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'Justice League' depending on 'Man of Steel'
Published: 1/29/2013 12:00 AM
Last Modified: 1/30/2013 10:57 AM

It looks like past failures with DC comics franchises has Warner Bros. Pictures hesitant to pull the trigger on another.

As reported by ComicBookMovie.com, a recent story from Variety said studio executives are waiting to see how "Man of Steel" fares before they green-light a Justice League movie.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. While Warner Bros. has had great success with turning DC creations into animated movies, the studio has fared poorly when it comes to putting DC’s heroes on the big screen. Outside of Batman, none of Warner Bros. DC-based films has been a commercial success. In fact, most have lost money. Here’s a look at the DC movies since 2000 and how they performed (numbers from boxofficemojo.com):

Movie	Production budget	Worldwide gross	Difference
Catwoman	$100 million	$82.1 million	-$17.9 million
Batman Begins	$150 million	$374.2 million	+$224.2 million
Superman Returns	$270 million	$391.1 million	+$121.1 million
The Dark Knight	$185 million	$1.005 billion	+$820 million
Watchmen	$130 million	$185.3 million	+55.3 million
Jonah Hex	$47 million	$10.5 million	-$36.5 million
Green Lantern	$200 million	$219.9 million	+19.9 million
The Dark Knight Rises	$250 million	$1.08 billion	+831 million

While that may look like Warner Bros. has been banking plenty of money on these films, remember the production budget doesn’t include marketing. For example, the marketing budget for “Green Lantern” was $100 million, so the studio lost more than $80 million on the film. “Superman Returns” spent about the same amount, cutting heavily into that film’s profits for the studio. Even if the other films only spent the industry average of about $35 million, there wouldn’t be any commercial successes outside of the Dark Knight Trilogy.

In fact, the success of “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises” could be what has executives hesitant to pull the trigger on any more DC Universe movies, at least in part. The one thing Warner Bros. has shown is that the only character they can consistently make money with is Batman. And the studio has made lots of money with the Dark Knight thanks to Christopher Nolan.

But earlier success with Batman probably played a hand in “Green Lantern” being pushed ahead with its massive budget. And the failure of “Green Lantern” burned Warner Bros. While Marvel was churning out box office hits with different heroes, Warner couldn’t capitalize on its comic book treasure trove beyond one character.

Which brings us back to the Variety story. Here’s the pertinent piece:

Further out, the studio's planning a "Justice League" tentpole – encompassing DC Comics mainstays Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and the Green Lantern – on the order of Marvel's "The Avengers." Will Beall is scripting but no director has been attached yet.

Stakes are high for "Man of Steel." Other than Nolan's Batpics, Warners has not been able to effectively exploit the DC library. Its 2011 "Green Lantern" underperformed, and a "Justice League" film wouldn't likely be in theaters before 2015, as Warner's top brass has indicated that they are awaiting the results of "Man of Steel," which opens June 14, before moving further ahead.

What would Warner Bros. need to see from “Man of Steel” to push forward with a Justice League film? One site estimates it would need to gross more than $500 million. That’s a hefty sum, but 13 movies hit that mark last year and 12 the year before. “Man of Steel” is expected to be one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters, but there are plenty of movies opening around it in June, including “After Earth,” “Monsters University” and “World War Z.” If the latest Superman treatment disappoints, moviegoers will have plenty of other options.

If the trailers are any indication, though, “Man of Steel” won’t let viewers (or Warner Bros.) down. But waiting to move ahead on other DC franchises could lead to “Justice League” getting pushed back. It’s currently slated for a 2015 release, but if it isn't approved until the summer, that leaves a very tight window to get things moving. For a summer release, shooting would need to begin by early 2014 at the latest, which would mean six months to get a director and sign up a slew of actors and get through all the steps of pre-production. It can be done, but with "Avengers 2" already set for 2015, Warner Bros. may be better off pushing the movie to Christmas or holding it for the summer of 2016.

For now, though, the Justice League's fate rests on Superman's Kryptonian shoulders.

