It's been in the offing for a while but yesterday, AT&T's massive $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner was made 100% official. It took a long time thanks to a government approval process which saw a federal judge have to decide whether or not the purchase could go through. With the green light given on Tuesday, though, the deal has been officially announced and AT&T now owns Warner Bros.
"The content and creative talent at Warner Bros., HBO and Turner are first-rate," said Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc. in a statement yesterday. "Combine all that with AT&T’s strengths in direct-to-consumer distribution, and we offer customers a differentiated, high-quality, mobile-first entertainment experience. We’re going to bring a fresh approach to how the media and entertainment industry works for consumers, content creators, distributors and advertisers."
What this means for the DCEU currently remains to be seen. Top executives at Warner Bros. and DC leaving is inevitable as AT&T will look to bring in some new people and a change in leadership across the board is expected (some high ranking executives could be safe but only if it's decided that they've been doing a good job so far). The question is. will Walter Hamada remain in charge of DC's movies?
Based on what we've heard, that seems likely, especially as it sounds as if he's been doing a great job putting the DCEU back on track. Then again, AT&T may have its own ideas for what should happen to these characters so we'll just have to wait and see. For now, though, stay tuned to CBM for updates.
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