Earlier this week, a report from Puck claimed that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is looking to end Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy's stint as Warner Bros. Pictures co-chiefs.
They've spent an awful lot more than they've made for the studio since taking charge of its film slate, and the frugal Zaslav - who hasn't shied away from scrapping near-completed projects - appears to have reached the end of his tether.
DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran is reportedly a top contender to take over from Luca and Abdy, though that would currently leave James Gunn to run the studio alone.
The InSneider has shared an update today, theorising that Zaslav may be eyeing Safran because he wants out of the DCU.
"[It] makes zero sense to me," Jeff Sneider started, "unless his DC Studios co-chief James Gunn has become such a control freak that Safran feels like there isn’t much there for him to do over there."
"That could explain why he’d take another position within the studio, which would allow him to work on a greater range of projects outside of comic book movies and TV shows."
"That said, I’m told that the #3 at DC Studios, Chantal Nong, isn’t quite ready to replace Safran in the capacity of co-CEO, nor is she necessarily the right fit alongside Gunn, so while the WB slate may fare better under Safran, DC Studios may ultimately suffer in the long run without him taking on the brunt of business responsibilities for the studio," he concluded.
Until now, the belief has been that Gunn handles the creative with Safran, a veteran Hollywood producer, managing DC Studios' business operations.
It seems highly unlikely that Gunn has the time or inclination to become DC Studios' Kevin Feige, especially as that would leave him little to no room to write or direct any new DCU projects. Still, whether Gunn is paired with the inexperienced Nong or another executive, it's bound to have major consequences for this burgeoning franchise.
The first big test will be Superman; all signs currently point to the movie being a hit - fan response has been positive - but should it underperform, Zaslav may sour on the DC brand and decide that's also not worth sinking any further money into (he didn't shy away from scrapping Batgirl, after all).
With any luck, the DCU is here to stay. The superhero genre as a whole would benefit from its success, but for now, we'll just have to wait and see how things shake out.