate elements of the DC movies with a seasoned film exec and a comics veteran that together can hopefully emulate the way Marvel Studios has produced its films under the vision of president Kevin Feige. But sources also say Warners still wants to remain filmmaker-driven. As part of the new job, Berg and Johns will become producers on the Justice League movies.

The muted reception of BvS, from a box office and critical point of view, is the flashpoint for the changes. The studio had high hopes for the movie, which pitted its top heroes against each other. The door was opened for director Zack Snyder to be involved in shaping the look and content of the entire DC line, which is scheduled through 2020. But critics and fans ripped into the first movie and especially Snyder for perceived missteps including its heroes' unheroic behavior and the dark tone. BvS, which cost at least $300 million to make, has grossed under $870 million worldwide since its March 25 release.

In stark contrast, Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Civil War is heading towards $1 billion in less than two weeks of release. The movie too pitted heroes against each other but Marvel's lighter tone and bright colors (while tackling more serious themes) are clearly resonating with audiences.

So Warners is attempting a course correction.

The shuffle, as well as Berg and Johns' new positions, come as other changes are being implemented on the DC movies. For example, Affleck was recently made executive producer on Justice League, upping his creative involvement when it comes to all things Batman and perhaps beyond.

Warners parted ways with screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith who was to have made his directorial debut with The Flash. In another example of post-BvS fallout, the studio didn’t feel confident in a first-time director and is now looking for a more seasoned filmmaker who can not only handle a large $150 million-plus movie but who can also have an authoritative stamp.

And the studio is working to smooth out the third act of Suicide Squad, its big August movie from director David Ayer that could change the perception of its DC line. The movie’s trailers have generated massive positive interest in the all-star actioner that features DC villains and the studio wants to make sure audiences’ expectations are not only met but exceeded.

Squad recently went under major additional photography (multiple sources say it was not to add humor) to clear up the issues. Sources say that it was Squad that escalated Johns’ involvement in DC movies and that he is involved in the movie’s post-production.

Wow

>Current exec vp Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, DC's CCO who successfully launched the comics label's foray into television, will co-run DC Films

BASED GEOFF JOHNS LITERALLY GOING TO SAVE DC CINEMA

based CW dc is saving film cucks

>The muted reception of BvS, from a box office and critical point of view, is the flashpoint for the changes.
>flashpoint

Intentional?

Or is it Hypercrisis?

>Johns will still report to DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson while Berg will report to Silverman.

All that means is that directors/writers have to convince either or both Johns and Berg, who then have to pitch to their superiors, and finally to Tsujihara. It can get messy, but not so much different than most film productions. It would not surprise me if they're thinking of pulling movies out of the Snyders' production company after Justice League 1.

>Instead of a broad range of movies to oversee, executives will be charged with managing “genre streams" while reporting to Warner Bros. Pictures president Greg Silverman. In many cases, these streams formalize interests and specialties for specific execs
What exactly does this mean?

>Get their own "Kevin Feige"s
>AFTER releasing two very flawed films with tons of crowded setup-mcguffins from other 10 movies
>AND AMIDST the various stage of production of their next 3 entries in the DCEU

See WB, this, is exactly were you fucking fail.

Capekino my ass, Marvel at least had the decency to take their time with their capeshit, WB is doing it all at once and backwards even, fuck, they want to fly before learning to walk....

>based cereal god will save us from Snyder

will it be enough?

I'm glad Cereal King is moving up the ladder.

>but Marvel's lighter tone and bright colors (while tackling more serious themes) are clearly resonating with audiences.
Can we drop this as the outright BvS excuse. The movie was terribly put together, the best assessment I've seen is that it read like a damn power point presentation.

With that said, the shake up sounds good

Well he got Greg Berlanti a job making a fucking Booster Gold movie, so I'd say he's doing good so far.

>And the studio is working to smooth out the third act of Suicide Squad, its big August movie from director David Ayer that could change the perception of its DC line. The movie’s trailers have generated massive positive interest in the all-star actioner that features DC villains and the studio wants to make sure audiences’ expectations are not only met but exceeded.
>Squad recently went under major additional photography (multiple sources say it was not to add humor) to clear up the issues. Sources say that it was Squad that escalated Johns’ involvement in DC movies and that he is involved in the movie’s post-production.

Awww, shit. I'd rather have a fuckup by Ayer than some executive producer getting in the way and giving us something succesful but unmemorable like most Marvel stuff.

...

Snyder's still involved.

>Marvel's lighter tone and bright colors
>bright colors

Where? Cap's outfit might as well be black now. BvS was more vibrant than Civil War.

