| DC Studios | |
| Type: | Division |
| Genre: | Superhero fiction |
| Former Name: | DC Films (2016–2022) |
| Hq Location: | 4000 Warner Boulevard |
| Hq Location City: | Burbank, California |
| Hq Location Country: | United States |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
DC Studios, formerly known as DC Films, is an American film and television production company that is a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The studio has been led by filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran as its co-chairmen and co-CEOs since November 2022. It is responsible for the production of live-action and animated films and television series based on characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
The studio was initially formed in May 2016 as DC Films and was led by comic book writer and producer Geoff Johns and producer Jon Berg as part of Warner Bros. Pictures to oversee the DC Comics–based film productions, primarily those in their flagship media franchise and shared universe, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). After several DCEU films were met with poor reception and underperformed financially, Johns and Berg left by the end of 2017 and the studio was reorganized, with Walter Hamada hired as the president of DC Films in January 2018. After WBD became Warner Bros.' owner in April 2022, DC Films was overhauled and Hamada left in October 2022. Gunn and Safran, who had both worked on some DCEU media, then assumed control of the company, when it became DC Studios, and the duo began work on a new franchise, the DC Universe (DCU), to serve as a reboot of the DCEU.
From 2016 to 2023, the studio released 13 films within the DCEU, initially as DC Films from Suicide Squad (2016) to Black Adam (2022), and after becoming DC Studios, it released Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023). The studio's films Aquaman (2018) and Joker (2019) are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, with Joker becoming the first R-rated film to gross over $1 billion.
DC Studios is set to release films within the DCU, starting with Superman in 2025. The first television series originally produced by the studio is the animated Creature Commandos, which is set to premiere in 2024, as part of the DCU. Since 2023, DC Studios also inherited and produces content not set within the continuity of the DCEU or the DCU as part of the "DC Elseworlds" label, and has produced several films part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies banner.
During DC's National era, the company licensed Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman (and other All-American Comics characters) to Republic Pictures, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures for advertising serials, shorts and feature films. Other comic characters, such as Fawcett Comics' Shazam and Quality Comics' Plastic Man (which ultimately sold to DC), also had a serial short.
After the release of the first feature-length Batman film, Kinney National Company (later Warner Communications) purchased National Comics Publications in 1967 and then Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1969. This purchase meant that the comic company's television and theatrical distribution turned over to Warner Bros., which led to the launch films and television series based on DC characters. In the late 1980s, Warner Bros. acquired full distribution rights after the release of the Superman and Swamp Thing films. The Batman films once again marked a return to the big screen.
After the divisive reception of (2016), Warner Bros. Pictures made moves to stabilize the direction of its unofficially named media franchise and shared universe the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The studio reorganized in May 2016 to have genre-responsible film executives, thus DC Entertainment franchise films under Warner Bros. were placed under a newly created division, DC Films, created under Warner Bros. executive vice president Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, the chief creative officer of DC Comics. This was done in hopes of competing more directly with Marvel Studios' franchise the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Johns also kept his existing role at DC Comics. However, the division's formation was not designed to override the "director-driven" mandate.
Justice League (2017) had one of the biggest film budgets (nearly $300 million) but grossed about $96 million in its opening weekend. An analysis in The Washington Post expected that there would be a course correction again, with a possible change in leadership. Forbes contributors felt that the course correction would be for DC Films to give up on the shared universe, while continuing with the Wonder Woman films and occasionally other films, as Warner Bros. has other franchises they can work with. Despite this, in December the studio reiterated their current film slate for the unofficially titled DC Extended Universe. That same month, Warner Bros. announced that a new strategy and organization of DC Films would occur with Berg leaving his position as the studio's co-president of production to form a Warner Bros.–based production company with Roy Lee, the producer of the Warner Bros. films The Lego Movie (2014) and It (2017). In January 2018, Warner Bros. executive Walter Hamada was appointed as the new president of DC Films, to oversee the films in the DC Extended Universe. Hamada was closely associated with New Line Cinema, and helped develop horror films, such as It and The Conjuring film franchise.
