Posted in: Movies | Tagged: dceu, geoff johns, HRL, jon berg, justice league, Release the Snyder Cut!, Warner Bros

Report: Justice League Failure Prompts DC Films Shakeup as Jon Berg Steps Down

Published Thu, 07 Dec 2017 15:50:49 -0600

Last updated Wed, 14 Feb 2018 07:45:10 -0600

The disappointing box office performance, unlikelihood of making a profit, and critical panning of Justice League will have some major repercussions for DC Films, a new report from Variety claims. Jon Berg will reportedly leave his role as head of DC Films and become a production partner with Roy Lee instead. Geoff "Jeff" Johns, however, won't be promoted, according to the report. Instead, he'll stay in his role as DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer. Additionally, DC Films could become fully integrated with Warner Bros. studio, including losing their own separate building.

If Variety's report is to be believed, and we'll note that they're one of the most reputable outlets in the entertainment journalism business (low bar, we know), Warner Bros. is pissed off at Berg and Johns for screwing up the DCEU. "Going forward, his contributions to the films may evolve, and could be more advisory in nature," Variety says of Johns's role, also implying that he may not get producer credits on future films. Johns and Berg were both "intimately" involved in the production of Justice League, and the film has made about a third of the box office of its Marvel counterpart, Avengers, and with a much higher budget and other costs that will likely cause Warner Bros. to take a loss on the film.

Warner Bros. is reportedly particularly "frustrated" about DC's insistence on bringing Snyder back for Justice League after his previous movies failed to live up to expectations, and the studio found Snyder's choice of villains in 1960s rock band Steppenwolf to be "faulty." The studio is also "upset" that each DC film "seems to be making less money than the one that proceeded it." In the wake of Justice League's stunning failure, fans have clamored for Warner Bros. to release a Zack Snyder cut of Justice League, but Warner Bros. apparently feels that less Zack Snyder, to the tune of no Zack Snyder at all, is what's needed for the DCEU.

The report also notes that Batman will probably be recast for The Batman, though Ben Affleck may play the character one more time in Flashpoint. Variety also notes that one of the upcoming films on DC's schedule is the nonexistent Sinbad genie movie Shazaam, but we assume that's a typo and they're talking about Shazam.