James Gunn And Peter Safran Will Co-Lead DC Studios
Image Source: Culture Slate
After several months, Warner Bros. Discovery has found its successors to Walter Hamada and DC Films. In fact, they’ve found two. Just a week after Hamada’s formal departure, the company has picked The Suicide Squad director and Peacemaker creator James Gunn and producer Peter Safran as co-chairs and co-CEOs of DC Studios. Yes, DC Studios, not DC Films. The sensible rebrand comes as television series and animation had been moved under DC Films following the merger.
Safran and Gunn officially start November 1, with Gunn handling the creative aspects while Safran does the business and production sides. While this is not a singular Kevin Feige-like presence, Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to emulate the Pixar model. Specifically, Pixar currently has Jim Morris as general manager and president, while Inside Out director Pete Docter is chief creative officer, a dynamic previously held by Ed Catmull and John Lasseter. As far as what they will oversee, it seems much of it is still in development. The films set for next year are now moving, having been delayed so much due to pandemic complications. Those films and Joker: Folie à Deux fall under Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who had been running things since July as part of their broader duties at Warner Bros. Pictures. Whatever comes out of Matt Reeves’s The Batman-based world could fall under Gunn and Safran’s supervision but that has yet to be determined.
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Gunn came to DC in 2018, after a high-profile smear campaign led to a temporary alleged firing from Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, and he was brought on to direct The Suicide Squad. A day later, Alan Horn told him he could return, but with his commitments to The Suicide Squad production, this was put on hold. Gunn would produce supplementary material for both sides, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (premiering November 25) and the Peacemaker spinoff series premiered in January. Just last week, it was reported the pair were pitching a secret project to the studio. Does that mean they were essentially pitching it to themselves?
While Gunn’s courting by DC didn’t lead to exclusivity at first, it ultimately does as he ascends to such a high position there. This iteration of the Guardians is definitely over. The deal is for four years, by which point Marvel will probably be in phase 7. If an architect for cosmic MCU is ever officially placed, it won’t be Gunn.
The goal is for Gunn and Safran to be producers and executives, and yes, Gunn will continue to direct. After all, the model allows it: Docter co-wrote and directed the acclaimed Soul, which was released in 2020, a few years into his ascension. Can Gunn and Safran break Zaslav out of his bubble? What kind of dynamic will the three of them have? What can we expect as far as TV and animation? Lots of questions, and with captains at hand, answers shouldn’t be far behind.
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