In April 2022, after the merger between Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery, the new CEO David Zaslav was exploring a restructuring of DC Entertainment, including having a creative leader akin to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead its film and television projects. Later in July, Toby Emmerich stepped down as the head of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group. The group was restructured to give DC Films, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Warner Animation Group respective leadership. Former MGM executives Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy became the co-executives of Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. They were also temporarily signed to oversee the remaining units of the group until the new positions were filled.
When the release of the film Batgirl was canceled by Warner Bros. Discovery in August, Hamada was reportedly not consulted regarding the decision and only learned about it when De Luca and Abdy informed him at a test screening for Black Adam (2022). Hamada was upset and considered resigning, but agreed to stay until Black Adam release. Later that month, Dan Lin entered talks to oversee DC's film and television divisions. From this position, Lin was expected to report directly to Zaslav, while Hamada would depart the studio. In September, Lin and Warner Bros. Discovery ended negotiations and agreed to part ways. During Black Adam Times Square premiere in October, star and producer Dwayne Johnson said he could be a consultant at DC Films, helping the studio find its next creative leader. Later that month, it was reported that De Luca had been effectively running DC Films in place of Hamada. On October 19, Hamada departed from the company, just two days before the release of Black Adam.
Shortly after Hamada left his position, James Gunn and Peter Safran – who previously worked together on the television series James Gunn's PG Porn, DC Films' The Suicide Squad, and that film's spin-off series Peacemaker – were revealed to serve as the co-CEOs and co-chairmen of the studio, and DC Films was rebranded as "DC Studios". The duo was tasked to oversee the production of films, television, and animation under the DC label, reporting directly to Zaslav, while also working alongside but independently of heads of other divisions. Gunn oversees the creative development on DC projects, while Safran oversees the production side. Their roles began effectively on November 1, 2022.
In November, Gunn said that the studio would focus on multiple DCU live-action and animated projects, but also stated that they would acknowledge fan responses and complaints, and confirmed all subsequent DC projects would be released under the DC Studios banner, including those that were filmed prior to the rebranding. In December, Gunn announced that he was writing a new Superman film that would feature a younger actor in the role. Henry Cavill was not set to return as Superman, while Ben Affleck, who portrayed Bruce Wayne / Batman in the DCEU, was reported to be in talks to direct a new DC Studios project, before Affleck stated that he was not interested in directing a DC film. Gunn later revealed that new DC films would have an equal focus on popular and obscure characters, drawing inspiration from the DC animated series Justice League Unlimited (2004–2006) and Young Justice (2010–2022).
Gunn and Safran announced the first chapter of their universe titled "Gods and Monsters" on January 31, 2023. They also assembled a writers' room that included Drew Goddard, Jeremy Slater, Christina Hodson, Christal Henry, and Tom King. Projects that are not a part of the shared universe will be branded as "DC Elseworlds". The following month, Gunn confirmed development for animated films within both the DCU and DC Elseworlds. Gunn said in March that they were working on potentially incorporating characters from DC's Vertigo Comics imprint beyond the Swamp Thing film, and said the following month that there were plans to incorporate characters from the DC-owned Milestone Media, such as Static. In February 2024, Gunn and Safran worked with Warner Bros. Discovery corporate siblings to acquire the Christopher Reeve documentary (2024).
See main article: List of films based on DC Comics publications.
