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Speculation intensified about the future of the fan-centric DC Universe streaming service after DC was hit with massive layoffs on Monday as part of a larger restructuring for its parent company, WarnerMedia. The majority of the DCU staff was laid off, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In an interview with THR addressing the layoffs on Friday, DC publisher and creative chief Jim Lee said that the original content that is on DCU is migrating to HBO Max, confirming that DCUs original TV shows will move to WarnerMedias new flagship streaming platform that launched in May.

Truthfully, thats the best platform for that content, Lee told THR. The amount of content you get, not just DC, but generally from WarnerMedia, is huge and its the best value proposition if Im allowed to use that marketing term. We feel that is the place for that.

DCUs Doom Patrol and Harley Quinn are already streaming on Max. Another DC Universe original, Stargirl, was renewed last month for a second season exclusively on The CW network.

But the writing has been on the wall for months regarding DCUs originals. Last year, DCU abruptly cancelled its original series Swamp Thing after one season, shocking crewmembers. In May, ahead of Maxs launch, Business Insider reported that WarnerMedia wasnt prioritising DCU. People close to the service questioned its longevity.

Everything is about HBO Max now, said a former employee of Warner Bros. Digital Labs, a product unit that works with the companys streaming services.

And in an interview in May, Maxs former content chief Kevin Reilly who was fired this month as part of the WarnerMedia shakeup told Business Insider that there had been extensive discussions around DCU because DC is such a valuable entity to us and the depth of fandom is so important.

DCU shows wont be the only original DC content on Max. The streamer is developing its own DC originals, including a Green Lantern spinoff of next years The Batman movie about the Gotham City police. Reilly told Business Insider that fans should expect the highest level of cinematic production values on the shows.

While DCUs original content will be leaving the service, Lee told THR that its definitely not going away. The service also serves as a community hub for fans and offers a library of digital comics.

In regards to the community and experience that DCU created, and all the backlist content, something like 20,000 to 25,000 different titles, and the way it connected with fans 24-7, there is always going to be a need for that, Lee said. So were excited to transform it and well have more news on what that will look like.

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DC Universe original TV shows will move to HBO Max - Business Insider Australia

This entry was posted on August 18, 2020 at 9:01 am and is filed under Longevity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |