Right now, Warner Bros. is riding high on the success of Wonder Woman, and by all means, they should be. After getting slammed in 2016 for their two entries in the DC Extended Universe, many fans and critics seemed ready to follow suit with Wonder Woman. Luckily for the studio — and luckily for us — the film turned out to be a damn good entry, and the narrative seems to have been shifted to a more hopeful one for this universe.
And yet, there does seem to be this feeling that we’re at some sort of stalemate with DC Films. Yes, they’ve announced a TON of films: Nightwing, Batgirl, Gotham City Sirens, Wonder Woman 2, Suicide Squad 2, The Batman — none of which were on their original slate of movies several years back. And yet, while they keep dropping film titles like nobody’s business, we still don’t quite know the status of their other movies — the ones they initially announced that have yet to hit theaters. With all these announcements, you’d expect we’d get SOME release dates, but Warner Bros. has been quite mum on the specifics.
So what is the status of the DC Extended Universe? In extensive breakdown of the current state of the DCEU, Forbes contributor Mark Hughes mentioned that Warner Bros. seems to be in a bit of a holding pattern.
“The truth is, a lot is riding on how 2017 pans out. The studio wants to see how Wonder Woman performs (so far so good on that front) and how Justice League turns out, before they barrel ahead with multiple more films every year. More films will get made, don’t worry, but it makes sense to ease off the gas a little and be certain about the best route ahead.â€
In the past, we have criticize Warner Bros. for being very reactionary, and in truth that’s only half the story. It only bothers us when they’re reactionary and have to actively backpedal or change the direction of a project as its in production or post-production. So long as they react to feedback in the development process, we think the projects have a much better chance of being a success, as the feedback won’t be half-assedly implemented partway through production.
However, they’re not just waiting on performance reports. They’re also reorganizing, based on the recent shakeup, forming of DC Films, announcement of new projects, hiring of talent, and everything in between. Because of this rapid period of change for them, it’s only logical for them to take a step back and get their ducks in a row, rather than rushing to get two films a year out, as originally planned.
“More likely (meaning not 100% certain), we’ll see a steady stream of [DC films] starting after 2018, perhaps one per year, alongside the other DCU releases. And for the most part, that’s because (a) the filmmakers working on those films are at various stages of development on those pictures and/or other projects, (b) the DCU has faced some reshuffling of plans and personnel, and (c) Warner needs to step back and look at what they have with the DCU this year and make sure they’re certain everything is on the right track going forward.â€
While it’s a bit disappointing that we’ll likely have to wait some time before getting any real meaningful news, but if that means Warner Bros. will have a better slate of films planned, then we’re all for it.
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SOURCE: Forbes