Justice League Part 1 starts filming in less than two months

[Grissom]

Despite all the hoopla over Dawn of Justice and the DCCU as a whole, WB is going ahead and will bring us a slew of superhero movies over the next few years.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/21/justice-league-starts-April-11

...and we're pleased. 

[Wayne49]

I'm confident that the Justice League movie will have so many endorsements for merchandise and toys that the majority of that film will likely get made for free before it's all said and done. I think it's smart to go ahead and allude to that announcement before BVS opens to help rain in the excitement to give that project the best numbers it can get opening weekend. But when it comes to financing, I'm completely sold that Warner Bros has all the backing it needs to glide soundly into this project. The promotional tie ins will just be massive, not to mention those segments of the market wanting exclusivity rights for movie related product. The licensing is just monstrous.

[The Laughing Fish]

A couple of weeks ago, Zack Snyder released this picture of him together with Jason Momoa behind the scenes. You can see the Flash's mask and a more traditional looking Aquaman costume on the left hand side.

[Silver Nemesis]

Only 2 days to go before filming begins. I wonder how long before we see some set pics.

[johnnygobbs]

Only 2 days to go before filming begins. I wonder how long before we see some set pics.

Are they still doing this?  Surely it would make more sense to put the film on hold and assess the post-BvS reaction.  I realise that might knock a few points off WB's current share-price but can they risk making a potential flop (seeing how audiences are increasingly turning against the DCEU)?

[Catwoman]

Only 2 days to go before filming begins. I wonder how long before we see some set pics.

Based of the Suicide Squad leaks, 2 days. lol.

[Silver Nemesis]

Only 2 days to go before filming begins. I wonder how long before we see some set pics.

Are they still doing this?  Surely it would make more sense to put the film on hold and assess the post-BvS reaction.  I realise that might knock a few points off WB's current share-price but can they risk making a potential flop (seeing how audiences are increasingly turning against the DCEU)?

I guess we'll find out on Monday.

The DCEU is certainly off to a rough start, but I think it can be salvaged. There are lots of diehard DC fans who love MoS and BvS. It's just a case of winning over the other half of the fan base and extending that appeal to a wider audience. Both MoS and BvS got a mixed response from critics and fans, but neither is universally hated the way something like Fantastic Four (2015) is. And neither film flopped at the box office. BvS looks like it's going to finish with a WW gross in excess of $800 million. That's a lot lower than Warner Bros would've liked, but with additional revenue from streaming services, DVD sales, promotional tie-ins and other merchandise, they'll still make a profit.

A problem lies in the fact they're already committed to several other films that will likely reflect a similar creative trajectory as BvS. Suicide Squad is complete, filming wraps on Wonder Woman later this month, and they're about to roll cameras on Justice League the day after tomorrow. They're also pretty far along with preproduction on Aquaman. So they can't just scrap the whole thing this late in the day. And I don't think the majority of fans would really want them to anyway.

James Wan has assured us Aquaman will have a different tone from MoS and BvS, and Snyder's wife has made a similar promise regarding the tone of Justice League. However Gal Gadot has said that Wonder Woman has quite a dark, grim tone, and Suicide Squad looks like it's going to be dark too, albeit with some black humour thrown in. Basically, WW and SS will be mostly unaffected by the response to BvS. I suppose WB might add a bit more humour, but they'll more or less stick to the original plan. I don't think we'll see any significant change in direction for the DCEU until Justice League Part 1 and Aquaman, by which point the tone will start to become more balanced and Snyder's creative influence will lessen. Perhaps MoS, BvS, SS and WW will be grouped together as DCEU Phase 1: The Dark Age. Then Justice League Part 1 will denote the beginning of a new era for the franchise.

Ideally it might be better to delay JL while they rethink their approach. But I expect they'll plough ahead with the shooting schedule as planned. Delays will prove costly and they'll want to save face and project a show of confidence. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman represent Snyder's undiluted vision, but we probably won't see any more films like that in the future. From now on, WB will be reining him in and shooting for a more balanced tone. Assuming they do proceed with the filming of Justice League as planned, here are a few steps I think WB needs to take with the future of the DCEU:

•   Rein in their budgets. The average MCU solo film costs around $150-170 million. Both DCEU releases so far have cost well over $200 million. They need to start making these films more economically and reserve the $200+ million budgets for when they've already established an audience for themselves. That'll put less pressure on their films to bring in the big bucks.

•   Keep Zack Snyder in check. Generally I'd say the studio should get out of the way and let a director indulge their artistic vision. But in Snyder's case, his vision is a big part of the problem for many people. So while I don't think they should flat out silence his creative voice, I do think they should exert some pressure on him to show restraint. They need to try and strike a creative middle ground that satisfies both comic fans and newcomers. 

