xJLxKing
http://comics.ign.com/articles/102/1022819p1.html
Warner Bros. is restructuring DC Comics, a move that affects all of their comics-to-film adaptations in-development. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. has created DC Entertainment Inc., a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms, to be run by Diane Nelson, it was announced today.
DC Comics has confirmed all this in a press release, and added that DC President & Publisher Paul Levitz, "will segue from that role to return to his roots as a writer for DC and become a contributing editor and overall consultant to (DC Entertainment). This transition will take place as expeditiously as possible without disrupting DC's business operations. In his new role, Levitz will be called upon for his deep knowledge and more than three-decade history with DC Comics, both as a comic creator and an executive. Besides serving as a writer on a number of DC Comics titles, he will be a contributing editor and consultant to DC Entertainment on projects in various media. Additionally, he will consult as needed on the transition and integration of the DC Comics organization into DC Entertainment and will utilize his unique experience, knowledge and relationships with the comics industry's creative community to help achieve DC Entertainment's goal of maximizing the value of DC properties. Further, Levitz will advise DC Entertainment on creative and rights-holder relationships, in particular regarding the legacy relationships that have been a part of DC Comics for decades."
DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses. DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products. The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry.
"DC Comics and its super hero characters are truly touchstones of popular culture, and the formation of DC Entertainment is a major step in our company's efforts to realize the full potential of this incredible wellspring of creative properties," said Barry Meyer, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Chairman & CEO. "Diane knows our studio as a creative executive, a marketer and a senior manager, and this varied background will help her effectively and creatively integrate the DC brand and properties across all our businesses. We're also thrilled that Paul will remain involved with DC and we'll be able to tap his expertise to help us reach our goals for this new business."
"After so many roles at DC, it's exciting to look forward to focusing on my writing and being able to remain a part of the company I love as it grows into its next stage," said Levitz. "It's a new golden age for comics and DC's great characters, and I hope my new position will allow me to contribute to that magic time."
DC Comics will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2010 (New Fun Comics #1, the first DC comic, began publishing in 1935), at which time more explicit details regarding DC Entertainment's corporate and management structure, film and content release slate, creative roster and business objectives will be unveiled at a multi-faceted anniversary celebration and press conference in the first quarter of the year.
Rumblings first surfaced online in late August at BleedingCool.com that Nelson -- who was charged with maintaining Warners' relationship with author J.K. Rowling and their Harry Potter film franchise -- was taking over as the studio's exec in charge of DC Comics adaptations. Deadline Hollywood Daily confirmed the report this morning, adding that Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov has had a longterm plan for the reorganization for at least two years.
So how does this corporate restructuring affect you and the DC Comics movies you want to see? Well, first DHD claims that "Robinov for months has quietly gone to producers like Chuck Roven and Joel Silver and Akiva Goldsman and 'called back' all their high profile DC titles in development like The Flash and Wonder Woman. Not only was that shocking to the producers, but even more so when they found out this was part of Robinov's strategy to severely limit the number of gross participants on the projects. Because the producers were told that they may get the titles back to develop, but with far less rich deals. 'Jeff always wanted some kind of oversight of DC, and now he wants Warner's to hold onto ownership,' my insider explains." Interestingly, Goldsman recently signed on to oversee Fox's Fantastic Four reboot. And DHD adds that, while Silver was allowed to produce The Losers, his decade-long involvement developing a Wonder Woman movie is now over.
This reorganization means the studio could start anew with such projects as Wonder Woman, The Flash, and even Superman. Charles Roven was a producer on Christopher Nolan's Batman films. It's unclear if that means he's also been yanked from that property, but considering how it's Warners' cash cow perhaps that will be an exception. Warners' inability to maximize their corporate synergy with DC Comics by fully exploiting their comic book movie properties has been a widely discussed matter in the media and amongst fanboys.
Current DC properties in development and/or production at Warner Bros. Entertainment include:
# Human Target is being produced by Warner Bros. Television for a mid-season debut on Fox.
# Midnight Mass is in series development at Warner Bros. Television for consideration for the 2010-11 season.
# Jonah Hex, Warner Bros. Pictures' supernatural Western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich, recently wrapped production in Louisiana.
# The Losers, Dark Castle/Warner Bros. Pictures' action-adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, began principal photography mid-July in Puerto Rico.
# Green Lantern, Warner Bros. Pictures' next big superhero tentpole release, recently cast Ryan Reynolds as the titular character. The film has a projected second quarter 2011 release date.
# Lobo, based on the DC Comics anti-hero, has Guy Ritchie attached as a director; Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona are producing for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.
# Warner Premiere's direct-to-platform DVD animated release of Green Lantern: First Flight debuted July 28.
# Warner Bros. Animation currently produces Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which airs on Cartoon Network.
# Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released Batman: Arkham Asylum on August 25, a dark, action packed videogame adventure for Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows.
Warner Bros. is restructuring DC Comics, a move that affects all of their comics-to-film adaptations in-development. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. has created DC Entertainment Inc., a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms, to be run by Diane Nelson, it was announced today.
