WBD's David Zaslav Reportedly Looking To Replace Mike De Luca & Pam Abdy Following Several Box Office Flops

WBD's David Zaslav Reportedly Looking To Replace Mike De Luca & Pam Abdy Following Several Box Office Flops

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is reportedly having "early and informal" talks with potential successors to Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy following a number of box office disappointments...

By MarkCassidy - Mar 31, 2025 10:03 AM EST
Filed Under: Joker

A recent rumor that David Zaslav might be thinking about making a major change at Warner Bros. following a number of box office disappointments appears to have been confirmed.

According to Bloomberg, the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO is currently engaged in "early and informal" talks with potential successors to studio heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. Joker: Folie à Deux's abysmal box office performance is believed to be a major reason for the change, but Todd Phillips' critically-panned sequel is not the only recent WB movie to underperform at the box office.

Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17 will reportedly end up costing the studio between $75 million to $80 million over the course of its theatrical run, and the studio is also coming off another bomb in Alto Knights - although Zaslav is believed to have greenlit the movie himself despite others voicing concerns about it having limited prospects.

Though De Luca and Abdy have certainly faced criticism, some feel that they are being unfairly scapegoated, since deals for some of the box office misses mentioned above were in place before they took the reins of the studio in June 2022. The pair also signed some massive deals with the likes of Tom Cruise and Margot Robbie during their time as co-chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.

A Minecraft Movie arrives this weekend and is estimated to do fairly well, and Sinners hits on April 18. Ryan Coogler's period vampire movie seems to be a bit of a wildcard, with analysts unsure of how audiences will respond following mixed reports from test-screenings.

Joker 2 had grossed just $206 million at the global box office (including $58 million in North America) by the end of its theatrical run, and is expected to lose at least $150 million to $200 million for the studio.

This is a far cry from the first Joker movie, which took in over $1 billion worldwide and was the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time before Deadpool and Wolverine surpassed it last year.

From acclaimed writer/director/producer Todd Phillips comes Joker: Folie À Deux, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Academy Award-winning Joker, which earned more than $1 billion at the global box office and remains the (second) highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.

The new film stars Joaquin Phoenix once again in his Oscar-winning dual role as Arthur Fleck/Joker, opposite Oscar winner Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born). The film also stars Oscar nominees Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Catherine Keener (Get Out, Capote), alongside Zazie Beetz, reprising her role from Joker.

The movie is rated R for “some strong violence, language throughout, some sexuality, and brief full nudity.”

JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX Star Lady Gaga Takes Playful Jabs At Sequel & Her Razzie Award During SNL Monologue
Related:

JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX Star Lady Gaga Takes Playful Jabs At Sequel & Her Razzie Award During SNL Monologue

SUPERMAN Extended Clip Spotlighting An Injured Man Of Steel Debuts During CinemaCon
Recommended For You:

SUPERMAN Extended Clip Spotlighting An Injured Man Of Steel Debuts During CinemaCon

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

KurtCrawler
KurtCrawler - 3/31/2025, 10:47 AM
Maybe Zaslav needs to fire himself
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 3/31/2025, 4:44 PM
@KurtCrawler -Sh!tcan the Zaz

User Comment Image
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 3/31/2025, 10:49 AM
That's how it should work, consecutive f**k ups = your ass is out the door, if only Disney did the same.
Typhoon20
Typhoon20 - 3/31/2025, 10:57 AM
@HashTagSwagg - Delusional take lmao. That's not how it should work because the F ups come from Zaslav. This is just the top finding another scapegoat and passing the blame onto others below them.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 3/31/2025, 11:04 AM
@HashTagSwagg - It's not exactly fair to fire people who weren't in charge when some of these projects were green lit. Don't get me wrong, they're not going to win any awards for their tenure at WB, but let's not pretend things only started to go downhill when they came on board. WB has had problems long before they showed up, and will likely continue to have problems long after they're gone.
BlackStar25
BlackStar25 - 3/31/2025, 11:09 AM
@HashTagSwagg - Revolving Door Model...I dont know man...lol.

User Comment Image
dhlthecobra
dhlthecobra - 3/31/2025, 11:19 AM
@HashTagSwagg - Take a look at how Disney did last year at the box office.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/31/2025, 11:49 AM
@Typhoon20 - so what's your excuse for Kevin then? The Ole tried and true Chapek or you still going at Iger for the state of the MCU?
asherman93
asherman93 - 3/31/2025, 1:30 PM
@McMurdo - "so what's your excuse for Kevin then?"
That outside of 2023, he's had a mostly solid track record?
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/31/2025, 2:07 PM
@asherman93 - 2024/2025 the years of the the Foxmen!
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 3/31/2025, 10:54 AM
Wait , didn’t Zaslav himself greenlight Joker: Folie a Deux due to its success and even wanted Todd Phillips as the new head guy at DC before Gunn & Safran?.