•   Don't assume the audience knows the mythology. By racing to the Justice League, WB runs the risk of cramming too many new elements into each film. I saw BvS with two people who knew nothing about the mythology beyond what they'd seen in previous movies and TV shows, and both of them were thoroughly confused by certain parts of the film (the 'Knightmare' sequence, the Flash's warning to Batman, references to metahumans, Mother Boxes, etc). While these scenes make sense to fans of the comics, there's nothing self-explanatory about them for newcomers. WB needs to carefully introduce one element at a time, gradually easing the audience into the mythology before finally connecting the dots when they reach the Justice League. Throwing all their eggs into one basket is simply too alienating for the casual cinemagoer. Which brings me to my next point.

•   Focus on solo films. Start with characters that already have some foothold in the public awareness. Suicide Squad has the Joker, and Wonder Woman has the eponymous heroine. So both of those should do ok. But how are newcomers going to react to characters like Cyborg and Shazam that they've likely never heard of? Fast track the Batman solo film. Maybe move one of the other films to a later release date and give its original slot to Batman. Also focus on the Flash. He's popular right now thanks to the CW show, and many other people know him from pop culture references on programmes like The Big Bang Theory. Batman and the Flash are both solid investments for solo movies, as are the Joker and Wonder Woman. Once WB has built up audience trust using familiar characters, then they can start bringing in the more obscure heroes.

•   Listen to constructive criticism and try to take it on board. Not all the criticism is coming from haters. Much of it is coming from DC fans who want these films to be good and to succeed. It's fine having confidence in your creative vision, but don't be so arrogant as to completely ignore what the fans themselves want out of these movies.

Anyway, those are a few of my thoughts on the subject. Failure is one of the great freedoms - when you've struck out, there's nowhere else left to go but up. And I think things are going to improve for the DCEU from now on. In four months, Suicide Squad comes out. It's the fourth live action movie to pit Batman against the Joker, the last one being TDK back in 2008. It's got a talented director at the helm, a good cast and a budget that's rumoured to be much lower than Snyder's films. Expectations are going to be lower for this after MoS and BvS, but that might work in its favour.

I know DC fans are feeling a bit dejected right now, but I think we should try and stay optimistic. We've only got a few more months before Batfleck returns. This could be where the tide turns. Right now there's an air of defeat hanging over the DC fan base, but by the end of August that might have transformed into an air of triumph.

[The Laughing Fish]

Are they still doing this?  Surely it would make more sense to put the film on hold and assess the post-BvS reaction.  I realise that might knock a few points off WB's current share-price but can they risk making a potential flop (seeing how audiences are increasingly turning against the DCEU)?

Have you actually seen BvS yet? I have, and while I personally don't think it's as great as I hoped it to be, it's not the big pile of garbage that some people are making it out to be either. If you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you give it a chance and then form your own opinion about it.

[Catwoman]

Are they still doing this?  Surely it would make more sense to put the film on hold and assess the post-BvS reaction.  I realise that might knock a few points off WB's current share-price but can they risk making a potential flop (seeing how audiences are increasingly turning against the DCEU)?

Have you actually seen BvS yet? I have, and while I personally don't think it's as great as I hoped it to be, it's not the big pile of garbage that some people are making it out to be either. If you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you give it a chance and then form your own opinion about it.

He'd rather run his ignorant mouth and use others' paid opinions as though they're his own instead of shedding the blithering sheep act and actually forming his own opinion.

I can fully respect and understand the opinions of people who saw it and just didn't like it but if someone hasn't seen/isn't gonna see it and proceeds to use other's opinions ad nauseam to tell us how awful it is when they're incapable of forming their own opinion, don't waste our time cause you're not going it add anything remotely worthwhile to the conversation. Just shut up and move on.

[johnnygobbs]

Are they still doing this?  Surely it would make more sense to put the film on hold and assess the post-BvS reaction.  I realise that might knock a few points off WB's current share-price but can they risk making a potential flop (seeing how audiences are increasingly turning against the DCEU)?

Have you actually seen BvS yet? I have, and while I personally don't think it's as great as I hoped it to be, it's not the big pile of garbage that some people are making it out to be either. If you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you give it a chance and then form your own opinion about it.

I'll ignore the unnecessary and unsolicited attack by the poster below you, and simply say that irrespective of my opinion, I am giving an objective assessment of the situation taking into account the reaction, both critical and commercial and the underwhelming BO.  My own personal feelings about the film, good, bad or indifferent, are immaterial to this assessment.

I spoke about a 'flop' (some of my favourite films were flops) not about a turkey (industry speak for a film that is an artistic failure rather than simply a commercial one).