Charles Roven, the veteran producer who has worked on every DC Comics movie at Warner Bros. since 2005’s Batman Begins, is no longer producing certain DC movies, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Talks are underway to have Roven — who was a producer on Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as the recently completed Suicide Squad and next year's Wonder Woman — segue to a different role going forward, likely that of an executive producer who is not involved in day-to-day production. However, he potentially could continue to be a producer on some sequels to the movies he's currently producing.
The extent of Roven's involvement, and which titles he would work on, is "evolving," according to multiple sources, who also stress that no final decisions have been made.
"Roven is a key member of not only the DC slate but of the Warner Bros. family," says a studio spokesman.
The move comes as Warner Bros. continues to scrutinize its DC movies in the wake of BvS’s so-so performance at the box office and chilly reception from audiences. The movie, released March 25, wrapped its run with $871 million worldwide with a production budget of at least $300 million. While Warners insists the movie will be profitable, it was meant to kick off the studio’s DC cinematic universe with a billion-dollar bang, but instead was met with an unenthusiastic response from fans for being too dark and unheroic.
In stark contrast, Marvel Studios, well into its cinematic universe with 13 movies, has seen outsized success for its similarly themed Captain America: Civil War, which pits its heroes against each other. Civil War has earned raves from fans and critics and has grossed more than $1 billion in about three weeks.
Warners, which leverages its DC IP across multiple channels, among them publishing and video games, now is taking steps to course-correct its approach as it develops its superhero slate. It recently shuffled its executive ranks to have executive vp Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, DC's chief content officer, co-run the newly created DC Films. It also is seeking to hire a more established director on The Flash (2018) after parting ways with screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith, who initially was attached to make his directorial debut with the project.
Roven, an experienced producer whose career dates back to the 1980s, has a producer credit on the three Batman movies directed by Christopher Nolan and 2013’s Man of Steel. He also is a producer on Suicide Squad, which Warners hopes will re-energize its DC movies when it opens in August, and Wonder Woman, which will be released in June 2017.
Roven has established himself as a savvy player who knows how to manage the armies it takes to make modern, big-budget, visual effects-heavy tentpoles. But he was part of the unofficial brain trust with Snyder on the DC movies, an approach Warners seems to be rethinking in the wake of BvS's less than stellar performance.
One reason for the shift in thinking is that Warners wants to ramp up the number of DC productions, and sources say it would be physically impossible for one man to handle pre-, post- and production on multiple movies in countries and cities ranging from Australia to Los Angeles to Louisiana to London.
Roven was slated to be a producer on Flash and Aquaman, two DC films that have yet to go into production and could end up shooting on opposite ends of the planet. Sources tell THR he will no longer serve in that capacity on those films.
Roven remains on set for Justice League: Part 1, currently shooting in London, although Warners now has sent Berg to also oversee the day-to-day production of that movie.
>Warners relying on Suicide Squad to get everyone back on DC
what are they gonna do it if it flops?
Sebastian Morgan
The heads keep on rolling.
Tyler Lee
Frankly, the resulting possibilities are so bad no one is even considering it, not even Sup Forums.
Dylan Sanders
Release the other DCEU movies they've already started filming and find some way to spin it. The wait and see policy took too long, so now they've committed to just dumping an avalanche of garbage into theaters before they can figure out no one wants it
Cooper Diaz
>what are they gonna do it if it flops? >Frankly, the resulting possibilities are so bad no one is even considering it, not even Sup Forums. This. I am EXPECTING it to be good, because if it isn't then DC films is screwed.
Joseph Wright
Fire our based Cereal King
Aiden Bennett
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS film
William Mitchell
Well, they just need to hold the line until flash. any betting man would think that's the point where Barry does a paradox wherein he changes the dceu into an optimistic world
Mason Sullivan
why does this read like a eulogy?
Mason Brown
to me its clearly damage control. Try and ramp up productions of DC movies to get a cinematic universe established quickly and hope it gets peoples attention and make money
Hudson Perez
>Genius None of this couldn't possibly be planned. They didn't expect this reaction from the audience. Now they're trying to course correct the DCEU. As they should...
Aiden Nelson
Oh, they're considering it.
Start making different movies.
