James Gunn has been hard at work on his newest endeavor at the head of DC Studios, but with the future of its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, up in the air, there are plenty of questions flying around about how Batman, Superman, and the rest are going to survive the biggest corporate takeover that Hollywood has ever seen.
Paramount’s $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is set to close on October 6 after a federal judge approved the settlement that cleared its final major legal obstacle. The combined company will be called Skydance, bringing Warner Bros., Paramount, HBO, CBS, CNN, Paramount+ and HBO Max under the same enormous roof. But the big question was, would Gunn and Peter Safran‘s DC Universe survive the merger in its current state? After all, DC is joining a huge set of franchises inside the new company, alongside Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings, Mission: Impossible, Top Gun and Yellowstone. That’s the headline, though, and the important thing. Gunn‘s bosses might well be changing, but he’s being left alone to do what he does best.
What Happens to James Gunn’s DC Universe Now?
Gunn and Safran are still doing their best to build out the first chapter of their rebooted DC Universe, following Gunn‘s Superman last summer. Up next is Clayface, while on the TV side, Lanterns is doing gangbusters and Peacemaker has been a gigantic success. Creature Commandos and Peacemaker Season 2 both have well over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes from reviewers, while Gunn‘s Superman earned 83% from critics and 90% from verified audiences. The movie also made more than $618 million worldwide, and a sequel, Man of Tomorrow, arrives next year with production underway now.
It hasn’t all gone quite as smoothly since then, though, and Milly Alcock‘s turn as Supergirl proved much more divisive, falling to 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, although audiences were kinder at 72%. Its box office was also a problem, with just $126 million worldwide against a reported budget of at least $170 million. The bigger unknown is what the new ownership eventually decides to do with Warner Bros.’ various businesses. David Ellison‘s combined company will carry a huge debt load and is targeting billions in savings after the merger, so there will inevitably be changes across an operation this size.
Paramount‘s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is currently expected to close on October 6, with the combined company operating under the Skydance name.
via Collider