DC Comics has confirmed all this in a press release, and added that DC President & Publisher Paul Levitz, "will segue from that role to return to his roots as a writer for DC and become a contributing editor and overall consultant to (DC Entertainment). This transition will take place as expeditiously as possible without disrupting DC's business operations. In his new role, Levitz will be called upon for his deep knowledge and more than three-decade history with DC Comics, both as a comic creator and an executive. Besides serving as a writer on a number of DC Comics titles, he will be a contributing editor and consultant to DC Entertainment on projects in various media. Additionally, he will consult as needed on the transition and integration of the DC Comics organization into DC Entertainment and will utilize his unique experience, knowledge and relationships with the comics industry's creative community to help achieve DC Entertainment's goal of maximizing the value of DC properties. Further, Levitz will advise DC Entertainment on creative and rights-holder relationships, in particular regarding the legacy relationships that have been a part of DC Comics for decades."
DC Entertainment, a separate division of WBEI, will be charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses. DC Entertainment, which will work with each of the Warner Bros. divisions, will also tap into the tremendous expertise the studio has in building and sustaining franchises and prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products. The DC Comics publishing business will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment, releasing approximately 90 comic books through its various imprints and 30 graphic novels a month and continuing to build on its creative leadership in the comic book industry.
"DC Comics and its super hero characters are truly touchstones of popular culture, and the formation of DC Entertainment is a major step in our company's efforts to realize the full potential of this incredible wellspring of creative properties," said Barry Meyer, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Chairman & CEO. "Diane knows our studio as a creative executive, a marketer and a senior manager, and this varied background will help her effectively and creatively integrate the DC brand and properties across all our businesses. We're also thrilled that Paul will remain involved with DC and we'll be able to tap his expertise to help us reach our goals for this new business."
"After so many roles at DC, it's exciting to look forward to focusing on my writing and being able to remain a part of the company I love as it grows into its next stage," said Levitz. "It's a new golden age for comics and DC's great characters, and I hope my new position will allow me to contribute to that magic time."
DC Comics will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2010 (New Fun Comics #1, the first DC comic, began publishing in 1935), at which time more explicit details regarding DC Entertainment's corporate and management structure, film and content release slate, creative roster and business objectives will be unveiled at a multi-faceted anniversary celebration and press conference in the first quarter of the year.
Rumblings first surfaced online in late August at BleedingCool.com that Nelson -- who was charged with maintaining Warners' relationship with author J.K. Rowling and their Harry Potter film franchise -- was taking over as the studio's exec in charge of DC Comics adaptations. Deadline Hollywood Daily confirmed the report this morning, adding that Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov has had a longterm plan for the reorganization for at least two years.
So how does this corporate restructuring affect you and the DC Comics movies you want to see? Well, first DHD claims that "Robinov for months has quietly gone to producers like Chuck Roven and Joel Silver and Akiva Goldsman and 'called back' all their high profile DC titles in development like The Flash and Wonder Woman. Not only was that shocking to the producers, but even more so when they found out this was part of Robinov's strategy to severely limit the number of gross participants on the projects. Because the producers were told that they may get the titles back to develop, but with far less rich deals. 'Jeff always wanted some kind of oversight of DC, and now he wants Warner's to hold onto ownership,' my insider explains." Interestingly, Goldsman recently signed on to oversee Fox's Fantastic Four reboot. And DHD adds that, while Silver was allowed to produce The Losers, his decade-long involvement developing a Wonder Woman movie is now over.
This reorganization means the studio could start anew with such projects as Wonder Woman, The Flash, and even Superman. Charles Roven was a producer on Christopher Nolan's Batman films. It's unclear if that means he's also been yanked from that property, but considering how it's Warners' cash cow perhaps that will be an exception. Warners' inability to maximize their corporate synergy with DC Comics by fully exploiting their comic book movie properties has been a widely discussed matter in the media and amongst fanboys.
Current DC properties in development and/or production at Warner Bros. Entertainment include:
# Human Target is being produced by Warner Bros. Television for a mid-season debut on Fox.
# Midnight Mass is in series development at Warner Bros. Television for consideration for the 2010-11 season.
# Jonah Hex, Warner Bros. Pictures' supernatural Western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich, recently wrapped production in Louisiana.
# The Losers, Dark Castle/Warner Bros. Pictures' action-adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, began principal photography mid-July in Puerto Rico.
# Green Lantern, Warner Bros. Pictures' next big superhero tentpole release, recently cast Ryan Reynolds as the titular character. The film has a projected second quarter 2011 release date.
# Lobo, based on the DC Comics anti-hero, has Guy Ritchie attached as a director; Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona are producing for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.
# Warner Premiere's direct-to-platform DVD animated release of Green Lantern: First Flight debuted July 28.
# Warner Bros. Animation currently produces Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which airs on Cartoon Network.
# Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released Batman: Arkham Asylum on August 25, a dark, action packed videogame adventure for Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows.