Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav revealed last month that he had tapped Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran to lead DC’s film, TV, and animation division. New comments shared by the duo during a virtual town hall with Zaslav that took place yesterday have revealed that both have already begun working on an “eight- to 10-year plan” to help make DC more like Marvel Studios, a company that has rose in prominence thanks to the efforts of executives that include President and CCO Kevin Feige. DC will now focus on telling a single story, according to Safran, hinting at more solo films with a reduced emphasis on complex mash-ups such as Justice League, while the “bible for a cohesive DC universe” that is reportedly being worked on suggests that future DC video games from Warner Bros will also be closely connected.
“This was such a unique opportunity to tell one great overarching story”, said Safran, who produced Shazam! and Aquaman. “One beautiful big story across film, television gaming, live-action, and animation.”
“The opportunity to make DC as great as it can be and as it should be — that is the reason why I’m doing this job because I know that Peter and I can do that,” said Gunn. “We spent the past couple days with a group of some of the best thinkers in the industry, the best writers in the industry starting to map out that eight- to 10-year plan of what it’s going to look like in theater, in TV, in animation, across the board for these characters.”
From The Hollywood Reporter:
For months, Zaslav has said he wanted leaders to help DC become more like Marvel Studios, which is home to the most successful film franchise in history, one known for its overarching storylines such as the Infinity Saga. At the town hall, Safran emphasized that DC will focus on telling a single story.
Gunn noted that he and Safran have begun work on a long-term plan for that story.
Gunn and Safran will report directly to Zaslav, who this week told investors he has spent a lot of time with the duo over the past few months. They replace Walter Hamada, who departed as DC Films president last month after holding the post for four years. The search for new leaders to run DC was long and closely watched, with the ascension of Gunn, a top filmmaker, coming as a surprise.
From a Deadline report:
The execs expressed their shared excitement for the new structure, with Zaslav mentioning how the plan is to build a bible for a cohesive DC universe, one that is overarching across live-action films, TV, animation, gaming and more.
While Gunn and Safran didn’t mention anything about new projects, the former said he has a penchant for such DC superheroes as Metal Men and Bat-mite.