Ava DuVernay's New Gods, Aquaman spin-off The Trench get shelved by DC Films

DC Films has decided to shelve two films, New Gods and The Trench. Through a statement released by DC and Warner Bros, it has been confirmed that the DC slate will be moving forward without these two films. Director Ava DuVernay and screenwriter Tom King were involved in the making of New Gods while The Trench (Aquaman spinoff) was being developed by James Wan and Peter Safran. Although the projects have been shelved for now, there is a possibility that they may get revived. In their statement, the two production houses said, “The projects will remain in their skillful hands if they were to move forward in the future.” Executives involved with DC Films believed that it was best not to leave the filmmakers hanging in development when it became clear that there is no place for both films in the coming few years in the DC slate. According to The Hollywood Reporter, both Ava and James are in collaboration with the DC Films on other projects. While Ava is working on Naomi, James is going to be directing DC’s Aquaman 2. This decision comes after the release of Zack Synder’s Justice League which features many of the characters that New Gods was also supposed to explore including Darkseid. On the other hand, The Trench is also connected to the Synder’s cut through Aquaman. Ann Sarnoff, CEO of WarnerMedia Studios, had said that they would move away from unified storytelling. In an interview with Variety, he had shared they would like to have different voices in the mix.