Veteran producer Dan Lin may get the job of a lifetime: running DC Films.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, he is in talks to spearhead the division — likened to a studio in-and-of itself in a recent Warner Bros. Discovery investor call — effective replacing Walter Hamada, the current DC Films chief who will reportedly step down after Black Adam‘s debut in October. Additionally, Lin’s responsibilities will have him overseeing the television components of the DC enterprise, effectively making him the person long-sought by WBD and pundits watching the DC drama unfold: a Kevin Feige-like executive for the Warner’s owned superhero brand.
Indeed, the Feige model will be followed down to creative control, with Lin expected to report directly to WBD boss David Zaslav instead of the top film and television heads in the Warner corporate structure.
Of course, a key part of Feige’s success is his knowledge of the Marvel characters and his ability to translate their appeal into a form top-level Disney executives understand. That ability leads to projects for lesser known characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy and She-Hulk. Warner, no matter who is in charge, always seems skittish about deeper cut characters — the most dramatic example being Zaslav’s decision to abandon the nearly complete Batgirl HBO Max feature and shelve it for a tax break. According to most interpretations of the tax law, WBD can never release the film as it using the loss of future profits to gain a tax credit, but a successor company can. Nevertheless, the seeming unwillingness to make less expensive movies with second or third string characters will create a problem for any Feige-like initiatives Lin might bring to the table, especially as Zaslav will be directly involved in the decision making. Also, it is also unclear how deep Lin’s knowledge of the DC library goes. As our friends at The Beat note, he was involved in the legendary George Miller version of Justice League, but that still only accounts for top-tier characters. So expect an emphasis on the Trinity and other Justice League mainstays before any thought of, say, an Aztec film enters your mind.
Outside of the DC realm, Lin’s bona fides include producing the four LEGO feature films, including The LEGO Batman Movie, and the two-part It adaptation from The Flash feature film director Andy Muschietti. So at least there is a mark of quality there. How this will shape up is anyone’s guess, especially as this is all still in a discussion stage.
0 Commentaires