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[starchild excalibur]

Damn, can we retire the word "ether" for a bit every time someone airs their one-way grievance with someone else?

The letter is a good read. I agree that Zack Snyder should have been pulled off those projects long ago. And I agree - based off the excerpt of that memo - that Tsujihara seems incredibly tone deaf. But based off some of the films they've released - the bevy of remakes and star-studded originals - it seems more like WB is suffering from playing it too safe. I guess, I'm not really sure what some of the solutions being offered are by the writer except that Zack Snyder should be fired (which I agree on).

Suicide Squad has only been out one week and has nearly doubled its production budget, so regardless of how you feel about the film we won't really know its trajectory until we see how its legs are this second weekend. And other films like Vacation - which I hated - tripled its production budget in receipts.

I don't work at WB and I don't have the inside scoop about its issues beyond the more public aspects of it, but I'm more curious to hear about from the former employee what they see as the things necessary to fix the issue beyond "Make films that don't bomb."

 

[Mariolee]

you're not clever, my point stands. Find something better than shit posting.

Coming from the guy who posted:

Some of these dorks need a serious hobby.

 

[ezekial45]

I really didn't want to hear WW was another mess.

 

[F0rneus]

She could always send the cheque in the mail...

She better, because otherwise she'll be in big trouble...

 

[Sweeney Tom]

You're not actually addressing any of the points of concern in the letter though. You're handwaving it away like there's no problem at WB.

solrac literally posted the first response barely a minute after the thread was up. solrac didn't read the full letter, that's why he's not addressing the concerns. He doesn't know what they are

 

[3N16MA]

Snyder is being given the Wachowskis leash.

Make a hit and we will throw bags of money at all your projects until our arms are tired.

 

[lazybones18]

Snyder is being given the Wachowskis leash.

good, he's earned it

 

[Mimosa97]

So even Wonder Woman will be trash ?

Damn

 

[Boem]

Former employees of a thousand companies always post shit like this. Some call to arms to rally the troop, change leadership and to save the company he or she dearly loves. It's a former employee.



you're not clever, my point stands. Find something better than shit posting.





I did read the letter, seeing as it's against TOS not to read a thread OP.
It's a former employee doing the usual "fire the CEO he's destroying company X"

For some reason I don't believe you. You replied within 1 minute of the thread being made just to shout something about dorks, and it's just now that you're suddenly acting like it's criticism against former employees reacting to problems with former employees(?). You were talking about 'dorks who need hobbies' in your original post. I'm not buying it. Especially saying other people are shitposting for calling you out on it is a bit rich.

Edit: Oh, he's banned already.

 

[vinnygambini]

These lol posts don't even get it.

Kevin Tsujihara is a terrible executive, he really is.

 

[EatinOlives]

Snyder is being given the Wachowskis leash.

Make a hit and we will throw bags of money at all your projects until our arms are tired.

To be fair, The Matrix essentially became the template for every action movie since, so it's fair that they were given tons of chances even if they ended up not being able to capitalize on them.

Snyder hasn't done anything that's anywhere near as groundbreaking.

 

[Replicant]

DC fans are fun!

 

[torre_avenue]

The proof is in the pudding. Multiple big blockbuster misfires, multiple Oscar bait misfires, fucking up a guaranteed billion-dollar grosser if it had only been good, trumpeting directorial vision while chopping up movies into something execs think people will like, and so on.

If Wonder Woman fails, then I think heads will roll. That of course depends on the legs Suicide Squad has both worldwide and domestic. If Suicide Squad doesn't hit that magic profitability number, that'll be the second high-profile failure for the DCEU. Suicide Squad's failure pretty much took away all the good will I had towards WB, with the Justice League trailer.

It's such a shame that those on the lower rungs will suffer for this more than any of the execs. 2015 was not a good year for WB, 2016 might be alright for them if "Fantastic Beasts" turns out to be good, or "Sully" & "Live By Night" gets some nominations when Oscar season comes along. But, investors have got to be feeling the sting of "BvS" losing a potential extra $700 mil of gross if it had only been good.

 

[Prompto]

These lol posts don't even get it.

Kevin Tsujihara is a terrible executive, he really is.

He gave us Mad Max though. Mad Max

Spoiler

Yeah he probably still is terrible

 

[3N16MA]

good, he's earned it

Three consecutive films falling flat at the BO before MoS earns you something?

 

[wetwired]

I would not make this argument. And here's why: I wrote this letter last year. I actually started forming it in my head after Man of Steel was a box office failure instead of the modern classic tentpole you were expecting.

I thought Man of Steel actually made decent money?

 

[HariKari]

It's time to wake up and make the fucking donuts, Kevin.