Given that apparently some of the box office misses were already in the works before they took over , it does seem like they are being scapegoated for Zaslav to cover his own ass to an extent.

Anyway , still ridiculous that Mickey 17 had a 118 million budget or so since that movie was always going to be niche.
RedFury
RedFury - 3/31/2025, 12:34 PM
@TheVisionary25 - I loved Mickey 17, so I'm quite happy it got made even if it didn't perform well. Might have been a bad business decision, but I enjoyed the hell out of the bad decision lol.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 3/31/2025, 12:38 PM
@RedFury - oh , I haven’t seen it

I’m sure it’s good , it’s just weird it cost that much
RedFury
RedFury - 3/31/2025, 12:49 PM
@TheVisionary25 - there's a ton of really good CGI and production value in it. So I imagine it was just a costly movie to make because of how polished it was. Certainly not a perfect film, but it's weird, quirky, and fun. But yeah, probably could have been made for cheaper that's for sure haha.

I really am curious as to where a lot of these giant budgets go. I kind of figure they throw this amount of money around as stimulus to keep people working and what have you. But that must only work if you have the odd billion dollar success, which they really seem to be lacking these days.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/31/2025, 10:56 AM
They danced to the woke song and now they have to pay the fiddler.

Joker 2 is revenge against conservative fans of Joker 1.

Mickey 17 is anti Trump.

The Alto Knights stars TDS suffering Robert De Niro.

Minecraft is slop for halfwits.

Sinners is trash for trashy people.
asherman93
asherman93 - 3/31/2025, 1:29 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - "Joker 2 is revenge against conservative fans of Joker 1."
I'm pretty sure disdain for that film was bipartisan.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/31/2025, 1:30 PM
@asherman93 -

Disdain for which film?
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/31/2025, 1:32 PM
@asherman93 -

Conservatives liked Joker 1.

That upset liberals.

Liberal filmmakers talked and decided to annoy conservatives.

They purposefully made Joker 2 bad.
MisterBones
MisterBones - 3/31/2025, 11:08 AM
I have the perfect replacement
User Comment Image
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 3/31/2025, 11:13 AM
@MisterBones - I can’t wait for him to make a comic book film. I really liked the Preacher series.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 3/31/2025, 11:27 AM
@MisterBones - First two eps were excellent... I wanted to reach into the TV and get him away from that film set myself.
MisterBones
MisterBones - 3/31/2025, 2:38 PM
@MarkCassidy - the show is so good. Watching Matt be his own worst enemy for the entire run time of 2 was painfully funny to watch
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 3/31/2025, 11:11 AM
I’d say fire who ever read the script for a joker2 musical and said, “that’s exactly what fans want for a sequel.”
If that’s the persons then yes fire them.
BlackStar25
BlackStar25 - 3/31/2025, 11:18 AM
@JurassicClunge - I hope its great and does well financially! I feel the budget was 40 million too high.
JurassicClunge
JurassicClunge - 3/31/2025, 11:21 AM
@BlackStar25 - me too, it genuinely looks like a great vampire movie setting.

I will defo support it in the cinema even though I hate WB lol 🤣😌
JurassicClunge
JurassicClunge - 3/31/2025, 11:16 AM
Long may WB flops continue!

Sinners looks good though.

🤣😌😌😌
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/31/2025, 1:30 PM
@JurassicClunge -

?si=rJsi1yhW3SNtABk3
NoDaysOff
NoDaysOff - 3/31/2025, 11:20 AM
These the same clowns who meddled with The Rock and messed shit up for Cavill?

xKingLobox
xKingLobox - 3/31/2025, 11:32 AM
A lot of people say Joker 2 was a flop...perhaps from a Box Office perspective. BUT I strongly think that if looked at critically through the lens of, non cannon and the perspective of it's been HARLEY all along that was the true psychopath/sociopath behind the Joker and that the Joker could be different psychotic iterations (like many heroes and villains) then the JOKER 2 - is a brilliant sequel that sets that up.

That said Zaslav - needs to start taking ownership of the failures. He's been running through DC and WB like a madman.
HulkisHoly
HulkisHoly - 3/31/2025, 11:57 AM
Joker 2 is so bad and such a crazy letdown after the first hugely popular film, cinephiles will be talking about it for decades.
DREAMER
DREAMER - 3/31/2025, 1:44 PM
And who's going to replace DC CEO James Gunn, after Superman and Supergirl flowps?
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 4/1/2025, 12:28 AM
Zaslav overreacting to this and it will surely cost him worse for making such rushed decisions. Especially if WB starts to make a comeback with Minecraft and Sinners. He's totally using them as scapegoats.

Please log in to post comments.

Don't have an account?
Please Register.

View Recorder