Do you have to ask, user? Of course it's Hypercrisis. It's always Hypercrisis.

This sucks, I don't want Johns this involved with movies. I want him writing comics.

It means that WB usually operated by have a circle of execs oversee all movies and be able to make input. This restructuring is trying to make sure the execs are responsible for certain franchises and genres and then report to their own superior in Greg Silverman.

hypercrisis is sometimes intentional

If it means WB can get their shit together and produces good cape film, I'm all down. I'm a DCfag that absolutely despise Snyder's work and I prefer Marvel's movie simply because they are overall better products than what WB releases. Screw company wars. DC having good movies would be beneficial to us, the consumers.

...

I legitimately do not understand why the FUCK they didn't delay Justice League's production.

They had the metrics. They saw massive percentage drop offs each day after the first weekend. Any retard on Sup Forums could see just looking at Snyder's history this movie wouldn't fare well critically.

But, nah, lets keep Snyder cause we want to seem different from Marvel Studios but we also not so secretly want to steal from Marvel in the sense NOW we suddenly give a fuck about DC characters and we'll throw all of them on a movie screen. Oh and on top of that, lets have Snyder literally write the base script for JL, in addition to producing it with his wife too.

And lol at anyone that thinks that Suicide Squad's major reshoots isn't the kiss of death. They're literally altering an entire act with over three weeks of reshoots.

Fuck me, firing Snyder is step one on a MASSIVE amount of restructuring necessary to make these comic book adaptations work.

So they're basically structuring it like a comic studio - giving each franchise their own 'editor' of sorts who all report to the main boss. Sounds like it could solve the too many cooks issue. They should have given Johns the Fiege role a long time ago instead of people who don't give a shit about these characters.

>B-But I want bad movies!
Is this some new kind of bait?

This is the exact same dividing of the house that Marvel did in the 90s that lead them to bankruptcy.

Cereal King really will save us

>They're literally altering an entire act with over three weeks of reshoots.
No they aren't. They filmed some new action set piece, that was it.

This is exactly what I feared. They're just gonna add more jokes, won't they?

Jesus christ, it's like, they actively want to fuck it up.

It's mising a "Martha" space, 9/10

fuck, just get rid of snyder and problems fucking solved. fuck.

Fucking took them long enough, holy shit.

>Marvel's lighter tone and bright colors (while tackling more serious themes)
You mean, the same themes?

Ayer go to bed.

they can't fuck it up more than they already did. it's literally not possible

>FIVE movies in
>Hey guys, maybe we need someone to supervise every project and take things slow before starting a cinematic universe

I swear WB is run by monkeys.

>Geoff Johns
>Green Lantern (2001) creative consultant
>not these two
The DCEU is doomed

We all know Snyder is the Darkseid of our Earth.

They screwed themselves over placing the production start so close to release of BvS. And it's not like they can all of a sudden drop Snyder without his wife wanting to remove themselves totally from the franchise by taking their production studio away.

Just let Ben run everything.

He seems to be the only one who doesn't look at the IPs as fucking dollar signs.

I think you missed the bit where I called Marvel movies "unmemorable".
I rather have Ayer's own movie, even at risk of it being a failure, than some bland yet succesful movie like the ones Marvel is putting out. I don't want movies made by executives and committes.

I enjoyed GL more than BvS
Insult me, I don't care, I had hugh hopes for the DCEU and now I can only expect Michael Bay level bullshit

Sweet, this means we get a Superman Darkseid dance off. thanks disney,

>Marvel movies [are] "unmemorable"
Extremely so. I continue to challenge people to name anything memorable from Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, or Thor.

He's not that good of a writer. He might be best in a movie position.

eh. he's had a good run. Flash, GL, JSA, JL.

>Berg was already working on BvS, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and Justice League. He also is a conduit to Ben Affleck, having worked with the actor-filmmaker on Argo and Live by Night, the crime thriller Affleck recently wrapped as director, writer and star for the studio.

Batman is slowly taking over.

Paul Dini is such a fucking hack and you're delusional if you think otherwise.
Bruce Timm is better off without his awful writing.

>Darkseid... always hated music...
>...but he loved the rhythm.

Cut to Darkseid cutting a rug to the tune of "Boogie Wonderland".

IN A CAVE!

>hey guys, no one likes Christ-allegory asshole Superman who destroys entire cities and hates being heroic
>also, these films have been pretty shitty just as films
>we should probably rethink our approach
>OMG THEY'RE JUST GOING TO ADD JOKES BECAUSE I THINK ONLY IN MEMES

...

