Previously, Warner Bros.Ā CEOĀ Kevin Tsujihara let it be known at an investorsĀ meeting that the new BenĀ Affleck Batman would be a seasoned veteran, and now new details have becomeĀ known about the direction of the DC movie universe.
Yahoo has a transcript of the investors meeting withĀ KevinĀ Tsujihara being questioned by Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Jessica Reif. The transcript doesn't look to be all thatĀ well transcribed, but there seems to be enough present to understand.
TsujiharaĀ lets it be known that multipleĀ DC movies are being planned as he notes the basis of WB's 12-14 movies will haveĀ the DC characters as the foundation.
Then you have 12 to 14 pictures coming from Warner Bros. And I think theĀ basis, foundation of those 12 to 14 pictures are going to be coming from DCĀ Entertainment. We have Batman versus Superman coming out inĀ ā15, but those are going to be in the coming months a lot of announcementsĀ regarding kind of the future movie, television, games and consumer product pieces that are going to be coming fromĀ DC.
Tsujihara continues with mention of Ben Affleck and the Batman Vs. Superman movie. Note: IĀ believe "Jake" is supposed to be director Zack [Snyder], and the "15" mentionedĀ is the year 2015, otherwise it would be read as "the next 15 movies," but Tsujihara just statedĀ above 12-14. At least that is my reading of it.
We couldnāt be happier about the movie that Jake and with Chris Nolanās helpĀ can be created. It was a total reboot of the Man of Steel or SupermanĀ and it really gives credibility to that character and Henry did a great job. Itās a perfect springboard to then moveĀ into next 15, we think Jake is going to be directing Batman and Superman.Ā Batman, in the movie we havenāt titled it yet and we are really excited aboutĀ the fact that we were able to convince Ben to play Batman. It is a perfect forĀ the role and itās going to be a Batman that youāve absolutely never seen before,Ā heās kind of tired and kind of weary,Ā heās been doing this for a while and Ben is the exact perfect for the vision that Jake has for that character andĀ the fact that you saw such a passionate response and that is really kind of aĀ testament to the love that people have for this character and itās reallyĀ exciting to see kind of where this is going and exact vision of how heās goingĀ to put that movie together. We think itās going to be huge.
Interestingly enough, the source close to Warner Bros. that told us BryanĀ Cranston is cast as Lex Luthor also told usĀ aĀ lot is leading up to the Justice League movie. Cosmic BookĀ News is alsoĀ told that Bryan Cranston signed on for 6-10 moviesĀ with Ben Affleck signing a multi-picture deal as well, possibly as high as 13. We are told WarnerĀ Bros. wants to create a more connected world than what Marvel has done.
Tsujihara alsoĀ states DC will be the focus of things related to video games and more.
And as you said itās being driven ā the newĀ franchises that we are going to be zoning are going to be DC franchises.Ā We think there is big opportunities toĀ build off of what we are doing throughout the rest of the company in games asĀ well.
And as I said, we are number one in ā we are really well positionedĀ for that transition on the home entertainment side and with the DC pushing, if you are in consumer products and games we think there is opportunitiesĀ there as well. So we are able to get some margin expansion also through theĀ digital initiatives and continuing to look for ways to be more efficient and weĀ are very confident that we can grow this business goingĀ forward.
