Warner Bros. film chairman, Toby Emmerich, says the reason why the DCEU hasn’t been received well is because “good movies work better”.
The DC Extended Universe was supposed to be the brand’s answer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but, unfortunately, it hasn’t quite worked out that way thanks to poor reviews and some rather disappointing box office performances.
WB would still like the DCEU to hit the heights of the MCU, however, and new Warner Bros. film chairman, Toby Emmerich, believes it can happen.
When speaking to EW, Emmerich didn’t pull any punches when discussing why the DCEU hasn’t pulled in numbers like Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther: “I think the good movies work better. Somebody once said the best business strategy in motion pictures is quality. And I think in a world of Rotten Tomatoes and social media, what’s been proven the better the movie — particularly in the superhero genre — the better it performs. You can’t hide the bacon anymore.”
That certainly makes logical sense, though good movies don’t always equal box office success as history shows us – it can’t hurt, however. It’s interesting to hear though that WB is acknowledging some of their failings.
Emmerich further elaborated on his thoughts regarding the subject: “I would say no matter what, the better the movie is the more advantage it is. Now when you’re talking about art, I do believe that it’s tough to judge art at the moment when it’s presented to the world. My father was very involved in the arts, he was always taking me to museums and galleries and historical buildings. He believed any kind of art — whether it’s fashion or sculpture or architecture or filmmaking or music — it takes 20 years to judge the quality of something. Twenty years after Sgt. Pepper or Born to Run comes out, then you can understand what that album was.
“I guess when I say ‘quality,’ I don’t want to judge anybody’s movies completely at the moment of release. But I would say there are movies that are right for their time, that an audience is ready for, that’s in sync with the zeitgeist, and I think you need a movie whose quality is recognized at the moment of release so it’s in touch with the culture of the moment. We’re at a unique moment around the planet and certain types of movies are working better than others at this moment of time. And I do think Aquaman will sync up with the global culture zeitgeist of what’s happening right now.”
If rumours are to be believed, Warner Bros. and DC Films could be set to unveil their future plans for the DCEU – and a possible “rebranding” – at next month’s San Diego Comic-Con International.
