It was looking to be a quiet Monday until the kind of bombshell news that upends the fruit cart broke: James Gunn and Peter Safran are out at DC Studios, the film unit they were hired to run four years ago.
They will be replaced by Jeremy Latcham, a former exec ion the MCU.
The Gunn/Safran team had been feted by incoming Skydance head David Ellison just days ago, with DC Studios given a prominent place in Skydance promos, and Gunn and Safran reporting directly to Ellison.
Latcham has already slipped down the org chart – he will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group and not Ellison.
Latcham’s MCU credits include Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man and The Avengers. He left Marvel in 2017 and started his own shingle, Latcham Pictures.
which held first-look deals at 20th Century Fox, Hasbro, and Wonder Project. He produced “Bad Times at the El Royale” and “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” Recently, he held an overall deal at Hasbro Entertainment, where he was developing a “Dungeons & Dragons” sequel and an “Action Man” film, and was also producing director Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Naruto” for Lionsgate.
If there’s anything that stands out in his portfolio it’s the D&D movie which was a flop but an underrated gem that has only grown in estimation.
However, Latcham also produced the recent flop Nate Bargatze movie The Breadwinner, signaling that the DCU may be moving in a very different direction.
Statements from the press release:
Gunn and Safran: Four years ago, we set out to unite DC under one creative vision. In that time, we helped restore Superman to the heart of DC, while opening new doors and telling new stories in film and television with Peacemaker, Creature Commandos, Lanterns and Clayface. We’re immensely proud of the team that turned that ambition into something real, including the actors, crews and executives we had the opportunity to collaborate with. We’ve shared a creative history with Jeremy going back to Marvel, and we’re eager to see the perspective he brings to DC’s next chapter. We’re excited to return to what drew us to this job in the first place, which is telling the stories we love, including the next chapter of Clark and Lex’s journey in Man of Tomorrow.
Latcham’s announcement didn’t even get the nod from Ellison, with Goldberg and Greenstein handing out the Kudos: “Jeremy brings a deep reverence for DC and its passionate fanbase, recognizing that they are the very foundation of this storied, multigenerational brand. Under his leadership, every film and television show will be ushered from start to finish through the prism of the legions of fans who love and champion it. Jeremy’s track record exemplifies the excellence he will bring to building out DC and the many beloved characters within it.
While the DC film world is already reeling from the news, Gunn released his own statement on social media, looking forward to the release of Man of Tomorrow next year and a return to filmmaking.
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Oh, boy. What a four years.
Thanks to all of you who have supported me and Peter in our time as the heads of DC Studios.
When I was a kid growing up in Manchester, Missouri, I used to write and draw my own comics with a mix of DC Comics characters and my own characters. Having full access to these characters to do whatever we wanted has been a dream come true. I didn’t know if I wanted this job when it was offered to me, but I just couldn’t pass up the unique opportunity. I’m glad I took the job.
But what only the closest people to me have known over the past four years is my time at DC Studios has been trying, to say the least. I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that). I’m always a very hard worker, but as a filmmaker I would at least get to take short breaks to unwind, and I’ve stolen even that time from both myself and my loved ones over the past four years (Jenn, I love you and I’m sorry and you don’t need to feel guilty for being the happiest of all people that I’m no longer doing this job). And the thing my ADHD hyperfocus has had the most difficulty with has been dividing my time between projects I’m incredibly passionate about and the ones I’m not so much and all the things I have to do as a studio head.
There have been so many highs along the way – releasing Superman and Clayface, making Peacemaker, reading the scripts to The People Vs, the entire process of Man of Tomorrow, which thus far has been the best filmmaking experience of my life, and numerous other moments.
The highest of the highs have been all the talented and wonderful people I’ve worked with and grown to love: the DC Studios crew, our talented collaborators, our casts and crews, and the boisterous and hilarious fans. And the best part of all has been working with Peter Safran, the smartest and most competent person I know. You’ve been the best partner a person could ask for, and, more so, a truly good friend.
So, yes, I will miss the people around me, and I will miss being the co-caretaker of these great characters, but I’m also incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking.
That’s not to say Peter and I are immediately done with DC or superheroes. We have Man of Tomorrow out this summer. And we’ve just been engaged on another DC project which I’m writing, and we’ll see where it goes after that. And, of course, the characters we set up will live on.
Thank you so very, very much for embracing the characters and stories we’ve put on screen.
Love and gratitude,
James Gunn
This is breaking news and to say that social media (and my DMs) have gone wild is quite the understatement. We’ll have full analysis later on, but suffice to say that James Gunn was a HUGE fan of the original comics and went out of his way to promote them and their creators. This is going to have a huge effect on both the future of superhero movies, DC’s film, TV and animation and perhaps even the comics.
Developing.
The beginning of the end