Charles Roven’s career as a producer covers pretty much every genre. He’s produced everything from “Scooby Doo” movies, to Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys” to David O. Russell’s “American Hustle.”
But there’s one noticeable trend on Roven’s list of credits: He served as a producer on Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed “Batman” trilogy and now he’s working with director Zack Snyder on “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
One thing Roven’s not a fan of? Spoilers. Roven recently spoke with The Frame’s John Horn on the Warner Bros. lot.
Since I’ve been involved with the DC properties, starting really with “Batman Begins,” I’ve never experienced such a avid, rabid desire to find out [story lines] and post. To the point where, on the one hand, you love the fans — they’re the reason that we’re able to make movies of this size and scope. But on the other hand, when it becomes some kind of badge to break the code and reveal something that is really going to damage the experience that the moviegoer has, we don’t think it’s [in] the best interests of what we’re trying to accomplish, or what the fans really want. The good news is, recently, I’ve been finding that the fans themselves are shouting down these people who are going out of their way to put spoilers up.
What you were able to do with Christopher Nolan and the previous “Batman” movies was take the genre and treat it in a new way. So the experience of working with Chris Nolan on those movies, what did you learn as a producer and a storyteller that you can bring into the franchise that will elevate these movies above the fray?
...From the very beginning we never looked at “Batman” as a superhero movie. We never really even looked at it as a comic book movie. We wanted to make a really great compelling movie. And I think, for the whole “Dark Knight” trilogy, we followed through on that. Now, the difference is, when we started with “Batman Begins,” they were making a lot [fewer] movies that you would call in this genre. So you not only have to look at what you’re doing, you have to look at what everybody else is doing and say, Okay, I want to keep what we’re doing fresh and interesting and innovative. But I gotta make sure that I’m not copying something else.
Is there a fundamentally different role you serve on a movie like this, as opposed to a movie like “American Hustle,” where, you’re working with a filmmaker — David O. Russell — who has a lot less of a budget? He doesn’t have to worry about toys or theme parks or setting up characters who are going to be spun out. Can you focus on just the movie?
No, you can’t. That would be putting your head in the sand. You can’t divorce the consumer products portion, the promotional aspect portion of making a huge tentpole of a franchise property. If you’re dealing with promotional partners and if you’re dealing with consumer products, their whole existence is based on the fact that they want the brand relatability. And therefore, you have to not just manage the movie itself, you have to manage how they’re going to use the material you give them [from] the movie.
What happens if — and I’m throwing a hypothetical out — somebody who is making a Wonder Woman action figure says, We need her to strike this kind of pose in the film. How do you make sure the tail is not wagging the dog?
You sometimes walk away ... I’ll give you a good example: We had a situation where we didn’t want to reveal something, and yet it was really important to the particular product that they be allowed to reveal it ... in the packaging before the movie came out. We couldn’t make that work.
As you’re trying to figure out what you’re going to do next and what characters have to be spun off and land in which films at what point, how complicated is that whole process? And how much planning goes into making sure not just each individual movie works, but that they tie together in some kind of greater fabric?
Since we started on “Batman v. Superman” and announced this extended universe with these interconnected stories, that’s really the first time I’ve had to deal with that. We do [discuss], How is this going to take us into Justice League, and how is Justice League 1 going to take us into Justice League 2? And, what’s the thread that we’re going to have if we want to make a standalone Flash movie or Batman movie or Wonder Woman movie?
We embrace these other filmmakers because we don’t want these movies to be all the same. We want to make sure that the films fit into the universe, but have their own tone and their own style. And so, when Patty Jenkins commits to [directing] “Wonder Woman,” we bring her in and we let her know everything that we’re doing on “Batman v. Superman” — because Wonder Woman is introduced in that movie — and then we discuss with her where we’re going with Wonder Woman and Justice League ... There are certain limitations to that, but we really try to keep as creatively vibrant scenarios going on as we can.