Warner Brothers forms DC Entertainment to incubate new comic-based live-action features

Warner Brothers recently announced the creation of DC Entertainment, a new subdivision of WB aimed solely at multimedia development of their classic stable of characters, including Superman, Batman and the many others, according to SplashPage. The new company will be run by Diane Nelson, who previously served as president of Warner Premiere, the division responsible for the recent direct-to-DVD animated, DC Universe features.

According to Deadline Hollywood, Warners is “calling back” many high-profile films in development involving DC’s characters. Much like Disney’s desire to bring all of Marvel’s properties under one roof and slash third-party deals to produce films based on that brand’s characters, such as Spider-Man and the X-Men, the report says that WB is halting many of the DC films that involved production partners outside the company.

“My understanding is that Joel Silver, who is buddies with [WB Pictures Group president Jeff] Robinov, was allowed to continue bringing low profile The Losers to the big screen under his Dark Castle banner. But Silver’s 10 years of developing ‘Wonder Woman’ is history now,” reported Deadline Hollywood.

Exactly where publishing comics fits into the new picture remains to be seen, according to reports. That is, whether comics will receive more or less attention under DC Entertainment – or if the publishing division too small to bother changing.

However, film prospects are certainly looking up for Warner’s much-discussed problems getting films involving DC’s characters off the ground. According to the report, the Superman franchise will finally return to theaters under the new, re-structured DC Entertainment banner, and many of DC’s other notable properties will receive more attention from the studio than ever before.

If the quality of the animated features Nelson has been producing under Warner Premiere is any indication, the live-action projects to come will be taken to a completely new level for DC. More to come on these developments.