They're a studio. If necessary they'll pull an MGM, go into chapter 11 for a couple of years and come out with new management and less stupid ideas.
If not, they'll pull another MGM. Like MGM keep doing.
If he wasn't way out of his depth I'd pity him. He's in so deep he can't possibly not know it.
Sebastian Jenkins
I'm not expecting Flash or Aquaman to even shoot.
Nicholas Young
>One reason for the shift in thinking is that Warners wants to ramp up the number of DC productions, and sources say it would be physically impossible for one man to handle pre-, post- and production on multiple movies in countries and cities ranging from Australia to Los Angeles to Louisiana to London.
Confirmed retards not reading article. Despite the spin this is the opposite of a 'fallout' from BvS.
Brody Turner
That's why most movies have multiple producers, dink.
Adrian Thomas
*Critics
General audience reaction was positive, critic reaction was not, and the critics reaction is what costed them money, not the general audience reaction.
Jackson Rogers
I really hope Suicide Squad does well because it just looks so fun.
Benjamin Evans
I was gonna let you off with that but hang on, hang on... are you saying, under oath, Mr Anonymous, that Warner Brothers, a large Hollywood studio with over nine decades of experience making movies, would mistakenly assign a single vital producer to multiple movies that would shoot at the same time on opposite sides of the planet?
Because that is just staggeringly incompetent if it's true.
Adam Gonzalez
Oh god, imagine if Suicide Squad did underperform. This website would implode.
Cameron Hill
Okay but have you gotten rid of Snyder yet?
No? Well then I don't give a shit
Jeremiah Nelson
The possibilities are only good: the end of the DCEU.
It's irredeemably corrupted. Burn it to the ground.
Chase Scott
>>General audience reaction was positive, I'd heavily contest this
MARTHAAAAA is a dank meme on the internet right now and definitely not for the right reasons
John Perry
That makes no sense. Audiences are the ones who buy the tickets.
Audiences didn't buy tickets because they didn't like it either. Saying general audience reaction was positive is delusional, the kind of delusion that got WB in this mess in the first place by ignoring all the glaring warning signs coming off of Man of Steel.
Ethan Lopez
Reminder that there is no way WB is happy with these numbers, especially investors.
Nicholas Rodriguez
We would cheer. DC hasn't even fired Snyder yet. It hasn't lear
Carter Mitchell
I don't think Deadpool beating it domestic helped either
And the only reason BvS pulled in even that was because DC moved it away from CW's opening weekend into a release dead zone, hid it from critics until the last minute, hyped pre-sales to the max, and simultaneously opened everywhere. DC knew it had a bomb and did an admirable job of salvaging it as much as it could.
Cameron Lewis
I feel that at this point warne are going to fire/relocate everyone bar Zack the hack and still wonder why their movies are critically panned.
Lucas James
Man could you imagine if they 'didn't' simultaneously open it everywhere? Like they had it release like a regular movie? Oh god, it would have been terrible
John Lee
"Well we've got Affleck producing, Johns higher up and fired most of our other staff. What could possibly be missing here?" [Snyder collecting skulls in the background] "What could be missing?"
Isaiah Reed
I think it would slowly remove Snyder's control on the movie. Anyways he already said he could be his last comics movie
Aiden Wright
>zack snyder still attached
Joshua Hernandez
MEME A G I C
Jonathan Garcia
Sounds like they're doing what Disney did and are cleaning house. Snyder might be axed if any of the pre-JL movies do good and WB takes one of those directors and attaches them to it.
Levi Perez
make more animated movies
Luke Diaz
At this point I think the only thing can save the DCCU if Suicide Squad fails is introducing a twist that this cinematic universe was never intended to emulate the normal DC superheroes universe, but rather be a live-action interpretation of the Justice Lords/InJustice universe, where most of the world is under the totalitarian control of despotic Superhumans. (Which would also help contextualize Batman's murderspree and Clark's stupidity in the past two movies)
Ian Martin
They need to Flashpoint/CIIE this shit like immediately. If they get to JL Part 2, it's the only way to save it
Evan Wood
Man, I cant help but get depressed after the BvS debacle, and I dread to think what will happen if SS flops. If WB turns it all around from here, can we just pretend both MoS and Bvs were just one long mess of a movie?
