347 - Hollywood: The Studio Gambit (Patreon)

347 - Who Carries DC?

Entertainment reporters from across the country filled the ballroom of the Hilton. Eighteen days had passed since MGM closed the Warner studio purchase. Ethan had spent most of them in offices, not in front of cameras. Today he would have to explain what his new company intended to make.

He had booked the room after the party at his house. Paris Hilton offered, with a smile that made the terms unmistakable, to persuade her family to waive the venue bill if he spent a night with her. Ethan declined and paid the normal rate. She called him dull. He suspected that was the only part of the exchange either of them would repeat in public.

As the lights came up, Ethan led Judy Newhouse, Avi Arad, Kevin Feige, Anthony and Joe Russo, Elvin Hume, James Wan, and Zack Snyder onto the stage. Others from the two film divisions took their seats alongside them. Camera shutters ran through the room like rain.

The moderator welcomed the press and introduced Ethan as chair of MGM's Warner studio operation and Marvel film group. No one needed the list of his companies read aloud. The size of the deal had made it impossible to miss.

"It's been eighteen days since the transfer," Ethan said. "I know people expected this meeting sooner. We needed to review the active productions and put a management team in place before I stood here promising you a slate."

The review had not been gentle. Several Warner executives, including Barry Meyer, were leaving. Other contracts had to be honored or negotiated out. Ethan had halted development on Poseidon, a project heading toward a $160 million production commitment, after millions had already been spent. Its producers were entitled to an explanation, and the affected crews had agreements that did not disappear because an owner changed. Ethan had ordered the lawyers to work through those obligations. He would not pretend the cancellation was free.

"Judy Newhouse will be Warner's chief executive," he said. "She led much of the diligence and integration work on the Lucasfilm purchase while I negotiated with George Lucas. She knows our production business, and she'll run this one."

Judy acknowledged the room. Some reporters recognized her from MGM; others wrote down her age and looked up again. At twenty-five, she was younger than most people holding her new title by decades.

"Elvin Hume stays on as the senior executive coordinating the DC screen business," Ethan continued. "James Wan will lead development of the adaptations, with Zack Snyder directing the creative side of that team."

James offered a small nod. Zack looked as if he would rather have been shown a storyboard than a bank of cameras.

"On the Marvel side, Avi Arad remains responsible for the group," Ethan said. "Kevin Feige will oversee the connected film slate. Anthony and Joe Russo will work with him on creative development."

There were more names and narrower assignments, but that was the structure the room had come to hear. A reporter near the aisle whispered that Ethan was putting remarkably young filmmakers under two experienced executives. Another wondered whether Arad and Hume had real authority or were there to reassure people who would never have taken orders from Wan and Feige.

Ethan heard neither. He had considered Nolan for the DC position. At the party, Nolan had been clear: he wanted to make films, not spend his days deciding which other director received a release date. He had agreed to consider Heath Ledger for the Joker, not to manage a franchise on Ethan's behalf.

Wan was a different choice. Ethan knew work this room had not seen yet and trusted Wan's ability to hold a complicated production together. Snyder had a visual style Ethan wanted on the slate, but he did not want one director's taste to settle every film. Hume would handle the institutional problems; Wan and Snyder would argue over the movies. Ethan expected the arguments. He had hired them to have some.

Judy leaned toward her microphone.

"Some of you know my name only from today's announcement," she said. "At MGM, I worked in acquisitions, marketing, and production. I helped bring Blue Is the Warmest Color, Million Dollar Baby, Mean Girls, The Passion of the Christ, and Full Throttle to our slate. The Lucasfilm transaction was a larger test. It took months of due diligence, and I led the team preparing its handover."

The reference to Lucasfilm shifted the room's attention. Ethan had signed the deal with George Lucas, but Judy had done the work that made a transfer possible once the signatures were dry. The distinction mattered more to her than a headline claiming she had bought the company herself.

"Warner is a larger operation," she said. "We will keep the Warner label on the films audiences know, and we will not turn a production schedule into a press-release wish list. Harry Potter remains a priority. We'll review what comes next for The Matrix with the people who made it. New Line is part of this operating group; we'll work with its filmmakers on opportunities around The Lord of the Rings."

She let the list breathe before continuing. "Lucasfilm belongs to Ethan separately, but the studios can collaborate on future Indiana Jones and Star Wars projects under agreements that protect the teams already in place. We also have Warner's animation and library properties, including Tom and Jerry. New films won't stop at known names."

Her final subject needed its own sentence.

"For the existing DC characters covered by our media-rights agreement, we're building a connected film slate. DC's publishing business and the creation of new comics characters remain with Time Warner. James will explain what we're developing for the screen."

Wan adjusted the microphone. "We're starting with individual stories. A connected universe only works if those films work on their own. Kevin, the Russos, and I have compared plans, but DC shouldn't feel like Marvel in different costumes."

He named Superman and Nolan's Batman first. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, The Flash, and Constantine were in development at different stages. Some had outlines; others had only teams and a direction. Nothing on his list came with a guaranteed release date.

"If we earn the audience's trust," he said, "those stories can meet. The larger event comes after we've introduced the people who belong in it."

Zack added that the heroes needed distinct visual worlds. Gotham could not simply be repainted to serve Atlantis, and Metropolis could not be used as a template for Themyscira. Ethan saw Judy relax slightly. The two men had made a plan sound like films rather than an organizational chart.

Hands rose before the moderator invited questions.

"What about Martian Manhunter?" a reporter called. "And Cyborg?"

"Is this meant to become a Justice League film?"

Another voice cut across them: "You announced Superman. Who is playing him?"

"And Wonder Woman?"

Henry Cavill's face had appeared in every weekend box-office story. Gal's name had been tied to Ethan's films for years. Neither casting decision had been announced. Ethan let the questions build for a moment, then looked at Judy. She gave the smallest nod.

The moderator pointed to the first reporter. Ethan reached for his microphone.