Warner Bros. Cancels Yet Another DC Studios Movie, Confirms Director

As DC Studios undergoes its most massive transformation in years, an intriguing project starring a fan-favorite DC character has unfortunately met the chopping block.

Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes in Blue Beetle without his helmet looking surprised — Credit: DC Studios

While the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) had its set of dedicated fans, it was nothing compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Despite having powerhouse performances from Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, DC Studios never reached the same heights as Marvel Studios.

However, it’s likely things may be changing fairly soon. With filmmaker James Gunn taking the reins and what seems to be a new, lighter tone to the DC Universe (DCU) with projects like Creature Commandos (2024) and Superman: Legacy (2025). Unfortunately, it looks like this is coming at the cost of an exciting project from an Oscar-winning filmmaker.

Warner Bros. Makes ‘Zatanna’ at DC Studios Disappear

Zatanna touching her hat onstage in multiple spotlights — Credit: DC Comics

Filmmaker Emerald Fennell, known for directing and writing films like Promising Young Woman (2020) and Saltburn (2023), recently revealed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz that her highly-anticipated film based on DC Hero Zatanna was no longer happening.

“No. No, it’s not happening,” confirmed Fennell. “It was, you know what, I loved… So, this was something I was working on before Promising Young Woman, and it was when J.J. Abrams had just arrived at Warner Bros. and was going to reboot the Dark Universe and… they were going to kind of make this new kind of dark, sort of, villain universe, or hero/villain universe. And I just thought he was the coolest.”

“It was complicated, because, I think, the regime, the things change,” Fennell continued. “It’s the classic studio stuff. J.J.’s incredible. His team is incredible… I wrote, in the end, I think, a script that is reasonably demented… in a good way, I think. But in the end, I think the whole universe… was changed. But that’s fine.”

In the end, the overall experience was positive for Fennell, which she described as “really fun to do in the end, whether or not it would’ve been, like, remotely makeable.”

A more contemporary interpretation of Zatanna in more common clothing — Credit: DC Comics

This marks the second cancellation of another high-profile female-centric piece from DC Studios, with Warner Bros. canceling the highly-anticipated Batgirl back in August 2022. Hopefully, with James Gunn in charge, we’ll see a bit more of these “demented” and unique stories under the DC Elseworlds umbrella alongside Joker: Folie á Deux (2024) and Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II (2025).

Is there a hero from DC Comics that you think deserves a film interpretation? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!