Tyler Reed
The legal/PR mess to detach him at this point pretty much ensures his involvement for the time being.
Daniel Martin
No, because I loved MoS.
Carter Stewart
In a perfect world we could have used the Crime Syndicate in a fun way instead of a bailout. Even hire previous actors to fill the doppelganger roles >Power Ring Reynolds >Owlman Bale >Ultraman Routh
Luis Ramirez
MoS wasn't that bad, even though I had problems with it.
Adrian Mitchell
Ok that did sound kind of harsh, but I was referring more to it being a rocky start to this entire Universe
Julian Sullivan
It CAN'T flop. The scrutiny and worry would compound exponentially.
I can't even imagine the reaction if it flops.
Cameron Watson
And he'll be attached forever because they were idiots and basically handed everything over to his production company. God knows how the Snyders managed to pull that off, but they're fucking geniuses
Luke Martin
I just realized that a name change and a throwaway shot of a Gotham City Casino could have made Snyder's Batman make so much more goddamn sense.
The Batman of BvS could have been Thomas Wayne. Thomas Wayne gave very few shits about his violent ways of vigilantism. Thomas Wayne loved guns.
Plus, a lot of the edginess in Earth-2 meshes better with MoS/BvS.
Cameron Nelson
You really think the non-comic book audience would accept that? You'd basically be playing the "it was all a dream card"
Adrian Myers
SS isn't going to "flop", I mean I don't think it really can financially flop, but if it fucks itself over critically while losing/not even getting to another Marvel film, heads are gonna roll
I'm not even going to pretend the WW movie will help. That's shit's dead on arrival, not because of the content but because they had the genius idea to open it against Transformers 5
Isaac Gutierrez
>what are they gonna do it if it flops?
At this point I don't think anything could stop the gravy train. What are they going to do, halt production on the three movies in production right now?
Nathan Green
>>At this point I don't think anything could stop the gravy train. I remember hearing this regarding Sony and the ASM franchise
Gabriel Perry
Stopping is the only thing worse. It's just movie math.
It's more profitable to release a cadre of disappointing movies that make back some money, than spending all that money on production and hiring, than going full stop and making nothing back.
Connor Walker
>transformers 5 Thanks China.
Adrian Howard
Worst part is that Ayer said that Sucide Squad had a budget bigger than 250 million. That movie is more expensive than BvS.
>they had the genius idea to open it against Transformers 5
Even worse. Wonder Woman is sandwiched between Transformers 5, which comes out a week later, and Pirates of the Caribbean 5, which comes out a week earlier.
Asher Gutierrez
I wonder how it feels to know that you suck so bad that you're destroying a company, and there's no way you can get fired.
Nicholas Fisher
WB moved Wonder Woman. Its now going against Captain Underpants and Bad Boys 3. I still don't think its going to do well.
Brandon Richardson
>Bad Boys 3. That's not helping either
Josiah Thompson
JUST
Jayden Morales
...
Henry Morgan
Snyder doesn't think he is destroying anything
He just thinks no one gets his vision
Joshua Taylor
God I hate this
Asher Perry
>A 50 million dollar R rated comedy beat both universes for profitability
The universe is funny.
Hunter Jones
>Pirates of the Caribbean 5 >Transformers 5
Justin Rogers
So many properties that I love controlled by a guy that I just don't like. Ain't fair bros.
Leo Jenkins
I thought he was only attached up through JL: Part One?
David Powell
>transformers is one of the most universally reviled franchises of the modern era >it still rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars I do not understand.
Luke Sanders
people like watching a train wreck especially if the train transforms into a giant robot
Lincoln Scott
Kids like them, Chinks like them. What's not to understand?
William Gonzalez
No he's doing part 2
And a producer for all the other DCEU movies
He's really their notFeige at this point
Luke Turner
Only the internet hates them, general audiences loves them
You should learn that internet reactions aren't representative of the general public
Isaac Cooper
same here batman
James Edwards
Most of that money comes from China and Malaysia.
William Watson
I thought he was off of Part 2? Shit.
David Allen
Even without China Transformers would still make 800+ millions
So not sure why China gets so much blame for the success of this franchise
Kevin Long
Having worked at Warner Brothers, I gotta say that the amount of incompetence present on the Burbank lot is staggering, from top to bottom.