The OT potential...

WB baffles me. Their rival has learned lessons and implemented what they need to do a year or two ahead of WB. They probably didn't interfere with Nolan's movies, so why are they suddenly overstepping boundaries? Seems like panic.

Go out, get some new talent, empower the talent you already have, and back off. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, no amount of meddling on WB's part is going to suddenly make it work.

I thought Man of Steel actually made decent money?

Didn't make Dark Knight money ($688 WW gross). Wasn't well received.

 

[Dr.Acula]

To be fair to Peter Jackson, he didn't phone-in the Hobbit so much as have the whole thing dumped on him with no pre-production after Guillermo Del Toro left citing innumerable delays, and the studio was unable to get any other director to fill in. They then told Jackson to stretch the two-film project into three.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Wow, I really brainfarted on that.

Don't post the whole thing.

Very good letter, hopefully Geoff Johns can right this ship, but somehow I doubt it

Yeah, but considering the OP copied the entire letter (and it's clear that they did from the fact that there's no redacted text), I don't see why most posters would go to the source for this thread.

Edited the OP to trim what I believe is enough. I can do more if not.

 

[Monocle]

He gave us Mad Max though. Mad Max

Spoiler

Yeah he probably still is terrible

Maybe it slipped by while he was counting his stacks of money.

 

[Sweeney Tom]

ed: Huh, apparently it might not have been

 

[Toxi]

solrac literally posted the first response barely a minute after the thread was up. solrac didn't read the full letter, that's why he's not addressing the concerns. He doesn't know what they are

To be fair, I read the letter before the thread was posted. It's being shared on twitter.

 

[hodayathink]

He gave us Mad Max though. Mad Max

Spoiler

Yeah he probably still is terrible

For as good as Mad Max is, that production was pretty fucked up as well, it's just the filmmaker was good enough to still get a good movie out of it.

 

[The Kree]

Hold these, Mr. Tsujihara.

 

[vinnygambini]

He gave us Mad Max though. Mad Max

Spoiler

Yeah he probably still is terrible

He can't even claim it to be his doing.

It was greenlit under the leadership of Alan Horn.

 

[MMarston]

The OT potential...

WB baffles me. Their rival has learned lessons and implemented what they need to do a year or two ahead of WB. They probably didn't interfere with Nolan's movies, so why are they suddenly overstepping boundaries? Seems like panic.

Go out, get some new talent, empower the talent you already have, and back off. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, no amount of meddling on WB's part is going to suddenly make it work.

For me it becomes pretty telling how much they've screwed up handling the DC properties with the fact that the MCU took 8 years for me to get tired of it. Meanwhile, WB managed to do that to me in just 3.

 

[AuthenticM]

Great read. Thanks.

 

[Yeezus H. Christ]

I thought Man of Steel actually made decent money?

Relative to budget, I don't think so. Man of Steel was really expensive, $225 million production and adding marketing to that with $150 million gives a hefty price tag of $375 million, in other words, $750 million as a break-even point.

So 'box office failure' is apt if you consider box office revenues alone weren't nearly sufficient to cover the costs. Home market sales were $100 or so million, but that's just gross. So maybe they broke even or were very close to it.

EDIT: What's the deal with Gracie Law? Who is she?

 

[Toothless]

The doom and gloom around Warner Bros. seems to me unearned when they gave us Creed and Mad Max last year and they were both bigger financial successes than initially expected. Be mad at the DC division, sure, but overall, they've been doing pretty solid even with a bad year so far.

 

[guek]

Relative to budget, I don't think so. Man of Steel was really expensive, $225 million production and adding marketing to that with $150 million gives a hefty price tag of $375 million, in other words, $750 million as a break-even point.

So 'box office failure' is apt if you consider box office revenues alone weren't nearly sufficient to cover the costs. Home market sales were $100 or so million, but that's just gross. So maybe they broke even or were very close to it.

EDIT: What's the deal with Gracie Law? Who is she?

I recall reading an article saying it made a modest profit with product placement and strong home video sales

The doom and gloom around Warner Bros. seems to me unearned when they gave us Creed and Mad Max last year and they were both bigger financial successes than initially expected. Be mad at the DC division, sure, but overall, they've been doing pretty solid even with a bad year so far.

Neither of those were substantial money makers. They've had a ton of bombs too over the past 1-2yrs. Pan and Jupiter Ascending were both catastrophic financial disasters.

 

[echoshifting]

Sucks to hear that about Wonder Woman, even if it's completely unsurprising at this point. I hope they can pull it together but uh...not gonna hold my breath.

There's a weird shot at Peter Jackson midway through this that surprised me, he was in a terrible situation with The Hobbits and by all accounts he worked himself nearly to death. That's not "phoning it in."

