Warner Bros. Pictures' Future May Hinge On SUPERMAN's Success; Is Peter Safran Set To Leave DC Studios?

Believe it or not, Superman may be even more important than anybody realised as the future of Warner Bros. Discovery as a whole could be at stake. One solution is to move Peter Safran from DC Studios...

News

By JoshWilding - Mar 11, 2025 09:03 AM EST

Filed Under: Superman

Source: Puck

Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy's stint as Warner Bros. Pictures co-chiefs has been a disaster. Outside of the odd hit like Barbie, the studio continues to release movies that regularly underperform, with Mickey 17 the latest example.

Joker: Folie à Deux was another colossal mistake. With Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav looking to cut costs and make movies on the cheap, Luca and Abdy allowed Todd Phillips to essentially rip them off for $200 million so he could shoot a lavish sequel meant to satisfy his and Joaquin Phoenix's desire for a musical.

According to a new report from Puck, Zaslav - an unpopular figure in Hollywood after he scrapped movies like Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme mid-production - is considering replacing Luca and Abdy.

One top contender is DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran, meaning James Gunn would be left as the sole head of that studio.

Beyond that, it appears the pressure is on Superman to be a hit as it's now described as having an "almost incalculable importance" to Warner Bros. Discovery. The report explains that there's a "genuine fear" Warner Bros. could go the way of 20th Century Fox, a studio scooped up by Disney when it was no longer sustainable for it to exist on its own.

According to one studio veteran, "An essential element of the stock price is believing that the I.P. of DC is meaningful. David [Zaslav] bet big that they can show the world that the DC I.P. can have real value. 'Superman' is the first movie. That will set the tone. They have a tremendous amount riding on it."

Up until this point, we've all very much believed that if Superman flops, DC Studios is in trouble. In reality, if Gunn's reboot underperforms, the studio as a whole could be in jeopardy.

Warner Bros. is relying on the DCU slate being a huge draw that generates some guaranteed box office hits. That's likely to be easier said than done when the brand is tarnished and moviegoers are showing hard-to-ignore signs of superhero fatigue.

Superman, DC Studios' first feature film to hit the big screen, is set to soar into theaters worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures.

In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind. 

The movie stars David Corenswet in the dual role of Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor.

Also appearing are Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, and Milly Alcock.

Superman arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.

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86 Comments

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TheJok3r - 3/11/2025, 9:27 AM

If this movie has a reasonable budget, it will be fine.

Scarilian - 3/11/2025, 9:35 AM

@TheJok3r -

As declared on legal documents the budget for Superman is $363.8 million. This means the break-even is $909.5m.

Nonameforme - 3/11/2025, 10:28 AM

@Scarilian - Gunn confirmed that was a lie the budget is no where near that amount.

Scarilian - 3/11/2025, 10:35 AM

@Nonameforme -
It would be illegal for them to lie on a tax credit application form and that would have been filed by Warner Brothers with the amounts confirmed and relayed by Gunn. It would be Warner Brothers and Gunn commiting Tax Fraud of tens of million of dollars.

As Gunn's entire future under Warner Brothers rests on this film he has a vested interest in lying to try and prevent a negative news spiral before the film.

UltimaRex - 3/11/2025, 10:43 AM

@Scarilian - and if no one at WB wrote that in the first place?

I could whip up one of those that says the budget is $5 if I wanted.

TheNewYorker - 3/11/2025, 12:07 PM

Looks like it has a TV budget.

RealTurner - 3/11/2025, 12:10 PM

@TheJok3r - Their problem is the "generates some guaranteed box office hits" part. "Hits." Doesn't matter if Supes scrapes through, or is even a modest success. It needs to do gangbusters, kickstarting a DC fever around the world that sends everyone to see everything else--from Supergirl to Clayface. I appreciate Gunn's work but he basically has to do what Iron Man did, but in the 2025 landscape. No one wants that job. It might be impossible.

Nonameforme - 3/11/2025, 1:03 PM

@Scarilian - or you were lied to and no such form actually exists. That's why the person I spoke with sounded angry and confused.

fosdog - 3/11/2025, 1:45 PM

@RealTurner - and herein lies the issue. people like me, who don't care for all of the cussing and vulgarity of shows like peacemaker, suicide squad, penguin, creature commandos, and don't care to see the upcoming clayface, waller, or any of those other offbeat shows that have been said to be in development, won't go see these or watch them on streaming. but, i am hoping that Superman is a huge success. I can respect that Gunn and his team are bringing a mix of more family friendly options with more adult oriented options, but i personally don't care to see the more adult oriented options. i know i'm in the minority that doesn't care for these, so i hope they can provide a good mix, because i love dc characters and hope to see them on the big screen for a long time to come.

