According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, 2018 looks set to be a "reset year" for the DC Films Universe as Warner Bros. sets out to focus on a slate of movies which will be driven by the visions of directors as opposed to a shared world akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to studio president Toby Emmerich, "We don’t want to limit the creativity filmmakers can bring to the table by saying these characters have to come in a particular order and all fit into the same universe."
Before that, though, we're getting Justice League, a movie which was reportedly given a last-minute rewrite by Zack Snyder and Chris Terrio to "make the movie less serious and more hopeful" Interestingly, it was Warner Bros. boss Kevin Tsujihara who insisted that it run for less than two hours, possibly because "significant reshoots" led to the already big budget shooting up to over $300 million.
A shorter running time means more screenings in theaters and a greater chance for the studio to regain the money they've spent. Going back to those reshoots, studio execs were apparently somewhat satisfied with the cut he delivered earlier this year but felt that work was still needed to make it lighter, hence why Joss Whedon was brought on board to write (and direct) reshoots.
"A lot of the work was integrating the two tones and making it feel like one movie," one person close to the post-production process told the site in regards to whether the very different styles of the two filmmakers mesh well. Now, Warner Bros. is working on what Emmerich calls a "super robust slate" of DC Comics adaptations but it's going to be very interesting seeing how Justice League does...