Geoff Johns and Diane Nelson are riding to the rescue of Warner Bros. as they ready Green Lantern and Wonder Woman to become the blockbusters they were destined to be, according to this profile in the LA Times by Geoff Boucher and Ben Fritz.
The industry odd couple — she previously managed the Harry Potter brand for Warner Bros. but had no experience in comics, he’s a fan-favorite comic-book writer who had never worked at a studio — are the president and chief creative officer, respectively, of DC Entertainment, main comic-book rival to Marvel. Their task is to rummage through the massive DC library and finally get venerable characters such as Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash and Aquaman on the silver screen for parent company Warner Bros. Their appointment, part of a restructuring of DC last September, is an implicit acknowledgment of the long dysfunctional relationship between the studio and its New York comic book unit.
Warner Bros. is counting on the pair to fly to the rescue and to do it soon — the Potter franchise, which has pulled in more than $5.3 billion at the box office, is winding down with its seventh installment this November and its finale next summer. The top Warner leadership is also frustrated that over the last decade it has been Marvel Comics characters — led by Spider-Man, the X-Men and Iron Man — who have won the hearts of moviegoers with franchises that have pulled in close to $8 billion.
The profile of DC Entertainment’s place in the Warners hierarchy is notable for its look into the current decision making process at the studio, and also for little nuggets like this tossed-off gem:
The biggest challenge for Nelson and Johns may be merging the cultures of the Warner lot in Burbank and the offices of DC, which are in Manhattan but may soon move to L.A.
Oh, you don’t say!
Rumors of DC moving to LA have been flying ever since Nelson took over last fall. The buzz at Comic-Con is that the move is coming sooner rather than later, although exactly how to dismantle DC’s well-populated NYC office remains a puzzler.
Oh the times, they are a-changin’.
Heidi MacDonald is the founder and editor in chief of The Beat. In the past, she worked for Disney, DC Comics, Fox and Publishers Weekly. She can be heard regularly on the More To Come Podcast. She likes coffee, cats and noble struggle.
Well, we can make the argument that Marvel is enjoying major movie success WITHOUT the Marvel publishing division being in L.A. So, is the geographic location of DC’s offices really the key? (Well, it may help.)
Also, I think the article is a bit off-base in sorta categorizing Geoff Johns as a Hollywood “outsider.” I mean, having worked closely for / with the Donners, def carries a bit of showbiz industry weight.
DC to LA? OMG!
Well, considering the article contains four attributed quotes (3 to Johns, 1 to Jeff Katz), all of them vague synergy boilerplate, none of them making any mention of moving DC to LA, there’s not much credible in here.
“Well, we can make the argument that Marvel is enjoying major movie success WITHOUT the Marvel publishing division being in L.A.”
I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Marvel will also be heading out to LA as well…perhaps as an announcement at the Con?
No big surprise about DC heading out there, though considering the long history of comic books in NYC, it’s still a bit of a kicker in an “End of an Era” kind of way.
A bit more “coincidental” evidence:
http://bit.ly/cK1VZp
The top Warner leadership is also frustrated that over the last decade it has been Marvel Comics characters — led by Spider-Man, the X-Men and Iron Man — who have won the hearts of moviegoers with franchises that have pulled in close to $8 billion.
Maybe Warner Bros. should try to do something with that Batman guy.
There is a gap between DC’s top characters (Superman, Batman) — Wonder Woman is an icon, but not on the same level as the other two — and the other characters. Too many of DC’s characters are just very simple concepts, to the point that most of them can each be described in one sentence. They’re certainly heroic, and a hero’s power might initially be interesting, but what does a screenwriter do after one movie about the Flash or Green Lantern? The Flash moves fast; GL has his ring — and that’s it. Superman and Batman are more widely recognized by the general public than the others are, but they’re actually just as hard to write about. Do two or three movies about either of them, and that’s it — there’s not much more to say. The screenwriter either has to focus on supporting characters or the villains, not the star, or try to think of things for the hero to do with his power that won’t seem silly.
The LA Times article didn’t mention that previous attempts to do movies about DC characters (e.g., JLA, WW) have run into script problems. Moving the offices to LA does nothing to address those problems. A treatment that assumes that all viewers are fans of the comic book character will bomb.
SRS
Whatever; DC’s current output seems more geared towards outside media adaptation than comics anyway. They might as well make the transition official.
“The top Warner leadership is also frustrated that over the last decade it has been Marvel Comics characters — led by Spider-Man, the X-Men and Iron Man — who have won the hearts of moviegoers with franchises that have pulled in close to $8 billion.”
Has Warner just woken up from a long, long nap?
They have no one to blame but themselves for Marvel winning the hearts of moviegoers. That’s what happens when you’re asleep at the wheel, WB.
Hey Warner, while you’re at it, you might notice that Marvel wins the hearts of readers too, which is sad, because people really ‘want’ to love DC characters… but you guys don’t make it easy.
This all being said, I’d say 90% chance DC is moving to L.A. within a year, or at least an announcement that they’ll be.
This has been in the works for months if not more. I posted on a previous thread way back on the Beat that the buzz was fairly clear/accurate on DC’s move out to the left coast. It’s just a question of when and who goes first: DC or Marvel.
“The top Warner leadership is also frustrated that over the last decade it has been Marvel Comics characters — led by Spider-Man, the X-Men and Iron Man — who have won the hearts of moviegoers with franchises that have pulled in close to $8 billion.”
Good. Now they know how the DC fans felt when they couldn’t get their asses in gear and make these movies sooner.
“Aquaman on the silver screen”
Please tell me that’s a joke or a typo. Who the hell actually wants to see that? They can’t even get hardcore readers to support a monthly comic.
God, they suck.