Popverse's top stories

• Batman's fallen son Jason Todd heads to New Orleans (and the Huntress) for a new adults-only Red Hood comic book series - in mainstream DC continuity
• MEMBERS ONLY: Meet Eric Pearson: Marvel Studios' unheralded fixer that helps save movies like Avengers: Endgame, Ant-Man, Fantastic Four, and Blade [Marvel Matters]
• WATCH: Lord of the Rings' John Rhys-Davies hijacks our interview to talk Shakespeare, James Bond, and LotR (of course!) [Popversations]

This might seem like an obvious thing, but one thing you need to have before you make a movie is a finished script. It is hard for actors to do much without knowing what you want them to say. However, that isn’t always true in Hollywood today. Movies are often greenlit before the screenplay is done. However, the one rule James Gunn implemented when he took over DC Studios is that nothing gets made without a finished script.

It is such a firm rule for James Gunn that he’s canceled projects at DC Studios because the script wasn’t up to scratch. “We just killed a project,” he explained during a recent interview. “Everybody wanted to make the movie. It was greenlit, ready to go. The screenplay wasn’t ready. And I couldn’t do a movie where the screenplay’s not good.”

That rule isn’t one that he made up out of thin air; it is borne out of James Gunn’s years of experience in Hollywood. “I do believe that the reason why the movie industry is dying is not because of people not wanting to see movies. It’s not because of home screens getting so good. The number-one reason is because people are making movies without a finished screenplay.”

That is not a mistake Gunn’s DC Studios is going to make, even if it means that some movies don’t get made. 
The first movie from DC Studios under James Gunn – finished screenplay and all – is Superman, which flies into cinemas on July 11, 2025.

James Gunn's Superman is flying into theaters soon enough, and Popverse has all you need to prepare. Refreshing your cinematic memory with our Superman movie watch order, learn what we know about the upcoming Superman movie, Superman's S-Shield through the ages, and read about what DC is doing ahead of their flagship hero's triumphant return.