Following the disappointment of the Justice League movie, it’s now reported that the DCEU has a new president which will oversee its comic book movies with Walter Hamada.
According to the report, Geoff Johns will remain as DC president and chief creative office and will still be involved with the films. It’s further said Johns will also continue to be involved with DC’s television shows and comic book industry.
WB’s official press release states that Geoff Johns will “work closely” with Walter Hamada.
Reasons given for the move includes that WB is frustrated over the failure of the DC movies to become as popular as the Marvel films. While Wonder Woman was a big success, Suicide Squad and Justice League were torn apart by critics (as were Batman vs. Superman and Man of Steel).
Walter Hamada is known for being a production executive at New Line which developed hit movies such as the recent IT and The Conjuring movies. Hamada has a close relationship to Aquaman director James Wan, and Hamada will be leaving New Line to work at WB with it said he will oversee all the WB comic book movies including those outside of DC canon.
“Walter is creative, resourceful, and committed to excellence, and will bring those qualities to his oversight of our superhero films,” Toby Emmerich, president and chief content officer at Warner Bros., said in a statement. “I’m confident Walter and Geoff, working with our filmmaking partners, will deliver films that will resonate with both broad global audiences as well as DC fanboys and fangirls.”
Up next for the DCEU is James Wan’s Aquaman movie, which has a December 21, 2018 release; David F. Sandberg is directing and developing the Shazam! movie starring Zachary Levi for an April 2019 release, and Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot return for Wonder Woman 2 set for a November 1, 2019 release date.
Geoff Johns took to Twitter to welcome Walter Hamada:
Welcome aboard, Walter!! Thrilled to be working with you! It’s been a blast on Shazam! — now it’s off to the rest of the DCU! (And get a twitter account!) https://t.co/qAGAWzWxWP
— Geoff Johns (@geoffjohns) January 4, 2018
Update: Here is is the official press release from WB:
WALTER HAMADA NAMED PRESIDENT, DC-BASED FILM PRODUCTION, WARNER BROS. PICTURES
(January 4, 2018 – Burbank, CA) – Walter Hamada has been named President, DC-Based Film Production, Warner Bros. Pictures, it was announced today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Content Officer, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, to whom Hamada will report.
In his new role, Hamada will focus on Warner Bros. Pictures’ slate of upcoming films based on Super Heroes and Super-Villains licensed from DC Comics, as well as titles based on other characters and stories also licensed from DC. Hamada will draw resources from across Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema and work closely with Geoff Johns, President and Chief Creative Officer, DC Entertainment.
Hamada most recently served as Executive Vice President, Production at New Line Cinema, part of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group.
“Walter is creative, resourceful, and committed to excellence, and will bring those qualities to his oversight of our superhero films,” said Emmerich. “He’s a terrific production executive and served as an executive producer on two of the summer’s most popular films, New Line’s ‘IT’ and ‘Annabelle: Creation.’ I’m confident Walter and Geoff, working with our filmmaking partners, will deliver films that will resonate with both broad global audiences as well as DC fanboys and fangirls. Walter’s a great addition to the Warner Bros. Pictures team, and I look forward to working with him in his new post.”
Prior to this promotion, Hamada spent a decade at New Line, having joined the company in 2007 as Senior Vice President, Production. Among the films he worked on during his tenure at NLC are “Friday the 13th” (2009), “The Final Destination,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (2010), “Final Destination 5,” “The Conjuring” and “The Conjuring 2,” “Annabelle” and “Annabelle: Creation,” “The Gallows” and “Lights Out.”
Before New Line, Hamada spent four years as a partner at the management and production firm H2F Entertainment. Prior to that, he ran development for MBST Entertainment. Hamada began his career at TriStar Pictures where he ultimately served as Vice President, Production for Columbia Pictures.