Written by
James Royal
Staff Writer

Reader Comments

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Tulsa World Staff Writer Robert Evatt (2 weeks ago)

It's as if DC looked at the ginormous box office of The Avengers and said "man, it sure would be nice if we could do something similar with the even better-known characters we own, but eh, that's too much effort."

Tulsa World Chief Designer James Royal (2 weeks ago)

How they haven't managed to make money off Superman is beyond me. Before Iron Man was made into a movie, that character was no bigger than Green Lantern or the Flash, and Marvel turned him into a superstar thanks to great casting and a good script. Warner Bros. and DC have fumbled on every character but one thanks to some really bad scripts. Hopefully "Man of Steel" gets things right.

Tulsa World Web Producer Chris Moore (2 weeks ago)

Maybe DC just needs to take the hint and stick to animated movies.

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Matt Clayton floats between being a nerd, geek or a dork. Has an extensive collection of toys, comics and video games that would make any adult feel ashamed to call themselves a parent. Unlike most nerds, he does enjoy sports, but his favorite sport is soccer, so that really doesn't count as a sport anyway. Can quote "Clerks" at the drop of a hat and owns a soft-coated Wheaten Terrier named Will Wheaton. And no, Ewoks could not have possibly taken down the Empire with just sticks and rocks.

Nerd strengths: Zombies, Star Wars, Video games, Game of Thrones, Tech, cars, British soccer.

Micah Choquette is a self-proclaimed web geek who generally despises the term "nerd." He can hold his own in a conversation about comics or movies with the other Prairie Nerds, but his heart belongs to the internet and his soul was sold long ago to Apple. He routinely follows many of the design and development gurus of the day, soaking in their ideas and putting them to work for the 'World. He's also an avid user and abuser of Social Media, and can be found on Twitter, Facebook and yes, even Google+.

Nerd Strengths: Apple, Coffee, Google, Coffee, Code, Coffee. In that order.

Anna Codutti has been a card-carrying nerd since high school and the beloved academic team. Now merely a pub-trivia ringer, her refined nerd tastes have focused on Buffy (yep, she's still going!), Doctor Who and anything Felicia Day does. Her childhood crush was "TNG's" Wesley Crusher, but now she wants to marry "The Big Bang Theory's" evil Wil Wheaton.

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Michael Dambold is a comic fanatic who has been reading Marvel Comics since he was 11. He's read almost every X-Title book in existence. He thinks Jean Grey needs to stay dead. He also has an obsession with Star Trek, Stargate and MST3k. He's a literary nerd, obsessed with works by Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Jules Verne.

Nerd strengths: Coffee chugging, X-Men & Marvel Comics, Star Trek, Stargate, X-Files, paranormal mysteries (Bigfoot, etc.), classic sci-fi TV, movies and books.

Chris Moore is not ashamed to be called a Geek. It is who he is first and foremost. While some out there hide from others that they play video games, he proudly displays his love and knowledge of the pastime. He hopes one day to have a collection of games which rivals that of a city library. To this day one of his greatest moments is that he was able to watch and record the original three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies by sheer luck.

Nerd strengths: Video games and TV.

Jason Powers is the resident geek dad. He is trying hard to raise his kids to be smart, thoughtful nerds just like his Dad raised him. He was brought up on a steady diet of Doctor Who, JRR Tolkien, Douglass Adams, Sherlock Holmes, Vertigo Comics and vintage pulp noir novels. He's been watching shows made by the BBC for so long, he sometimes has a hard time grasping American television. He still enjoys Legos a great deal.

Nerd strengths: British Science Fiction, Star Wars, Sherlock Holmes, X-files, Coffee, Zombies, Space.

James Royal can tell you what Kirby crackle is. His favorite X-Man is Nightcrawler. He owns more than two dozen Star Wars novels. He knows how much damage a magic missile does. His favorite T-shirt features the insignia of Cobra, the ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world. He liked the Walking Dead before the Walking Dead was cool.

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