With January in the books we’re officially moving headlong into 2018 and that means we’re starting to see more and more film news coming out of DC and Warner Bros. This week we’ve got an update on Shazam! filming, Suicide Squad’s tone, a hint at Nightwing news and some thoughts on what DC learned from the performance of Justice League. Shall we begin? Here is your weekly update of the announcements and rumors that have released from January 26-February 2.
First up is that filming has begun on Shazam! and to mark the occasion, Director David F. Sandberg shared a photo on his Intagram account. The movie is due to be released on April 5, 2019. Expect a steady stream of updates until then.
Next up is a hint of Nightwing news to come. Director Chris McKay shared on Twitter “it’s too early to talk about casting but in February… say around Valentine’s Day maybe… I should have an update about where everything is with the first NIGHTWING movie!!” That’s only two weeks away. Could this be an official announcement of who will step into the blue and black of Nightwing or will the news be a bit less exciting, like the script being finished or a start date for filming? We’ll know in about two weeks.
In an interview with Yahoo! Joel Kinnaman offered an update on the more grounded nature of Suicide Squad 2. Translation: less magic. The actor said “I think when we do the second one I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a more grounded version of the film. The characters are so extreme it could be more effective if we saw less sorcery. I think the characters become more extreme if you see them in conjunction with real people.” Hopefully this means the climax of the movie will not involve a glowing energy being shot into the sky, a trope that MANY comic book films are guilty of employing.
Finally we’ve got a piece over on the Revenge Report that goes into detail of the lessons DC and Warner Bros. have learned from their recent movies and how this may or may not change the direction of future movies. The article is well worth a read and makes some excellent points on what caused the low box office for Justice League (Batman v Superman takes the majority of the blame) and what the studio will use as their mantra going forward. They offer four takeaways:
- They were going to loosen the connectivity of their shared universe
- Emphasize stories that can stand on their own, the same way Wonder Woman did, while still maintaining that it is a shared universe
- Go back to being filmmaker-driven, giving each director ample creative freedom to explore their legendary characters as they see fit
- Rebrand the DCU as being a place for “Heart, Humor, & Heroics“
Hopefully these changes are going to drive the excitement back up for the DCEU, a universe which should generate the same excitement as Marvel Studios. Focusing on the humor and heroics for the main movies (while still allowing darker flicks to punctuate the main films) could really go a long way in winning back the audience.
That’s all for this week. Remember to check back every week for all the film news you can handle in one place.