All of the live-action films by DC Films and DC Studios are distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
| Title | Release date | Director(s) | Production partner(s) | Franchise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suicide Squad | David Ayer | DC Extended Universe | |||
| Wonder Woman | Patty Jenkins | ||||
| Justice League | Zack Snyder Joss Whedon | ||||
| Aquaman | James Wan | ||||
| Shazam! | David F. Sandberg | ||||
| Joker | Todd Phillips | Joker film series | |||
| Birds of Prey | Cathy Yan | DC Extended Universe | |||
| Wonder Woman 1984 | Patty Jenkins | ||||
| Zack Snyder's Justice League | Zack Snyder | ||||
| The Suicide Squad | James Gunn | ||||
| The Batman | Matt Reeves | The Batman shared universe | |||
| Black Adam | Jaume Collet-Serra | DC Extended Universe |
| Title | Release date | Director | Production partner(s) | Franchise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shazam! Fury of the Gods | David F. Sandberg | DC Extended Universe | ||
| The Flash | Andy Muschietti | |||
| Blue Beetle | Ángel Manuel Soto | The Safran Company | ||
| Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom | James Wan |
| Title | Release date | Director | Production partner(s) | Franchise | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Todd Phillips | Joint Effort | Joker film series | Post-production | |||
| Superman | James Gunn | DC Universe | Post-production[1] | |||
| Craig Gillespie | Pre-production | |||||
| The Batman – Part II | Matt Reeves | The Batman shared universe | In development |
See main article: DC Universe Animated Original Movies.
| Title | Release date | Director(s) | Production partner(s) | Franchise | Distributor | Status | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legion of Super-Heroes | Jeff Wamester | Warner Bros. Animation | Tomorrowverse | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment | Released | |||||
| Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham | Sam Liu and Christopher Berkley | |||||||||
Part One | Kerry Shawcross | RWBY | ||||||||
| Jeff Wamester | Warner Bros. Animation | Tomorrowverse | ||||||||
| Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! | Celica Aranovich Hamilton | Scooby-Doo | ||||||||
Part Two | Kerry Shawcross, Dustin Mattews, and Yssa Badiola | RWBY | ||||||||
| Merry Little Batman | Mike Roth | Bat-Family | Amazon Prime Video | |||||||
| Jeff Wamester | Warner Bros. Animation | Tomorrowverse | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment | |||||||
| Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two | ||||||||||
| Watchmen Chapter 1 | Brandon Vietti | rowspan="5" | ||||||||
| Watchmen: Chapter 2 | In production | |||||||||
| Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires | Juan Meza-León | Max Latin America | - | Milestone | Warner Bros. Animation | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment--> | ||||
| Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League | Jumpei Mizusaki and Shinji Takagi | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment |
See main article: List of television series based on DC Comics publications.
| Series | Released | Showrunner | Production partner(s) | Franchise(s) | Original network(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peacemaker | James Gunn | DC Universe (season 2) | Max (season 2) | Season 2 onwards | |||
| The Sandman | Allan Heinberg | The Sandman shared universe | Netflix | ||||
| Dead Boy Detectives | 2024 | Steve Yockey | |||||
| The Penguin | 2024 | Lauren LeFranc | The Batman shared universe | HBO | Miniseries; Post-production | ||
| -- | Waller | Christal Henry & Jeremy Carver | Warner Bros. Television | DC Universe | In development--> |
| Released | Showrunner(s) | Production partner(s) | Franchise | Original network(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teen Titans Go! | 2013–present | Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic | Warner Bros. Animation | Cartoon Network | Season 8 onwards | |
| Harley Quinn | 2019–present | Justin Halpern | Harley Quinn universe | DC Universe (2019–2020) HBO Max (2022–2023) Max (2023–present) | Season 4 onwards | |
| Batwheels | 2022–present | Michael G. Stern | HBO Max Cartoon Network | Season 2 onwards | ||
| My Adventures with Superman | 2023–present | Jake Wyatt | Warner Bros. Animation | Adult Swim | ||
| 2024–present | Justin Halpern | Harley Quinn universe | Max | |||
| Bruce Timm | Amazon Prime Video | |||||
| Creature Commandos | 2024 | James Gunn | Warner Bros. Animation | DC Universe | Max | In production |
| Bat-Family | Mike Roth | Warner Bros. Animation | Bat-Family | Amazon Prime Video | In development | |
| Beast Boy: Lone Wolf | Cartoon Network | In development | ||||
| Untitled Blue Beetle series | Miguel Puga | Warner Bros. Animation | DC Universe | In development[2] >--> |