My role at DC Studios is all creative, says James Gunn
James Gunn's job at DC Studios is "all creative".
The 58-year-old filmmaker and his long-time producer Peter Safran became co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios in 2022, and James has now explained how he's balanced his role at DC with the demands of writing and directing the new Superman movie.
He told Entertainment Weekly: "The balance isn't between creative and business. The balance is between specific creative and macro creative.
"Peter Safran, he does all our meetings, he does all the business stuff.
"For me, it's about writing and directing, but it's also about shepherding other writers and directors. It's about trying to come up with other ideas for other shows, other movies that I give to other writers to take care of. So my job is all creative.
"Occasionally, there are other things that you need to do, of course, as any writer/director does, but mostly it's taking care of the creative storytelling across all platforms."
James acknowledges that he "can't do everything" at DC Studios.
The filmmaker - whose previous directing credits include Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad - said: "It's a little bit too much at times. I can't do everything.
"I've had to try to focus on what I can focus on, which has been part of my learning process over the past couple years of having this job. If I try to do everything, it's too little of any one thing, so I need to really focus on certain pieces of what's happening."
Superman is the first movie that James has written and directed in DC's new era. And the director admits that Superman is crucial to the success or failure of the DC brand.
He explained: "He's one of the three biggest characters at DC, one of the most important characters in all of Warner Bros.' catalogue, but was also really the figurehead of DC in a lot of ways because he's the first ever superhero. So it seemed like the right movie to do first."
James previously claimed that "people are looking for heroes right now".
The director also revealed that he was feeling optimistic about the David Corenswet-led Superman film.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at a DC press event, he explained: "I think he's the right Superman because he is a character that stands for something that is solid, stands for basic human morals, basic human integrity, basic belief in protecting others and protecting the weak being good to people and being honest.
"People are looking for heroes right now. They are looking for values of goodness, looking for people who are good and decent human beings. And Superman is that."
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