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Warner Bros. CEO Comments on Pushing BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE to 2016

When Warner Bros. originally announced Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice back in 2013, a release date for July 2015 was set. Of course, the film would later be moved to May 2016, in order to give the creative team more time to make the best movie possible, before moving up a few weeks to March 2016.

And unsurprisingly, moving Batman v Superman out of 2015 had a notable effect on WB’s box office results. While the studio has had a few hits this year, such as San Andreas and Mad Max: Fury Road, other films, such as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Magic Mike XXL, underperformed.

Thankfully, 2016 looks to be a brighter year for WB. In addition to Batman v Superman, the studio will release the highly anticipated Suicide Squad, as well as Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Other tentpoles include Tarzan and Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur. And then there’s 2017, which will see the release of Warner films such as The LEGO Batman Movie, Wonder Woman and Justice League Part One.

In the mean time, The Hollywood Reporter has published a feature on WB’s disappointing results this year. The trade spoke with studio CEO Kevin Tsujihara, who reaffirmed that the “tough decision” to delay Dawn of Justice definitely created a hole in Warner’s 2015 lineup. However, he adds that the foundation for the DC Extended Universe had to be established properly, and that the delay was key in that. He also reveals that he has seen the film “multiple times,” which shouldn’t be too surprising. “…it was absolutely the right decision for the franchise, for DC and the movie. Having seen the movie multiple times, and again last night, I’m extremely confident it was the right decision to make the movie better. And it’s so important for the studio to get the foundation right on DC.”

So, Tsujihara rehashes that the studio pushed Batman v Superman back a few months not only to offer more time to make a better movie, but also to make sure that it was getting the very core of the DCEU right. And frankly, I’m sure nobody can complain about that. Stay tuned for more news as we have it.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is scheduled to hit theaters March 25th, 2016. The second installment in the DC Extended Universe stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter and Gal Gadot. Zack Snyder directs from a script by Chris Terrio and David S Goyer.

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