It’s not the change that they need, but the one that they deserve.
Jon Berg, one of the Warner Bros. film executives who are in charge of DC’s superhero films, is stepping down from his title after their tentpole film Justice League underperformed at the box office, according to Variety.
DC was being co-run by Berg and Geoff Johns. Johns, who reports to DC president Diane Nelson, is expected to continue serving as DC Entertainment’s chief creative officer while the company likely finds someone to replace Berg.
Berg, instead, will be going into production with his partner Roy Lee. Lee has been a producer on several Warner Bros. films, including The LEGO Movie and It.
“This is something that Jon approached me about six months ago, and he expressed his goal was to ultimately be a producer at the studio,” Warner Bros. Picture Group President Toby Emmerich told Variety. “I first met Jon when, as a producer, he brought Elf to New Line, which remains one of the best and most evergreen titles in the library. We’re thrilled that Jon is partnering with Roy and anticipate their company being a valuable source of movies for Warner Bros. and New Line.”
Variety is also reporting that Emmerich is considering bringing DC’s operations into the main Warner Bros. studio banner — the same way in which Fox and Sony operate, but the opposite of Marvel.
This news all comes after Justice League made only $570.3 million worldwide. While this is still a good amount of the money, when comparing it to The Avengers — which make $1.5 billion — Justice League is certainly struggling. This is especially true when considering that Justice League cost an estimated $300 million to produce, according to the LA Times.
Wonder Woman provided a hit earlier in the summer, taking in $821 million worldwide, but 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice also underperformed with $873 million worldwide (a film with both Batman and Superman should have no problem making over $1 billion).
These changes are expected to take place in January of 2018.
With the future of DC in turmoil, the only thing we currently know for sure is that James Wan’s Aquaman is set to come up in Dec. 18. There’s also a Shazam movie, Suicide Squad 2 and a hundred other projects the company has announced, but we’re not really sure which of those will actually see the light of day.