Time Warner CEO says DC movies have “room for improvement”

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Critics have torn the most recent DCEU movies, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN and SUICIDE SQUAD, to pieces, and audiences haven’t exactly fallen in love either (though have been noticeably kinder). That being said, the movies have done well at the box office ($873 million and $720 million apiece), so I guess reviews don't matter much. Still, the powers-that-be are still thinking long-term, and that means ensuring the quality of their future movies.

Needless to say this is something Warner Bros. execs are taking very seriously, and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes spoke to investors yesterday (via Variety) saying their DC movies have “a little room for improvement.” He went on to discuss this in further detail:

“The DC Comics characters … have a little more lightness in them than maybe what you saw in those movies, so we’re thinking about that.”

However, though he agrees they can do a bit better in certain areas he emphasized the box office success of the two movies, and that the reinvigoration of the characters was the primary goal:

““The strategy worked. The execution did deliver what we wanted to do. We can do a little better on the creative. … We’re right on course or better.”

At the end there he is most likely talking about next year’s films, WONDER WOMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE, two movies that already look better than either BVS or SQUAD. As well, there’s one aspect of the DCEU that he, like us, can’t help but give a shout-out to:

“The main thing was to launch DC and reinvigorate it with the fan base. The reboot of Batman with Ben Affleck (in the role) was a big success.”

I am not the biggest fan of either SQUAD or BVS. Each had their pluses, but ultimately failed to live up to their potential. Even the people at Warner Bros.—though confident in the DCEU’s future and happy with their current films' success—seem to think they can do a bit better. What they seem to understand is their movies need to be a bit more fun and light, which seems to be the main complaint from those unsatisfied with the films. Based off the footage of WONDER WOMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE, it seems the studio got the message.

WONDER WOMAN is set for June 2, 2017 and JUSTICE LEAGUE will follow on November 17, 2017.