The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Warner Bros. and DC Films have decided not to move forward with two of their previously announced films: Ava DuVernay's New Gods and James Wan's Aquaman spinoff, The Trench.
Rest assured, this is no April Fool's joke, as the studio has also released a statement, saying, "As part of our DC slate, some legacy development titles including New Gods and The Trench will not be moving forward. We thank our partners Ava DuVernay, Tom King, James Wan and Peter Safran for their time and collaboration during this process and look forward to our continued partnership with them on other DC stories. The projects will remain in their skillful hands if they were to move forward in the future."
They do leave the door open for both DuVernay and Wan to return to tell other DC stories down the line, which probably shouldn't come as a huge surprise considering both are already working on other DC projects. DuVernay is currently developing the CW series Naomi, while Wan is already in pre-production on his Aquaman sequel, which will shoot at the tail-end of this year.
THR notes that the decision was made in part because there was no natural space in the upcoming DC lineup for the films, and they didn't want to leave two of their top talents hanging in limbo. Both projects could eventually be revisited, but with The Trench said to have a more standalone story and the studio wanting to create some space between Darkseid's role in Zack Snyder's Justice League and his next appearance, it seems unlikely.
With the impending arrival of James Gunn's The Suicide Squad and Matt Reeves' The Batman, the studio is hoping to build toward an interconnected slate in which projects will feed in and out of the big and small screen. Both films have already been issued spinoffs, with the former spawning Peacemaker and the latter set to launch a GCPD show, which will take place on Earth-2 in Reeves' Batman universe.
The Flash is believed to explore the multiverse and offer much-needed clarity on the future of DC Films. After that, WB and DC are in various stages of development on Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Blue Beetle, Batgirl, Supergirl, Green Lantern Corps, and Static Shock. There's also a Superman film in the works from J.J. Abrams and Ta-Nehisi Coates, but it's unclear whether it will join the main DC continuity or exist in its own universe like The Batman.