Scarilian - 3/11/2025, 2:02 PM

@UltimaRex -
It's a legal document and they wouldn't just accept random submissions that were requesting tens of millions of tax credits. It wouldn't get to that stage of being able to be viewed or requested, it'd have been disregarded at the checking process.

@Nonameforme -
"That's why the person I spoke with sounded angry and confused."

You are trying to argue that because you had a customer service person annoyed with your inquiry that you are somehow validated.

I doubt highly that you have any legal justification for why you would want to access personal financial records from an Ohio tax firm of a company you are not representing - so if you did speak with people, they would reject providing you with anything.

We know that they are getting a tax credit from Ohio and the timing of the tax credit application aligned with when the tax credit would be processed.

If the budget was substantially lower, given Gunn's personality, he would have announced it in order to reassure people and to flaunt how well production was going.

Instead the film releases in July and we don't have even an officially stated budget, we just have the tax credit application's legal documents stating $363.8 million and Gunn just saying 'no, it's wrong' without actually saying the amount.

Nonameforme - 3/11/2025, 3:50 PM

@Scarilian - nah. There's no actual document

FrankenDad - 3/11/2025, 9:31 AM

This should be interesting. I’ll go see Superman, but I am not really anticipating it.

PC04 - 3/11/2025, 9:34 AM

The more I see that picture the more worried I become about this movie..

TheVisionary25 - 3/11/2025, 10:28 AM

@PC04 - it’s one (admittedly not great) image dude.

I think the rest has looked fine

How have you felt about that?.

Deadinside - 3/11/2025, 11:32 AM

@PC04 -
I just really can't stand those head-on flying shots! They never look right...! ☮️🤷‍♂️

PC04 - 3/11/2025, 12:52 PM

@TheVisionary25 - It's a mixed bag. Which I know, I should never judge a film or anything by just a glimpse. That picture just looks so goofy. I don't see SUPERMAN. I can look at Cavill or Reeves at a glance and I can see SUPERMAN. Especially Cavill. That man just has that stoic, demi god like presence.

In addition to the goofy head on shot...

- Guy Gardner looks really just bad. The hair, the suit. It's tacky looking. I know the character's bowl cut is hard to pull off on ANYONE, so maybe Fillion will make it work.

- All the low camera angles. What is up with that? I don't get it. It's already over used and it's just a trailer.

- The coloring seems a bit odd in some shots. Especially in the snow. Again, it's a trailer maybe it'll be fixed.

- The Costumes. I didn't mind them at first, but same thing, the more I see them the more they look bad. Mr. Terrific actually looks to be corny, "terrific". Everyone else's looks pretty cheap and dare I say "dated". There's better costumes at Comic-Con.

- The shot of Supes saving the little girl if [frick]ing awesome. That is super encouraging. I hope we see more stuff like that!

I want to like this movie. I will see it. I just don't want to see any comic book film fail. I love comics and the characters no matter the IP.

PC04 - 3/11/2025, 12:53 PM

@Deadinside - Dude I know. It's so odd, but this one looks especially bad.

TheVisionary25 - 3/11/2025, 1:10 PM

@PC04 - to each their own

I don’t have those issues aside from Guy’s bowl cut which I think shouldn’t have been done

I think there are other better shots of Corenswet that come off as Superman to me atleast.

I don’t think they are going for that stoic Demi god presence with this Superman…

He’s just meant to be a guy who helps people with his abilities

JobinJ - 3/11/2025, 9:34 AM

I'll probably go see it, maybe. I dunno, it just looks really goofy. Krypto the dog, Green Lantern look absolutely ridiculous...and Superman's suit is by far the worst live action Superman costume ever.

Lisa89 - 3/11/2025, 9:34 AM

His right eye is watching Peter Safran leave, but his left eye is watching him stay.

BraveNewClunge - 3/11/2025, 9:39 AM

@Lisa89 - 😅🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Scarilian - 3/11/2025, 9:35 AM

The budget for Gunn's Superman is $363.8 million. This was legally declared on tax forms and it would be illegal to misreport these things. Gunn has tried damage control claiming it's fake, but the break-even is $909.5m.

