What Is DC Films Production Company?

Last Updated on February 15, 2022 by Lil Ginge

DC Films is the official film production company behind the movies featuring characters from DC Comics and DC Entertainment. It is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which is owned by WarnerMedia.

The American-owned film company was founded on November 3, 2018, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg with its headquarters at 4000 Warner Boulevard in Burbank, California. It was created in the wake of the failure of the Warner Bros. Pictures film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, directed by Zack Snyder.

Currently run by executives Walter Hamada, President of DC Films as well as Chantal Nong, Vice President of Production, DC Films has overseen a number of successful DC comics-based productions and has a full slate of upcoming films.

The History of DC Films Production Company

After the release of Snyder’s Batman v Superman, the world of DC comics on film was a mess. The film was not a “flop” per se but was critically panned with a Rotten Tomato critics score of 29% and an audience score of 63%. The movie also grossed below expectations at just $873.6 million globally, considering it was the first film ever to feature both Superman and Batman in the same movie.

In response to this perceived failure, Warner Bros. founded DC Films to consolidate and fix the mess that was DC on film. DC Films was created with Berg and DC Comics Chief Content Officer Geoff Johns at the helm. The hope was for DC to better compete with Disney’s wildly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), their counterpart to the world of superhero comics in the movies.

One way DC Films was to differ from the MCU was that while Marvel was run and creatively controlled by a master producer in Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios, DC Film would still have a director-driven mandate. That meant that the individual directors of each film would retain control over most aspects of casting, the film’s design, the story, and more elements of the movie.

Berg was selected as President due to his previous work on DC superhero films including Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, and Justice League. Meanwhile, Geoff Johns was a longtime comic book writer previously involved with DC Television. He also initially helped co-write Ben Affleck’s The Batman film before it was scrapped in favor of the Matt Reeves production.

In January 2018, Warner Bros. announced that WB executive Walter Hamada would become President of DC Films. Hamada would oversee upcoming DC films. He would essentially replace Berg and Johns, who Warner Bros. partially attributed the failures of the Justice League movie to. Hamada had been a production executive at New Line Cinema for a decade and was responsible for developing films like It and The Conjuring.

DC Films – Previously Released Movies

Number	Title	Release Date	Director	Co-Production Companies	Notes
1.	Suicide Squad	August 5, 2016	David Ayer	RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment
2.	Wonder Woman	June 2, 2017	Patty Jenkins	RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Tencent Pictures, Wanda Pictures
3.	Justice League	November 17, 2017	Zack Snyder / Joss Whedon	RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Access Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films
4.	Aquaman	December 21, 2018	James Wan	The Safran Company
5.	Shazam!	April 5, 2019	David F. Sanberg	New Line Cinema, The Safran Company
6.	Joker	October 5, 2019	Todd Phillips	Village Roadshow Pictures, BRON Creative, Joint Efforts Productions
7.	Birds of Prey	February 7, 2020	Cathy Yan	LuckyChap Entertainment, Kroll & Co. Entertainment, Clubhouse Productions
8.	Wonder Woman 1984	Decembe r25, 2020	Patty Jenkins	Atlas Entertainment, The Stone Quarry
9.	Zack Snyder’s Justice League	March 18, 2021	Zack Snyder	Access / Dune Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, The Stone Quarry	HBO Max Exclusive
10.	The Suicide Squad	August 5, 2021	James Gunn	Atlas Entertainment, The Safran Company

Upcoming DC Films

Number	Title	Release Date	Director	Co-Production Companies	Notes
11	The Batman	March 4, 2022	Matt Reeves	6th & Idaho,
12	Black Adam	July 29, 2022	Jaume Collet-Serra	New Line Cinema, Seven Bucks Productions, FlynnPicture Co.
13	The Flash	November 4, 2022	Andy Muschietti	The Disco Factory, Double Dream
14.	Aquaman and the Lost Kinddom	December 16, 2022	James Wan	Atomic Monster Productions, The Safran Company
15	Batgirl	2022	Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah	Warner Bros. Pictures, Burr! Productions	HBO Max Exclusive
16	Shazam! Fury of the Gods	June 2, 2023	David F. Sandberg	New Line Cinema, The Safran Company, Seven Bucks Productions, Mad Ghost Productions
17.	Blue Beetle	August 18, 2023	Angel Manuel Soto

DC Movies Currently In Development

• Black Canary (HBO Max Exclusive)
• Static Shock
• Green Lantern Corps
• Supergirl
• Zatanna
• Untitled Superman film
• Wonder Woman 3 (untitled)
• Hourman film (untitled)
• Joker 2 (untitled)

DC Films: Television Series

Series	Air Debut	Showrunner	Co-Production Companies	Original Network	Notes
Peacemaker	January 13, 2022	James Gunn	The Safran Company, Troll Court Entertainment	HBO Max	The Suicide Squad spinoff; airing now
Untitled The Batman: Gotham PD show	TBD	Joe Barton	6th & Idaho	HBO Max	In development; The Batman spinoff
Constantine	TBD	TBD	Bad Robot Productions	HBO Max	In development
Justice League Dark	TBD	TBD	Bad Robot Productions	HBO Max	In development
Madame X	TBD	TBD	Bad Robot Productions	HBO Max	In development
Untitled: The Batman: Penguin	TBD	TBD	6th & Idaho	HBO Max	In development

If you found this article helpful, check out the rest of my articles on the upcoming DC Films production The Batman.