American filmmaker and director Zack Snyder, known for his work in the superhero and action genres, especially in DC Extended Universe, is widely recognized for his visually stunning and stylized approach to filmmaking. A former DCEU executive evaluated how Zack Snyder’s Warner Bros. films have performed in the past decade.
Warner Bros. Ex-President Reveals Zack Snyder Lost a Lot on Two Movies that Flopped
The DC Comics-based movies have been so essential to Warner Bros. In terms of box office success, franchise building, streaming opportunities, and intellectual property value. In fact, the DC films have helped Warner Bros. maintain a dominant position in the entertainment industry.
Former President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production at Warner Bros. Pictures Greg Silverman claimed on X (formerly Twitter) by saying that Zack Snyder‘s films did not result in any loss. Silverman wrote:
“Not true. We lost some money on GAHOOLE and a fair amount on SUCKERPUNCH. The rest of his films at WB were very profitable. Very.”
Zack Snyder
The Owls of Ga’Hoole is an animated film by Zack Snyder. One of his box office failures collected $140 million on an 80 million dollar budget, not counting the market prize, meaning the film sadly lost Warner Brothers a lot of money. Similarly the Sucker Punch cost Warner bros. around $82 million caused a huge loss to the Studio.
Greg Silverman made a point to respond on X, defending Snyder’s time at Warner Bros. as a director who made the studio money. This isn’t the first time Silverman has defended Snyder, back in January, he said the director’s “kindness” ultimately created an environment for critics to undervalue his work.
“Zack’s kindness, openness, and enthusiasm created an environment for critics to undervalue his work. Because he is a decent, approachable, humble human, he didn’t fit the mold of an auteur.”
Zack Snyder’s DCEU: Box Office Success and Revival
Zack Snyder with DC’s superheroes
Snyder began his DCEU venture in 2013 with Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill. The movie brought in $668 million at the international box office. In comparison to Superman Returns from 2006, this was an increase of $277 million. Synder’s version of Superman was a completely fresh and modern take on the iconic Superman character. Furthermore, Henry Cavill’s role as Superman not only revitalized the iconic character but also had a lasting impact on the superhero genre.
The highly anticipated crossover sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, released in 2016, collected $873.6 million globally. According to Deadline, WB earned a net profit of $105.7 million, making it one of the fifth highest grossing DC movies of all time. Though it received a mixed review, it played a significant role in laying the groundwork for the DC Extended Universe, giving us new characters like Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Ben Affleck as DC’s new Batman.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League from Catastrophe to Success
Justice League’s released in 2017 was a catastrophe for the studio. The film faced a number of setbacks. Zack Snyder departed the project midway through, leading to Joss Whedon taking over as director. Whedon’s version of the film was released in theaters faced widespread criticism and disappointment from both fans and critics. The film had an outrageously inflated budget of $300 million, which does not even include market costs. As per Deadline, Justice League lost WB money at an estimated $60 million, one of the biggest losses DC has ever faced.
Poster of Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Then came Snyder’s cut of Justice League on the streaming service. The four hour long movie became one pf the most-watched movies on the platforms and gained rave reviews worldwide. The Avengers-like aesthetic tone set up by Whedon in the former Justice League was completely rectified in Snyder’s version, bringing back the dark default tone of DC. Snyder is commonly regarded as a polarizing director. In spite of his polarizing nature, he has a huge fanbase that supports his distinct style and vision for storytelling. There are also those who aren’t supporters but are celebrating the new direction of the DCU with James Gunn.
With the establishment of Warner Bros. Discovery’s newly titled DC Studios, Warner Bros. hopes to get back on track with high-caliber productions and embrace diverse creative talents that will cater to fans and ensure commercial success.
