DC Studios co-head Peter Safran hosted a segment of Warner Bros’ CinemaCon presentation on Tuesday and teed up footage from three titles made under the DC Entertainment banner which are scheduled to open this year – The Flash, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, and Blue Beetle.
Safran’s DC Studios partner James Gunn could not attend due to promotional duties ahead of the May 5 release of Disney/Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vo. 3 (May 5). Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom star Jason Momoa and director James Wan also sent taped messages due to conflicts – Momoa is in New Zealand filming Apple TV+ mini-series Chief Of War.
Safran presented the first trailer for the Aquaman sequel, which opens on December 20 and will be under pressure to match its 2018 predecessor, which earned $1.15bn worldwide and is the biggest DC box office hit to date.
Compared to the A-list attendees Warner Bros had brought on earlier in the day, the DC session was a relatively muted affair. DC Studios has announced its initial pipeline but will not begin production for a while - Gunn will reportedly start shooting Superman: Legacy in early 2024 – and its success will be critical to Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
Similarly Zaslav and his executives at Warner Bros have a lot riding on the three 2023 DC releases.
Andy Muschietti came on to extol the acting virtues of Ezra Miller, who stars in June 16 release The Flash. The Argentinian director teed up a new trailer before Warner Bros screens the entire film for CinemaCon attendees later on Tuesday.
The tentpole stars Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck as different versions of Batman and Michael Shannon as General Zod. Miller has been undergoing treatment for “complex mental health” issues since last year following arrests and controversies.
Blue Beetle is the studio’s first Latino-oriented superhero adaptation. Latino talent. Puerto Rican director Angel Manuel Soto and star Xolo Maridueńa came on stage and talked up the story of a Mexican teenager who finds a scarab which gives him supernatural powers. The tentpole opens on August 18.
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