James Gunn and Peter Safran have comic book fans incredibly excited about the upcoming slate of DC Studios movies. The “Gods & Monsters” phase will feature a mix of old favorites; like Superman (Superman), Batman (Brave and the Bold), and the Green Lanterns (Lanterns), as well as some new and unusual faces; Booster Gold (Booster Gold), and the paranormal equivalent of the Suicide Squad (Creature Commandos). Recently, Gunn also announced some new projects in the works, including the long awaited Teen Titans movie, an animated Dick Grayson and Jason Todd film. However, as excited as fans are about the upcoming projects, their futures are still indefinite.
Taking to his trusty online home of Threads, James Gunn clarified a past comment about DC Studios’ commitment to following through on its upcoming slate. Earlier this month, James Gunn assured fans that every announced project in the “Gods & Monsters” phase would still be moving forward, despite a lack of updates from the studio. Now, the filmmaker and co-President of DC Studios has cleared up any misunderstandings about his statement. “Just to clarify, I said everything we originally announced was still in development, not that it’s still coming,” Gunn said, responding to a fan who shared an article with his previous comments.
While DC Studios are committed to the development of every single announced project, it doesn’t mean those movies and shows are guaranteed to see the light of day. The director continued, saying that the production and release of the already announced projects depends on the development of scripts. In his own words:
“That all depends on the scripts! We’ll never put a half-assed script in production just because it was announced.”
DC Studios’ Development Method is Normal for Movie Studios
After James Gunn clarified DC Studios’ position on seeing the “Gods & Monsters” phase through to fruition, fans immediately went on the attack. The comments under the director’s Thread were filled with concerned and confused fans asking questions like, “Why announce a project to the public if you haven’t got scripts?” and “what’s the point of announcing that many projects?” However, the way DC Studios is handling its upcoming releases is normal for major movie studios.
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Studios will announce upcoming projects that are still in their infancy for arguably two key reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, it is a way of measuring audience excitement about a potential movie or show. As much as it feels like Hollywood studios don’t listen to fans, if a studio announces a movie is in early development and the online reaction (not including bigoted fans) is negative, or, even worse, non-existent, it causes the studio to alter or cancel their plans for the project. Secondly, in the age of the internet, where hacking and online leaks have become an everyday part of life, studios want to be the ones to announce their projects. Had DC Studios not announced the full “Gods & Monsters” phase, it would have inevitably been leaked online by a careless employee or Hollywood “insider.”