Recently-appointed Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav is still hoping to find his "Kevin Feige-like" individual to take over the DC Films/TV divisions and usher in a new era for DC Comics-based content. The search is not going well, but a new report indicates that the heavily-indebted studio may soon have bigger problems to contend with.
According to THR, WBD is still "grappling with that heavy debt load and skeptical investors," with concerns being raised about Zaslav's leadership style. Although no negotiations can happen until April 2024, many insiders believe that another merger deal is inevitable, and Comcast’s (remember them?) Brian Roberts is looking like the most likely candidate to propose combining NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Though nothing is set in stone, another merger and further restructuring of the company would obviously throw Zaslav's proposed "10-year plan" for the DCEU into disarray.
As for the DC gig, it sounds like Zaslav has had so much trouble filling the position because the prospect of competing with Marvel Studios and developing a real, cohesive shared movie/TV universe is seen as a near-impossible task given the current state of the DCEU.
“Zaslav doesn’t know what he doesn’t know,” one leading talent rep tells the trade. “That’s scary. And you’re always going to be compared to Marvel. It’s unfair. By the time they were being judged, it was working. It’s the exact opposite at Warner. It’s rough all around. Who the [frick] would want that job?”
As things stand, it seems likely that acting division heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy "will end up running the thing by default." The pair are said to be "talent-friendly, decisive and a vast improvement from when the studio sat under AT&T and Jason Kilar," so they might be Zaslav's best option - providing he can convince them to officially take the job!
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.