This is one of the core reasons why the film was intended as an ensemble cast of heroes, because everything is riding on this one. There is no Gunn DC universe if it fails. It's also why the other projects Gunn is talking about are low budget things like Clayface because Warner Brothers do not have faith in him after he's blown $363.8m on his personal fanwank tour of DC characters he likes under the Superman title.

In regards to Battinson 2, if Gunn's Superman does well then it'll be delayed and eventually shelved. Gunn wants to be the writer and director for his own version of Batman skipping straight to Damian Wayne because that is his personal favourite character in the Batman universe. Warner Brothers are waiting to see the performance of Superman before deciding whether to continue with Gunn or shift framework to Matt Reeves' Batman universe.

vectorsigma - 3/11/2025, 10:02 AM

@Scarilian - what is the source of the budget? I am highly anticipating this and I love Gunn's movies but this doesnt look like an over budgeted movie like a Marvel one. The castings wont even burn that much and they even didnt jmhave a superbowl ad.

Sounda suspicious, like from a snyder cultists suspicious to incite doubt and negativity

ObserverIO - 3/11/2025, 10:07 AM

@Scarilian - So ironic that one of the core reasons they threw all the superheroes in this first movie was because there's so much riding on it. Ironic AF because that's probably the one big thing that will make it fail (much like Justice league, Black Adam, BvS, etc).

Gunn is a great filmmaker. But if he fails to communicate with the audience why any of these superheroes have powers and why the universe should be taken seriously and not just disregarded as an anything-goes spoofy cartoon, then the film will bomb.

It's kind of a shame if Gunn goes. Failure is a great teacher, but everytime DC's creative head fails (and therefore learns) they are ousted. Therefore DC itself never learns. How is it ever expected to grow if it's never allowed to learn from it's mistakes?
Maybe Gunn could just stick around and pivot with a time travel series (like Booster Gold or a revamped Legends of Tomorrow) that lets him explore his DCU timeline (Batman Beyond, Kamandi, Legion of Superheroes etc) and then end it with a rebooting of the timeline so that he can continue with a new plan. Just retcon Superman and whatever else using time travel. I mean he's basically already doing something similar with the DCEU to DCU shift in Peacemaker Season 2. He could just do that everytime the he screws the pooch. Learning from his mistakes each time and keeping what worked (like maybe the cast of Superman).

Having said that filmmakers like Matt Reeves and Christopher Nolan before him don't need to learn, they already know.

Scarilian - 3/11/2025, 10:13 AM

@vectorsigma -
Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit website as required by Ohio law had to provide proof when requested for a tax credit application when they applied for tax credits:

‘Superman Legacy’ filed a tax credit application for $36,972,289 and the full production budget is 363,845,386.00. They have to provide all of this information due to Section 122.85 of the Ohio Code.

The source as such is the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit website dealing with tax credits. As per the law, it's illegal to incorrectly declare and the only ones capable of filing a tax credit application on behalf of a film would be Warner Brothers.

Scarilian - 3/11/2025, 10:19 AM

@ObserverIO -
Gunn naturally leans into group ensemble films because it can be a way to circumvent developing or exploring individual character types allowing for easy conflict to distract audiences. He's done so with GotG and The Suicide Squad as the most notable examples

It's frustrating because Superman really could work as a movie focused solely on him as a character, exploring his dynamic. Instead they want to rush forward. It's like if we got Avengers before we got anything else.

Gunn really comes across as wanting to do what he wants as opposed to what makes logical sense for building a universe. For example, he wants to skip all the Robin's and go straight to an older Bruce Wayne and Damian Wayne for a Father-Son dynamic movie.

I don't mind them making mistakes, but in this case they are repeating the mistakes from before. We're seeing the same rush to an ensemble film. We're seeing the same attempt to recoup costs by doing spin-off's based on sidekicks who haven't even had development before. We're seeing the same skipping of decades of potential story-lines to rush to payoff moments because they like particular characters.

Booster Gold was at one point scheduled to be one of the first films in Gunn's DC franchise - so we would have had Time Travel introduced before we'd even explored any of the characters or setting.

Nonameforme - 3/11/2025, 10:32 AM

@Scarilian - that's nothing on the website and no one knows what you're taking about if you call them which they seemed mad about. Too many people calling about it I suppose. Seems like that rumor is just that

Scarilian - 3/11/2025, 10:39 AM

@Nonameforme -
While legally required to declare it, they are not meant to declare it to anyone who asks. It's meant to be used for legal purposes.

As required by law given they applied for tax credits, the budget of the film will need to be officially relayed eventually. So Gunn's lies will be exposed. The same way most MCU movies announce a fake budget and are forced to expose the true budget later down the line when the tax credit application details are released.

