Following the recent criticisms for the DC brand, which includes the recent notion that Ben Affleck’s Batman movie is in trouble, the director leaving Flash, and poor critical acclaim for Batman Vs. Superman and Suicide Squad, it’s learned things are all not as bad as they seem.
WB CEO Kevin Tsujihara praises the DC brand in an interview with the NY Times. While of course it’s Tsujihara’s job to spin the positive, Kevin Tsujihara does back up his claims, which comes on the heels of the announcement that AT&T has purchased WB’s parent company, Time Warner, as his division has seen a 12 percent increase in income from a year earlier.
Regarding Batman vs. Superman and Suicide Squad, which saw critics absolutely crush in reviews, Tsujihara noted they both generated a combined whopping $1.6 billion worldwide with the article noting that Tsujihara is “confident that management changes he has been making (putting a pair of executives, Geoff Johns and Jon Berg, in charge of superhero movies, for instance) will make for more satisfied fans.”
“The thing that really makes me confident is that I’ve seen Wonder Woman, and it’s great,” Tsujihara said.
It’s also recently become known that WB’s DC TV series bring in over a billion dollars, which includes Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. All four of the series will also be featured in a massive crossover event this Season on The CW which has been compared to a larger-scale production Hollywood movie.
DC Comics’ Rebirth comic book event has been a smash hit amongst critics, fans and retailers as well — beating out their direct competition for at least three consecutive months.
The article also notes Warner Bros. is developing a Netflix-style services dedicated to superheroes, with mention of Batman, and also Harry Potter.
“Combining with AT&T will allow us to go direct-to-consumer with brands like DC even faster,” Mr. Tsujihara said.
Regarding the critics, Tsujihara mentioned he hopes their new slate of DC movies will cause a critic or two to come around, and Tsujihara also comments on the negative rumors surrounding the company offering it’s a result of executives who have left the studio under unhappy circumstances.
Bonuses for Warner Bros. also mentioned includes their popular video game division (LEGO and Mortal Kombat), upcoming slate of movies (Justice League, Fantastic Beasts and sequels, Kong: Skull Island) and digital media investments (Machinima).
