James Gunn and Peter Safran Reveal Their Method for Fixing DC Studios: Empowering Writers

DC Studios has been preparing for its big twist for some time and for this they have two great thinking minds: James Gunn and Peter Safran, presidents and CEOs of the studio, whose common vision seeks to bring order to the chaos they have inherited . Variety gathers the keys to his plan, which it includes it releases about two films and two series each year. In 2025 they already have the two holes pegged, with the recent news of the ‘Superman: Legacy’ films premiere on July 11th and ‘The Batman’ sequel on October 3rd. However, they are very clear that quality is more important than quantity, as Gunn states that one of the problems affecting DC has been the production of disjointed and incomplete content. “DC history was fucked up”he says, as he previously reported that the study was limited to “assign intellectual property” from DC to the first creator who stood in his way.

To ensure a level of quality, the most important thing is that they don’t greenlight a film that isn’t ready. It might go without saying, but it seems to be a widespread practice around the world. “I’m a screenwriter at heart and we won’t make movies if the script isn’t finished”says Gunn, who criticizes when people focus too much on release dates and “make movies anyway”. This means that even if an early release date has been revealed for one of your movies, it can be delayed if the script isn’t ready yet. The co-chair of the study vouches that he has seen many times how these things happen: “They’re making movies when they haven’t written the third act”which is done on the fly, “So you’re watching a bunch of people hitting each other and the action doesn’t even flow.”.

“It’s the main reason why the quality of today’s films is worse than it was twenty or thirty years ago”Gunn continues, meaning with his partner Safran save the figure of the screenwriters, which they are “it was completely sidelined in favor of actors and directors”. For DC Studios, this is one of their priorities: “Making the writer play a bigger role and be more important in this process is really important to us”.

Plus, they want their stories to reach beyond and go beyond the archetypes of the genre itself. “You can’t tell the same story ‘good guy, bad guy, giant thing in the sky, good guys win'”declares Gunn. Now, something much more is needed “morally complex”. “You have to tell stories that not only pretend to be different genres, but are really different genres”. On the other hand, they are more than open to collaborating with great filmmakers, despite the fact that the name James Gunn is already the slogan of DC Studios. “This Isn’t the Gunn-Verse”assures. “The funny thing is to see totally different stories depending on the individual expressions of the directors and screenwriters who deal with the projects”and emphasizes that it is not about seeing him “layer something on top of that”.

Another thing that characterizes both is their transparency, both in press conferences and on Twitter, where they respond to everything, including the most sensitive issues for their image, such as the controversies of their actors. “One of my main goals is to be honest with everyone. If someone brings me an idea that doesn’t work, I’m honest. Right now we’re building the foundation of a studio that we want to last, and it won’t work if it’s built on anything other than rigorous honesty.”. Luckily, she’s having fun with the process, especially when it comes to countering false Twitter rumors.

DC Studios has the advantage of having large unconditional financial backing, because according to Safran, the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO never stood up to them. “Your investment [de Warner Bros. Discovery] in content creation is spectacular. It is huge. They didn’t cut it there”Zafran says. “We don’t ask ‘Do we have the resources?'”declares, “I have no doubt that they commit”.

Expand beyond HBO

Peter Safran reveals that despite the deals they have with streaming service HBO Max, they may be selling content to other platforms. “We’ll see if some of the upcoming series could benefit more elsewhere”says the co-chair of the study, “We like the idea of ​​having shows on Amazon Video and on Hulu and on Netflix. It just broadens the audience for DC”.