Looks like Warner Bros is going to double down and develop two separate paths for their DC Cinematic Universe. One one hand, Warner Bros will continue to develop their announced films related to JUSTICE LEAGUE including THE FLASH, GREEN LANTERN, CYBORG, MAN OF STEEL 2, WONDER WOMAN, and more while New Line Cinema will take over all titles related to DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Deadline reported on the news which has yet to be officially announced by the studio.
Before you decry this news as meaning that the DC Cinematic Universe will not feature Preacher, Costantine, SANDMAN, or Guillermo Del Toro's JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, keep in mind that New Line Cinema is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Currently, Dwayne Johnson's SHAZAM is set at New Line Cinema as well. The goal here appears to be keeping the two aspects of DC's canon in development simultaneously. If anything, this is great news for those excited to see these more subversive characters come to the big screen.
SANDMAN has been the most actively developed Vertigo film with Gordon-Levitt set to direct it. David Goyer and Jack Thorne have been working on the screenplay but we have yet to hear any acknowledgement that it will be a kick-off for any sort of interconnected universe. This change in studio leadership may help that come to pass. I have long been a fan of Vertigo's darker and more mature line of comics, especially Preacher and Y: The Last Man. Here's hoping we hear more soon.