Still, her main points stand. I don't know what the hell is going on at that studio.

 

[Mandius]

To be fair to Peter Jackson, he didn't phone-in the Hobbit so much as have the whole thing dumped on him with no pre-production after Guillermo Del Toro left citing innumerable delays

That is a weak excuse.The production had all of the time that GDT was onboard as director to do pre-production (that Jackson was also overseeing) and then almost another year from when jackson was in negotiations to direct to production actually starting.

Then it was another 18 months before the first film hit the cinema.

 

[BLACKLAC]

Maybe Wonder Woman wouldn't be such a mess. Don't try to hide behind the great trailer. People inside are already confirming it's another mess.

Oh shit....

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Maybe Wonder Woman wouldn't be such a mess. Don't try to hide behind the great trailer. People inside are already confirming it's another mess.

 

[3N16MA]

MoS Blu-Ray was a very big seller when it was released. 17th best selling Blu-Ray all-time.

WB probably made a good chunk off of that.

 

[HariKari]

The doom and gloom around Warner Bros. seems to me unearned when they gave us Creed and Mad Max last year and they were both bigger financial successes than initially expected. Be mad at the DC division, sure, but overall, they've been doing pretty solid even with a bad year so far.

They damn near lost everything made on Mad Max and Creed just on Pan alone. WB and Sony are really struggling.

 

[Gleethor]

This is also the first I'm hearing about WW being a mess

 

[RDreamer]

Why's this person bitching about The Hobbit? That shit made over 2 billion in profit.

 

[vinnygambini]

They damn near lost everything made on Mad Max and Creed just on Pan alone. WB and Sony are really struggling.

Add Paramount to that list.

 

[- J - D -]

Why's this person bitching about The Hobbit? That shit made over 2 billion in profit.

Not wrong about them being mediocre though.

 

[HariKari]

Why's this person bitching about The Hobbit? That shit made over 2 billion in profit.

Same problem as Man of Steel. Even if it makes a little money, it could have done a lot more. I imagine they spent quite a bit more on the Hobbit compared to Lord of the Rings. Given how much the box office has grown, especially internationally, good Hobbit movies would have made a lot more money than the ones we got.

Maximizing the utilization of your strong IPs is important for making up complete whiffs on other stuff.

 

[Veelk]

Wonder Woman being a mess is a disappointment, but not a surprise. It's too bad. I really, really, really wanted it to be the one movie that was not a fuck up in the DCEU. I mean, sure, it's not an absolute confirmation that I won't like WW, but after 3 bad DC movies, it's not like it's outrageous to assume the next will be bad until proven otherwise.

 

[RDreamer]

Not wrong about them being mediocre though.

But you can't use that as an example of story tellers dropping the ball and leading to people having to pack their bags. That's not how business works. Mad Max was a critical darling and yet that barely made shit. Make more Mad Maxes and more people pack their bags. Make more like The Hobbit and people have jobs.

 

[NastyBook]

Man, fuck. WW's already being called a turd? Now I'm fucking mad.

 

[HariKari]

But you can't use that as an example of story tellers dropping the ball and leading to people having to pack their bags. That's not how business works. Mad Max was a critical darling and yet that barely made shit. Make more Mad Maxes and more people pack their bags. Make more like The Hobbit and people have jobs.

Shit that doesn't reach its potential costs jobs down the line, because studios are usually counting on those big hits to prop up other, more risky ventures. Even if DC breaks even or makes a small amount of money on every film for WB, that's not enough.

 

[3N16MA]

Add Paramount to that list.

Tarzan cinematic universe will save WB.

 

[Ross61]

Everyone's favorite reporter Faraci has already said that he's heard great things about Wonder Woman. And that's more than he's said about other DCEU stuff. And he's been accurate more than not.

 

[vinnygambini]

Tarzan cinematic universe will save WB.

Ain't no doubt about that.

 

[zsynqx]

Pretty brutal.

Maybe Wonder Woman wouldn't be such a mess. Don't try to hide behind the great trailer. People inside are already confirming it's another mess.

 

[- J - D -]

But you can't use that as an example of story tellers dropping the ball and leading to people having to pack their bags. That's not how business works. Mad Max was a critical darling and yet that barely made shit. Make more Mad Maxes and more people pack their bags. Make more like The Hobbit and people have jobs.

Sure, when used to support the larger overall argument it's a tenuous example, but taken for the content of that actual sentence, it's still not wrong:

We dug in our heels and hoped The Hobbit Trilogy would somehow stop being a mediocre case of diminishing returns.

As for the Mad Max comparison, the context and expectations are different.