Geoff-Johns

After a string of flops, Warner Brothers is shaking up its internal structure, moving its executives to more hands-on roles.  Courtenay Valenti will now oversee LEGO and Harry Potter-related movies beginning with this winter’s ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them‘, while Jesse Ehrman will oversee comedy and family films, and Niija Kuykendall will be in charge of sci-fi/action films.

Jon Berg
Jon Berg

But perhaps the biggest change comes with the appointment of Jon Berg and DC Comics’ chief creative officer Geoff Johns over control of the DC cinematic universe.  It was already revealed that Johns and Ben Affleck would have complete creative control over the solo ‘Batman’ movie and that Affleck would step in as a producer on ‘Justice League’.  Both Berg and Johns are also now joining him as producers on ‘Justice League’ which is currently filming with ‘Batman V Superman’ director Zack Snyder behind the camera (and butting heads with WB, according to reports).

These changes , of course, come on the heels of WB’s high-stakes ‘Batman V Superman’ which underperformed and was lambasted by critics and audiences alike.  The film will make a profit having taken in almost $870 million worldwide, but Marvel Studios’ ‘Captain America: Civil War’ is closing in on $1 billion after just two weeks.

Berg has previously worked with Affleck on ‘Argo’ and ‘Live By Night’ and was already involved in the production of the DC movies, including ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Suicide Squad’.  Presumably, he is now taking on a greater role.

And Johns has long been a successful writer for DC Comics and worked closely with Greg Berlanti on the TV shows based on DC’s poperties, ‘Arrow’, The Flash’, ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ and ‘Supergirl’.

This move will hopefully result in a more cohesive DC Cinematic Universe, with a seasoned Hollywood exec and a DC Comics insider running the show, in a similar way to Marvel Studios, which is spearheaded by Kevin Feige, who obviously knows what he’s doing but is also concerned with maintaining the integrity of the source property in the film adaptations.

Warner Brothers has already been taking steps to recover from ‘Batman V Superman’, giving director David Ayer millions to reshoot parts of the next film in the franchise ‘Suicide Squad’.  And director Seth Grahame-Smith departed ‘The Flash’ over “creative differences.”  Now it is being reported that the studio wasn’t confident having a first-timer helm such a big film and is now seeking a more experienced film-maker.

Are you worried about the DC Cinematic Universe with all these changes?  Or do you think things will work out for the better with more control?

Source: Comic Book Resources