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Director Brad Peyton Explains Why the LOBO Movie Was Shelved

For several years, Warner Bros. had in development a film based on DC Comics’ Lobo. Guy Ritchie was originally set to direct before dropping out. Brad Peyton replaced him, and Dwayne Johnson entered talks to star. Later, however, “The Rock” – who is now set to play Black Adam in 2019’s Shazam – revealed that the Lobo movie was shelved. Why did this happen? Peyton has explained.

Speaking with SuperHeroHype, the San Andreas director reveals that WB is focused on establishing its big-name DC characters first, before bringing in lesser known characters like Lobo. “I think what’s happening with DC is that they have prioritized what they need to make first in order to kind of lay the foundations for the DC Universe. This is what I believe is happening just from what they’ve been taking about. They’re talking about Justice League, Batman v Superman, and going into Flash, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Those are kind of the pillars of that universe.”


Peyton goes on to reflect on the creation of the Lobo script and the struggle in getting the movie made. “It’s one of those things where, creatively, you and I get it, but there’s a lot of people that don’t quite get that. It’s a real uphill battle to talk people into spending a lot of money to do things correctly… I was really happy with the script, [though]. I talked with Dwayne about it. Joel Silver and I had a really amazing meeting about it. I did a rewrite of the script and was really, really excited for it. In their estimation, though, he wasn’t one of those main guys… That’s fair enough.” 

He then reiterates WB’s approach to establishing the DC Cinematic Universe, comparing it to Marvel Studios’. “I think that, to do any kind of comic book universe correctly, you do need to establish, ‘Here’s the tone. Here’s the main people.’ Then we can grow offshoots from there. With Marvel, they’re now doing smaller characters like Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. They obviously had to start, though, with their big guns and set up The Avengers. I kind of feel like that’s where DC is now. They’re setting that team up.” As for whether Lobo will ever happen, Peyton remains optimistic. “I think there’s going to be a really amazing time for Lobo and I think people are going to realize, certainly once they revisit it, what they’re sitting on. But you never know. I’m really happy with the project and where we got it and fingers crossed it comes to fruition at some point.” 


Do you hope to see Lobo on the big screen some day?

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WOBAM! Entertainment.