Warner Bros. beat Disney in reaction to James Gunn’s ‘Suicide Squad 2’

“Suicide Squad”
Warner
Bros.

• A social-media analysis from Talkwalker made for Business
  Insider showed that people had a stronger negative reaction to
  Disney firing James Gunn from “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” than
  when Warner Bros. hired him for “Suicide Squad 2.”
• This is also the first time in over a year that “Suicide
  Squad” has dominated online conversation more than “Guardians of
  the Galaxy.”
• The analysis showed that top social posts related to Gunn and
  “Suicide Squad” expressed interest in or admiration for the move.

In a bold move, Warner Bros. snagged James Gunn from Marvel last
week to write, and possibly direct,
its follow-up to the 2016 DC Comics-movie “Suicide Squad.”
Disney fired Gunn from the
Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” in July
after old offensive tweets from Gunn resurfaced.

And analysis from social-research company Talkwalker suggests public sentiment toward
Warner Bros. puts it ahead of Disney in the Gunn controversy.

Talkwalker uses technology to monitor online
conversations in real-time. The analysis, made
for Business Insider, showed that for the first time in the last
13 months, “Suicide Squad” dominated online conversation more
than “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

But was that a bad or good thing?

While Talkwalker found a slight dip in public sentiment for
“Suicide Squad” when the Gunn news broke, it was nowhere near the
large dip that “Guardians of the Galaxy” saw when Disney fired
him.

And a Talkwalker representative said the negative sentiment
for “Suicide Squad 2” actually stemmed from posts that questioned
Disney’s decision to fire Gunn from “Guardians of the
Galaxy” in light of his new gig at Warner Bros. Overall, the
online reaction suggested that hiring Gunn has generated a lot of
excitement for “Suicide Squad 2,” according to Talkwalker.

Talkwalker

The top five social posts mentioning James Gunn and
“Suicide Squad” expressed interest in or admiration for the move.
The number one post is below, in which “Guardians of the Galaxy”
actor Dave Bautista expressed interest in joining Gunn on “Suicide
Squad 2.” 

Gunn was beloved by fans for his work on the “Guardians of the
Galaxy” films, which grossed a combined $1.6 billion worldwide.
But he’ll still have his work cut out for him on “Suicide Squad
2.”

The first “Suicide Squad” was critically panned, and while it
grossed $746 million worldwide, it saw a sharp decline in the
weeks following its release in the US. That was bad news for a
sequel.

But Warner Bros. has been rethinking its superhero film strategy,
and is focusing on standalone stories rather than a shared
universe after “Justice League” disappointed at the box office.
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit, Gunn’s “Suicide
Squad 2” will be a “whole new take” rather than a traditional
sequel.

With “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” now on hold, and “Suicide Squad”
in the hands of a director like Gunn, Warner Bros. could have
struck gold with its latest hire.

Read more of Business Insider’s coverage on James Gunn: