Earlier this week, the news broke that Dan Lin will no longer serve as Netflix's head of film amid layoffs that will reportedly affect roughly 1,000 people. Lin follows chief content officer Bela Bajaria, VP of film Doug Belgrad, and a series of high-ranking television executives out the door.
"Part of Dan’s appeal when he was hired was his dispassionate approach to budgets and cutting output, which is what [co-CEO Ted Sarandos] wanted at the time and liked about him. But that same dispassionate personality ultimately cost him his job,” said one exec.
Lin is also said to have clashed with Greta Gerwig over her Narnia movie (more here), and Ben Affleck regarding his latest directorial effort, Animals.
As new CCO Peter Rice takes charge of implementing new leadership, several names have emerged as potential replacements for Lin, one of which is sure to stir up a lot of conversation.
According to Page Six, former Warner Bros. Discovery co-chairs Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, A24's Noah Sacco, Stacey Snider, Jeff Robinov, Emma Watts, and current DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran are all in the mix.
"Safran’s contract is up in the early summer," confirms Tatiana Siegel. "As a producer, Safran is behind the hugely profitable “Conjuring” franchise in addition to running the DC portfolio for both film and TV."
Earlier this month, we got confirmation that Safran and James Gunn will remain on as DC Studios co-CEOs under the newly formed Skydance banner. The news followed the announcement that Paramount has been given the go-ahead to finalize its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, with the deal expected to close on October 6.
A recent Bloomberg report revealed some more details on David Ellison's decision to allow Gunn and Safran to "keep doing what they're doing."
According to the outlet, the Skydance boss visited the set of Man of Tomorrow when it was filming earlier this year, and listened as the pair outlined their 10-year plan for the DCU. Evidently impressed, Ellison supported their strategy.
So, it'll be business as usual for the time being, but if Man of Tomorrow tanks at the box office (unlikely, but always a possibility), Ellison might well rethink his decision.
Is it possible that Safran sees the writing on the wall and is "heading for the door"? This is the stance a lot of anti-DCU social media accounts and even a few outlets have taken, but if the exec is seriously considering jumping ship to Netflix, there could be some truth to it.
Then again, Safran weighing up the chance to run Netflix's film department wouldn't necessarily mean that he's lost faith in DC Studios.