In An Attempt To Course Correct, WB Appoints Geoff Johns & Jon Berg As Co-Heads Of DC Films

In An Attempt To Course Correct, WB Appoints Geoff Johns & Jon Berg As Co-Heads Of DC Films

Breaking news out of Warner Bros. tonight as it's being reported that they've made a major shakeup with their DC Films division, naming Geoff Johns & Jon Berg to co-run the new operation.

By RohanPatel - May 17, 2016 08:05 PM EST
Filed Under: Batman
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
No matter how you feel about Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, it really doesn't look like Warner Bros. was all too pleased with how the Zack Snyder-directed feature was received critically or commercially.

In what's being described as a course correcting move, Warner Bros. has made serious changes to how they will produce DC Comics-based films moving forward by appointing current executive VP Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, DC's chief content officer, as co-heads of the new DC Films, giving them full oversight of any upcoming DC feature film. They make the move with the hopes that uniting the comic acumen of Johns and the executive experience of Berg that they'll essentially be able to emulate and achieve the massive successes Marvel Studios has seen under the leadership of Kevin Feige.

The overall move is part of a larger shakeup over at WB as they attempt to shift gears to managing "genre streams" instead of one individual overseeing a broad range of movies. In laymen's terms, certain sets of executives will now have a specific franchise to focus on, i.e. Harry Potter, The Lego Movie, sci-fi/action, family/comedy, etc. From DC's standpoint, the jumping off point for making the decision was of course the catastrophic reaction to Batman v Superman, which, according to THR's sources, cost at least $300 million to produce, possibly more, but only managed to rake up a little under $870 million in about seven weeks. For comparison's sake, Marvel's Captain America: Civil War is expected to cross the milestone $1 billion mark in less than two weeks after its initial release.

For Berg & Johns, their new jobs will immediately make them producers on the Snyder-directed Justice League, which is currently filming. Additionally, in another bit of great news, Berg & Johns both have strong ties to star Ben Affleck with Berg having collaborated with the Academy Award-winner on Argo & Live By Night and Johns currently in the midst of penning the script for The Batman solo feature alongside Affleck. Speaking of Affleck, who was recently upped to executive producer on the aforementioned Justice League, the door is also open for him if he decides he wants to expand his creative involvement with the Batman films and/or possibly more DC films down the line.

Another interesting tidbit the report brings to light is that WB is currently hard at work smoothing out the third act of David Ayer's Suicide Squad, and that Johns is heavily involved in the entire post-production process. Additionally, THR confirms that the film's recently completed reshoots were not to add humor. After the dismal reception to Batman v Superman, and the glowing reception to the Suicide Squad trailers, the studio is really hoping they can not only meet the audience expectations, but exceed them with the third entry in their DC Extended Universe. 

This is all pretty good news. So, what do you guys think? Sound off with your thoughts below!


Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City's own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis's most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it's ever known before.


Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice will feature:
Director: Zack Snyder
Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Amy Adams as Lois Lane
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
Diane Lane as Martha Kent
Laurence Fishburne as Perry White
Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
Holly Hunter as Senator Finch
Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves
Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash
Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
Harry Lennix as General Swanwick
Christina Wren as Major Carrie Farris
Michael Shannon as General Zod
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Thomas Wayne
Lauren Cohan as Martha Wayne
Robin Atkin Downes as Doomsday
Carla Gugino as the voice of the ship
Scoot McNairy as Wallace Keefe
Callan Mulvey as Anatoli Knyazev
Michael Cassidy as Jimmy Olsen
Michael Shannon as General Zod
Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent
Jena Malone in an unspecified role
 
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is out in theaters everywhere NOW!

BANE And DEATHSTROKE Live-Action Movie In Development At DC Studios
Related:

BANE And DEATHSTROKE Live-Action Movie In Development At DC Studios

Hayden Christensen Responds To BATMAN Rumors And Explains Why Darth Vader Would Beat Thanos
Recommended For You:

Hayden Christensen Responds To BATMAN Rumors And Explains Why Darth Vader Would Beat Thanos

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ...
Ignition
Ignition - 5/17/2016, 8:09 PM
Mostly good news.

"Suicide Squad recently went under major additional photography (***multiple sources say it was not to add humor***) to clear up the issues."