Guess that's what happens when you let accountants run a movie studio. Fucking accountants aren't even human fucking beings, more like some sub-human meat-robot automaton that worships numbers.
But yeah, don't discount the power of utter stupidity.
Leo Watson
Most have said that his future depends on JL1 but I don't know if there is anybody that would want to clean up his mess.
Carter Cruz
>Fucking accountants aren't even human fucking beings, more like some sub-human meat-robot automaton that worships numbers. user, it's okay, you can say jews
James King
Let us hope. I just want them to at least try to salvage this.
I am so upset as a DC fan that it's not even funny. At least Rebirth is looking good.
Chase Sanders
They'll have to keep going, even if it does shit. Wonder Woman and Justice League are too far into production to just call it quits, they can't stop just now. My best guess is that they'll do SS, WW, JL1, Flash, Aquaman, JL2 and then they'll shove another Batman trilogy down our throats because Batman is Batman, with the other more successful movies will get there own sequels sprinkled in around Batman.
Honestly, the whole DCEU dissolving into a Batman cinematic universe doesn't seem that unlikely to me. TDK and TDKR made a billion each, Batman doesn't need the rest of the DC characters to be successful. If anything, the WB execs probably think that's the reason BvS underperformed.
Robert Smith
It did because there was a vaccuum of similar things, so it sold extremely well, because it was actually good.
The thing that tickles me, is that if you look at profitability, without being a massive hit, Ant-Man still profited more than BvS. That one is the one that makes me smile.
Joseph Evans
I'm hoping for a rebooted cinematic universe at some point that actually does the DCU right.
Austin Howard
I want to live in the universe where none of these movies except for solo Batfleck exists.
Isaiah Cooper
Speaking as an accountant, I'd like to say fuck you but I know you're going to get screwed on your mortgage because of that attitude problem you have, so instead I'll say this: I'm sorry you're such a weak-minded simpleton, user.
Lincoln Bennett
As someone who got all of his comic knowledge from 90s cartoon shows, I only have one question: what the hell is the suicide squad and why would I go see their movie after BvS was so horrible?
Angel Stewart
Suicide Squad looks alright though
Mason Phillips
rouges gallery gets turned into a government sanctioned plausible deniability black ops squad
Xavier Young
So it's like the Dirty Dozen without a war to make any kind of rational sense out of the program?
Those are some mighty big boots to fill.
>why would I go see their movie after BvS was so horrible
Imagine being an advertising executive handed this shit to deal with. Admen get a lot of shit but honestly, if they can keep something like this from becoming all-out failure, they're doing their job.
Andrew Martin
>So it's like the Dirty Dozen without a war to make any kind of rational sense out of the program? They protect American interests.
Easton Turner
Should've fired Snyder immediately after BvS, contract be damned.
John Clark
Except WB stock would tank for doing such a move. Their collective balls are in a vice on this one. Though I would kill to hear boardroom rage
Grayson Ward
Look up the stockholders meeting from a few weeks ago. They basically made the films division a footnote on the entire meeting
Bentley Bennett
I bet they were on the brink of doing that, but they couldn't. BvS would have done even worse if they announced that they fired the movie's director immediately after it had released. Even worse, IIRC JL began filming 2 weeks after BvS released, there's no way they could fire him and find a willing replacement in time. They'd have to cancel everything they'd been preparing for and they'd lose a shit ton more money.
Robert Scott
I bet everyone at Warners is silently hoping Snyder learns from the backlash and tones back a bit for Justice League because GOD they cant fire him but no one wants him there either
Grayson Diaz
If Snyder didn't learn after the backlash of Watchmen, OR the backlash of Sucker Punch, OR the backlash of MoS, he's not learning this time around
Michael Torres
It seems more like they're putting people in place to leash him in if anything, with Johns and Berg appointed head of DC's film division and Affleck being made executive producer on Justice League while directing his own movie. He hasn't been fired yet because they can't risk it, but they're not gonna let him fuck it up in the meantime.
Mason Allen
>I bet everyone at Warners is silently hoping Snyder learns from the backlash That's the fucking problem though: He never fucking learns. said it perfectly and out of all of his movies the one that wasn't polarizing was Dawn of the Dead and 300 (Kind of.).