DC Studios CEO James Gunn admitted that the company’s lack of films, TV, and more for 2024 is “great for us for the reset.”
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: (L-R) Pom Klementieff, James Gunn, and Karen Gillan attend the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 World Premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 27, 2023. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney)
Gunn shared his thoughts on Threads when a user asked, “Do u think lack of dc content is 2024 is gonna kill the brand?”
The CEO responded, “I think it’s great for us for the reset.”
James Gunn Threads
One can’t help but agree with Gunn that a lack of DC content in both theaters and TV will help the DC Universe reset. The DC brand will see only one major theatrical release in 2024 with Joker: Folie à Deux. Batman: Caped Crusader is likely to arrive sometime in 2024. The animated series from Bruce Timm was picked up by Prime Video for two seasons earlier this year.
In 2025, DC will release Gunn’s Superman: Legacy film, the beginning of his DC Universe, which he announced back at the end of January this year. 2025 will also see the release of Peacemaker Season 2 and the animated Creature Commandos series.
Creature Commandos official art via DC YouTube
A year of little to no content will hopefully create a desire for Gunn’s Superman: Legacy as well as let the bad taste of 2022 and 2023 leave moviegoers’ mouths. DC put out box office failure after box office failure for over a year beginning with Black Adam.
Black Adam only grossed $390.3 million worldwide. The film had a $200 million production budget meaning it needed to gross at least $500 million to break even and cover the marketing costs as well as the split of the box office grosses with theaters.
Black Adam (2022), Warner Bros. Pictures
Following Black Adam, DC released Shazam! Fury of the Gods into theaters in March. That film only grossed $132.2 million worldwide despite having a production budget of $125 million.
Next, DC released The Flash, the film grossed $266.5 million worldwide. It had a $200 million production budget. Following, The Flash they released Blue Beetle, which only grossed $128.7 million worldwide. It had a production budget of $120 million.
Not only were all of these films box office failures, but they were poorly received by moviegoers. Blue Beetle has a middling 6.0 out of 10 on IMDb. The Flash has a 6.7. Shazam! Fury of the Gods also received a 6.0. Black Adam had a 6.2.
Blue Beetle (2023), Warner Bros. Pictures
It’s quite likely that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which arrives in theaters later this month will follow a similar pattern. The latest box office predictions from Box Office Pro have the film only grossing between $29 million and $38 million in its opening weekend. The outlet projects the movie will only gross between $105 million and $155 million domestically.
The original Aquaman film grossed $335 million domestically and another $808.6 million internationally for a global gross of $1.1 billion.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Warner Bros. Pictures
What do you make of James Gunn’s comments about a lack of content being good for the DC Universe reset?