Faraci sinks.
Yaf
Yaf - 5/17/2016, 8:58 PM
Live By Night is going to be [frick]ing amazing.
HorrorScream
HorrorScream - 5/17/2016, 9:21 PM
@Ignition - the director say that its not for jokes he say that was to add more action, they say fun not for jokes
Chewtoy
Chewtoy - 5/17/2016, 9:49 PM
@Ignition - The article makes it sound like the third act of the film had some major issues.
AgentZero
AgentZero - 5/18/2016, 1:25 AM
@Chewtoy - Exactly. They're trying to revert the damages Ayer might have done.
Maculis
Maculis - 5/18/2016, 3:15 AM
What I don't understand is why they would need to do this if I'm constantly being told that Snyder made two GREAT movies and the DCEU is doing great. So according to hardcore DC fans, this should be terrible news because they're trying to fix something that ain't broke. Right?
BloodyBed
BloodyBed - 5/18/2016, 3:50 AM
@Maculis - I think mos was great, bvs had some good ideas but was a choppy mess. Some of the fanboys don't want to admit that they saw a bad story. I think it's as simple as seeing the trinity is all they needed. Some people don't care about editing and cohesion. Good for them I guess.
12121
12121 - 5/18/2016, 4:26 AM
@ALostCause - I completely agree MAN OF STEEL is a masterpiece BVS was a bit messed up
Ignition
Ignition - 5/18/2016, 5:37 AM
@Maculis - what I don't understand is why you feel compelled to fixate on what hardcore DC fans think
Ignition
Ignition - 5/18/2016, 5:38 AM
@Chewtoy - no, it makes it sound like they are cleaning up the third act so it exceeds expectations and they willing to put in a lot of resources to do it. It sounds no different to what Marvel Studios does.
DarkeyeZ
DarkeyeZ - 5/18/2016, 5:39 AM
@Ignition - This is good news…Man of Steel sucked, and Batman V Superman wasn’t all that great. Hopefully they will have better stories and not have characters show up for 10 seconds as their introduction. Still upset that they didn’t give Wonderwoman enough shine in the movie when hers is the next solo movie to come up. Missed opportunities.
Maculis
Maculis - 5/18/2016, 6:08 AM
@Ignition - fixate? What makes you think I'm fixated?
rdcortes22
rdcortes22 - 5/18/2016, 7:50 AM
@Ignition - What I don't understand is why you feel compelled to fixate on what hardcore @maculis thinks?
thejrmack
thejrmack - 5/18/2016, 9:06 AM
@Maculis - what I don't understand is why "marvel" fans constantly troll DC stories to negatively comment.
DarkeyeZ
DarkeyeZ - 5/18/2016, 9:56 AM
@thejrmack - what I don't understand is why "idiots" think that just because you don't like BvS that you are a Marvel fan. I am a Batman fan and I am disappointed in what DC is doing with their movies. they are not good. super hyped for Suicide Squad, but not even a little excited for Wonderwoman, but I hope that changes.
thebamf
thebamf - 5/18/2016, 10:49 AM
Seems like a lot of users here seem to "not understand".
Maculis
Maculis - 5/18/2016, 11:45 AM
@thejrmack - it's not trolling...one of the purposes of this site is a place comic book fans can go to chat and debate the movies/tv shows they inspire. I've had conversations with people on here that said nothing was wrong with the DCEU...now that seems to be a different story. Are you suggesting I only comment on articles where I completely agree with other commenters?
PewPewPew
PewPewPew - 5/18/2016, 10:51 PM
@thebamf - Understand what? I don't understand.
DramafreeRob
DramafreeRob - 5/19/2016, 2:15 AM
@Maculis - There's nothing authentic about the Warner Bros/DC venture. DC doesn't have a vision for their shared universe. They are a bunch of suits and they have no identity. They're main motivation is to catch up to Marvels 10 billion dollar success. At least Snyder had his incoherent vision. Now, too many chefs in the kitchen. And at the end of the day, there will always be only one Kevin Feige. Try they all might but they will fail because they don't have a vision. Or a real captain steering their DC division. These executives are not comic book people, they only listen to the bottom line. That is why DC and other similar studios will fail. The writing is on the wall.
Maculis
Maculis - 5/19/2016, 4:11 AM
@DramafreeRob - I agree
AlternateNo4
AlternateNo4 - 5/19/2016, 5:55 AM
@Maculis - correct. i think it's terrible news. the last thing johns had a heavy hand in was green lantern, and look at that monstrosity.

when i watch snyder's movies i see what i've always imagined when i read comics. i was a kid that read heinlein, tolkien, dick, and burroughs and i didn't see any jokes in there... so now i don't like levity or sunshine in stories about apocalyptic events. and i laugh at comments aout choppy editing and plot holes from comic fans when comics themselves are constantly contradicting, course correcting and retconning themselves.

the only good news about this is that if people like the movies more, wb will continue to make them. but the more people like them, i suspect, the less i will.
Kr08
Kr08 - 5/17/2016, 8:12 PM
This is pretty much good news. They realized that Snyder was not the way to go for the future of the DCEU, and now they've appointed their own versions of Kevin Feige. I'm pretty sure they'll have Affleck overseeing the narrative and direction in some of the bigger and more important films.

Bring on DC STUDIOS!


Menks123
Menks123 - 5/17/2016, 9:06 PM
@Kr08 - Yeah....they need that Fiege like person, with a big story board and understanding of ALL the characters. Great move.
Kr08
Kr08 - 5/17/2016, 8:16 PM
Apparently Berg is Affleck's go-to-guy for his movies. So this is good!
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ...
View Recorder