>its a Geoff Johns episode

BASED CEREAL KING

WE ARE SAVED

>all things Batman and perhaps beyond.
Is it happening?

>The first Batman and Superman movie was shit
>The first Justice League movie will be shit

It's not fair.

Only way to save this shit is to go full Multiverse.

Have a big crossover with the CW-verse that ends with their version of Flashpoint. End result is a lighter DCU. Or do a live-action adaptation of New Frontier. DC's choice.

Nah, man. I did too.
I walked out of GL thinking they missed a few opportunities, and the Hot Wheels thing was a tad gratuitous despite being foreshadowed but over all not disgusted and confused at how a ball could be dropped so badly.

BvS broke my heart and I walked out of there more conflicted than I was with HULK '03

>TAS, Beyond, JL, JL: Unlimited, Arkham Asylum, Arkham City
>bad

Its always been "The Batman Universe: Guest starring some other guys".

WB has no idea how to make any DC property work unless it has pointy ears.

wew lad

>Dini
>Hack

Kej

A Batgod so powerful he can rewrite his own cinematic universe.

>Geoff takes over movies
>Still running tv shows
>Supergirl moveing to CW
Is this it Sup Forums, are we on the verge of watching the multiverse open before our very eyes? Will the memetic barrier around Earth 33 fall during our lifetimes? Will we open the door to the multiverse and find the Gentry waiting?

>And the studio is working to smooth out the third act of Suicide Squad,

Holy shit, they're playing with fire here.
They're so fucking desperate to make it work. I bet the first shot scenes will never see the light of day after the reshoots.

Tell me how long those reshoots were, user

Cause they sure as fuck weren't three weeks and for anything other than fight scenes

>why the FUCK they didn't delay Justice League's production
Because actors and other production members have busy schedules. Vinn Diesel did the voice work for Groot only because it allowed him to also be filming his Fast and Furious movie. His only open spot to be in a new movie wasn't for like four or five years when they were handing out roles.

No he's definitely Desaad

...

and Aquaman.

Eh they are good with Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, Green Arrow, and Black Canary and some of the other heroes but they didn't know WTF to do with characters like Wonder Woman and their GL stuff was kind of shitty in DCAU.

This is some game of thrones shit

Outside of Kojima leaving Konami, this is the most animated I have ever seen of Dorito Pope.

More like Superman has to lead the Justice League guys in a strip off against Darkseid.

Wonder Woman and Mera fight on the beach agains the Furies.

I almost hope not. Don't forget who else is waiting for us on the other side.

>forgetting Action Comics

And fuck you, it's not enough.

>JL1's ending reveals Snyderverse was actually Injustice/Justice Lords universe
>JL2 stars the real JL heroes setting things right

Iron Man had his awesome escape scene and then going back and stopping the Ten Rings
Also "I'm Iron Man"

They fucked up when they had Zack contracted to do three films. In a perfect world, he would've been off of JL after the reception that BvS got and they would've have gotten someone else on it.

>TAS
Dini had really shitty episodes that rarely fit the theme of the series

>Beyond
He had most of the bad episodes

>JL, JLU
Above

>Arkham Asylum/city
The writing was awful.

i cant name a villain in any of the thor movies, Iron Man 2 or 3. Some MCU movies really are completely forgettable

Name something memorable from MoS or BvS that isn't "MAN OF MURDER" or "MARTHA"

>Batman and perhaps beyond

This is some hypercrisis shit

i just remember iron shoulder missiles btfo the terrorists, only because i felt the audience's surprise

fucking hated incredible hulk, i remember it felt so fucking bland

You can just soft reboot and turn the Snyderverse into Earth-3

>CW

the shows are only good tonally, they are still actually bad overall

The director literally said they were to add action scenes

but i'm sure a Sup Forums shitposter and/or paid disney shill know better than the director

Remember when Johns got that fungus reference on Flash the same week it was mentioned in a Multiversity issue?

The absolute madman

You're pretending that you forgot about Loki, that's so cute.

JAR OF PISS

>MoS
First flight
>BvS
Batman smashing a sink over supes head.

...

>Stop Invincible son
>I drowned a bunch of horses

Snyder will weather this shitstorm to deliver the magnum opus of his Superman trilogy then he will disappear into the night a hero having planned out this entire universe and cast everyone.

Based Zack

literally who?

>Over The Edge
>Almost Got 'Im
>Baby-Doll
>Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
>Harley and Ivy
>Mad Love
>The Man Who Killed Batman
>Over The Edge
>Joker's Favor
>Heart of Ice

>bad things

>MCU
>serious themes
what a hilarious kek

He wasnt even head writer for any of those shows!

You. Fucking. What?