DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn addresses having to cancel an upcoming DC Universe movie. Gunn’s Superman movie has finally arrived in theaters, and the DCU’s Chapter 1: “Gods and Monsters” slate is just getting started, sd more films and TV projects are currently in different stages of development over at DC Studios.

With DC Studios putting a huge emphasis on having finalized scripts before anything goes into production, the DCU timeline is already standing out from the DCEU movie franchise. However, if a screenplay can’t come together the way DC Studios wants it to, the project simply will not go forward at all.

During a recent NPR interview, Gunn opened up about how there was a DCU movie he had to cancel, despite having a director and screenwriter attached to the project. According to Gunn, despite having worked on numerous drafts for this film, DC Studios couldn’t proceed with it, as he shared the following:

James Gunn: One of the problems is that when they’re writing these screenplays that aren’t finished, you’re getting the first act. And you’re often in a first act that’s great, but you can’t write a first act that doesn’t relate to the last act. So if the last act isn’t written, movies don’t work like that. Plots don’t work like that. They’re a piece of – you know, it’s like a clock, you know, where everything has to fit and work together. And I’ve seen it happen again and again, and it irritates the hell out of me. And as much as I go out there and keep, you know, talking about it, they still keep doing it, and it’s crazy. But I’ll never do it. I will never do it.

I just stopped – you know, we had a screenplay that – you know, a movie that was greenlit. We went about. We got second draft and third draft, and it just wasn’t changing. It wasn’t getting better. It was staying in the same place. And I said, we can’t make this film. We can’t. It’s not good. We know it’s not good. Just because we have a good director attached and a good screenwriter, it doesn’t mean the script is working. It’s – everyone is going to be upset at the end of this. It’s going to come out, the movie’s not going to be good. Director’s going to look bad, screenwriter’s going to look bad and we’re going to look bad. So I don’t want to have this. We’re not going to make the movie. And so we killed it.

I would be surprised if it’s ever happened at a studio ’cause that’s just not the way things work. People are really excited to have something greenlit, and then they go and they just make it because they have to say yes to everybody, and they don’t want to disappoint everybody. You know, for all the talk of the movie business being so based on dollars and cents, it is based on like me, like me, like me, like me, like me. And it’s terrible. People don’t want to be not liked. They don’t want to let people down, and it’s terrible. It’s not good for anyone.

At the time of this story’s publication, it’s unclear which DCU movie Gunn was referring to, as he never named the project that had to get canceled. It’s also unclear if this is the same or a different DCU project that got canceled after Gunn’s comments in a June 2025 interview.

What James Gunn’s DCU Movie Comments Mean

While time will tell which DCU movie had to get scrapped, it’s actually encouraging to hear that DC Studios is staying true to their mission in not greenlighting films that they don’t fully believe in if things with the script aren’t working out. The last thing Gunn and DC Studios should do is repeat the DC Films division’s mistakes, which included launching films with rushed results.

With Hollywood needing films to make a profit more than ever, as studios use millions of dollars, Gunn is making sure DC Studios is strategic with whether or not a movie gets to proceed. Even if a DCU film has to take longer to work on the script before filming starts, that is worth it in the long run if it leads to a better product.

Our Take On James Gunn’s DCU Movie Comments

Hearing Gunn’s commentary showcases that DC Studios is what Warner Bros. Discovery has arguably needed for the DC brand for a really long time. It’s possible that the film Gunn could have been referencing is the Swamp Thing movie, since that one has James Mangold attached as both a writer and director.

While Gunn may have been talking about a different DCU movie, given how there have been little to no Swamp Thing updates since the original January 2023 announcement, the horror film being canceled isn’t out of the question. But until Gunn clarifies, only time will tell which film was actually canceled.

However, while this one DCU project isn’t moving forward, DC Studios still has plenty of other releases coming up, including the Batman and Wonder Woman movies that are currently being written. Hopefully, though one DCU movie isn’t moving forward, others will in the coming years.

Source: NPR