Make DC Films Its Own Studio
We hate to say it, but DC needs to copy the Marvel formula here. With Marvel Studios in place, Marvel has a say in how its movies are made. Kevin Feige is in charge and it’s up to him and his team to make the best possible films, without having to beg and plead with a studio for anything.
DC Films, on the other hand, is merely a production division under Warner Bros. All of the people need to report to WB and bash heads with execs for anything to happen (and sometimes that doesn’t even work). While Marvel is making movies with one man calling the shots and having the vision, DC’s output have been made by a committee, which is fairly evident in the patchy tone and editing of the films.
It’s time for DC to create its own studio and be responsible for its outputs. When too many cooks are in the kitchen, it’s bound to get messy and loud. At the end of the day, the movie business is a business, but that doesn’t mean that it has be devoid of passion. If WB lets go of the wheel and hands the keys to DC, there’s more chance of a hit in the hands of the people who know and love the product than the bean counters who only care about their next quarterly bonus.
Subscribe To One Vision
Watching Justice League is seeing the vision of four people (Zack Snyder, Joss Whedon, Geoff Johns, and Kevin Tsujihara) smashed into one movie. It’s obvious that these people thought this film was meant to be something different and their visions clashed in a catastrophic way. When there should’ve been an agreement from the get-go, Warner Bros. kept reacting to the backlash of the other DCEU movies and changing things at a whim.
This will never work. In order to achieve a goal, there needs to be one common and united vision. Otherwise, people will be on different pages all the time and working towards their own aspirations. Heck, WB knew what Snyder wanted to do and approved it in the first place, so how can they be mad at him for doing what he did?
Going forward, the studio needs to decide on what these films will be. Will they be dark, light, funny, or what? Sure, you can always change things up with a movie here and there, but there needs be some semblance of uniformity.
If WB believes in giving its filmmakers complete carte blanche, then it must do so and not meddle when it feels like it. The truth is simple: If you’re giving filmmakers complete autonomy, expect to have movies that aren’t always popular (and that’s okay because art is subjective). If you want the same level of success as the MCU’s shared universe, look at Marvel’s blueprint and copy it.