Kevin Tsujihara, CEO of Warner Bros., sat down with the LA Times to talk about the ever-changing industry and how the company is adjusting to a new life under the AT&T umbrella. Obviously the DC universe came up, and, well, let’s just say changes are a coming.
Tsujihara shared that the studio will shift its focus more toward individual characters and experiences and standalone films than on universe-wide films featuring ensemble casts.
“The upcoming slate, with Shazam, Joker, Wonder Woman 1984, and Birds of Prey, feels like we’re on the right track. We have the right people in the right jobs working on it,” Tsujihara says to the LA Times. “The universe isn’t as connected as we thought it was going to be five years ago. You’re seeing much more focus on individual experiences around individual characters. That’s not to say we won’t at some point come back to that notion of a more connected universe. But it feels like that’s the right strategy for us right now.”
With the recent release and success of Aquaman (hello, Jason Momoa), this shouldn’t necessarily come as a shock. Still, some fans may be wondering what prompted the shift.
Tsujihara adds, “What Patty Jenkins did on Wonder Woman illustrated to us what you could do with these characters who are not Batman and Superman. Obviously, we want to get those two in the right place, and we want strong movies around Batman and Superman. But Aquaman is a perfect example of what we can do. They’re each unique and the tone’s different in each movie.”
Photos: Warner Bros.