Arthorious - 3/11/2025, 10:49 AM

@Scarilian - WB's waiting to see before making move, is a slight improvement from their instant reactionary approach that we've seen over the past 10 years.

McMurdo - 3/11/2025, 1:18 PM

@Scarilian - What this report says doesn't translate to what the allocated production budget is for Superman. I don't see how they can have a number like this so early, at least one so accurate. Additionally, the total cost is more than likely to increase during post; it would mean the gross budget would be upwards of 380 million or if the post-production requires it, even 400 million. That simply doesn't sound realistic, especially since it's not like they have A-lister actors and it's not Avatar: Way of Water.

I think what had to have happened is that since the Ohio Film Tax Credit asked them for a total production budget to appear on their application, they just told them a rough estimate of all expenditures before tax incentives, and it wouldn't be accurate to the film's actual budget. Which is why I think Gunn laughed at it, because even they probably don't know how much money is being circulated for this project, but they would at least know the budget at their disposal isn't that large.

And Batman being delayed has nothing to do with Superman. Reeves simply can't nail the story.

UltimaRex - 3/11/2025, 1:20 PM

@Scarilian - then you admit there is no actual proof that tax form is real.

Scarilian - 3/11/2025, 2:14 PM

@Arthorious -
Agreed, though similar to Marvel or Star Wars they need to stop shouting out tons of projects. Sure it tricks investors for a while but when none of these projects materialize it just devalues faith in them as a company. At this stage I don't believe projects that projects being announced will happen until they are very close to release - especially given Warner Brothers will cancel completed projects as tax write-off's and other companies are likely to follow the same strategy.

@McMurdo -
If Gunn does not know the budget for Superman, how can he dismiss it? If Gunn does know the budget for Superman, then if it was lower he'd have stated it to flaunt how well production is going or to dismiss the remarks of $363.8m.

I don't see justification for him to just deny it without providing his version and the silence regarding the budget is deafening. Normally something like this would provoke Warner Brothers to reveal their 'official budget' but we don't have their statement on the budget.

The film releases in July and the only aspect relating to budget we've had has been the tax credits application and we know factually they did apply for and receive tax credits.

@UltimaRex -
I don't know how you've come to that conclusion.

Some people did the deep dive regarding it last year:

https://www.reddit.com/r/boxoffice/comments/1b31g38/contrary_to_james_gunns_social_media_post_wb_has/

UltimaRex - 3/11/2025, 4:38 PM

@Scarilian - it's all the same "look, I know that there's a LOT of fakery on the internet but this is real! Trust me bro!"

No, no it's not.

Until WB or the trades tell us what the actual budget is. Anyone should take the numbers you're talking with a MASSIVE grain of salt.
If at all.

McMurdo - 3/11/2025, 4:58 PM

@Scarilian - he can dismiss it because he does know the budget hence why he did just that. This was simply overestimating your budget for the purposes of the Ohio Film Tax Credit app.

tRuckRogers46A - 3/11/2025, 5:00 PM

@Scarilian - it's too late to build a universe. DC comics universe for 30 years or so has had the full bat family. Gunn going straight into that is sooo much better than waiting another 20 years to see on screen.

elcapitan - 3/11/2025, 5:07 PM

@Scarilian - If this is true, that's a tall order. No Gunn film has ever grossed over $900M, not even GOTG 1 or 2. I know this is Superman, but we're only a few years post-JL.

elcapitan - 3/11/2025, 5:08 PM

@tRuckRogers46A - I agree. I prefer joining the DC Universe in full swing with heroes everywhere. If they want to tell prequel stories, they can easily do that.

AnEye - 3/11/2025, 9:37 AM

That is not a good sign for DC at all. Regardless if Superman succeeds or not.

Matchesz - 3/11/2025, 9:38 AM

They just as clueless as marvel, they dont think superman can be a success without batman

BraveNewClunge - 3/11/2025, 9:41 AM

Eek welp

😮‍💨

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Warner Bros. Pictures' Future May Hinge On SUPERMAN's Success; Is Peter Safran Set To Leave DC Studios?

Believe it or not, Superman may be even more important than anybody realised as the future of Warner Bros. Discovery as a whole could be at stake. One solution is to move Peter Safran from DC Studios...

SUPERMAN Director James Gunn Shares New Look At María Gabriela De Faría As The "Sinister" Engineer

SUPERMAN Director James Gunn Shares New Look At DCU's Lois Lane And Mister Terrific

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