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 filmmaker released a new trailer on Tuesday before Warner Bros screened the entire film to CinemaCon attendees. 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. The Puerto Rican director Angel Manuel Soto, and the star Xolo Marduena appeared on stage to talk about the story of a Mexican teen who discovers a scarab that gives him supernatural abilities. The tentpole opens on August 18.Sentimental CinemaCon state of industry session trumpets theatrical business
