Superman's financial reception was a complex one. The movie's arrival marked a decisive point for not only DC Studios, but Warner Bros. Discovery as a whole. Given its large number of consecutive superhero flops at the box office, WBD desperately needed Clark Kent's latest standalone feature to hit it big.
However, the movie arrived, and fortunately, it was not a flop... yet, it wasn't a massive blockbuster either. It was a moderate performer, with profits that, while likely not coming in from its theatrical period, would probably come in through ancillary markets. Now, a new report from Variety has revealed that revenue (Note: revenue, not profit) from Superman and other well-performing movies were just enough to compensate for significant losses in another area of the company—that of traditional television.
Warner Bros. Discovery reported a $148 million loss in the third quarter of the year. The company is said to have received a boost in revenue of 74% through the performance of Superman, Weapons, The Conjuring: Last Rites, and, as Variety reports, F1, which, while having premiered in the second quarter of the year, still generated revenue that carried over into quarter 3. Unfortunately, as mentioned, the money brought in by those features was offset by company losses.
Case in point, the revenue from WBD's traditional-TV ventures dropped 23% to $3.88 billion. Variety explained that some of the reasons for this decline is the lack of an event as significant as the 2024 Paris Olympics (which WBD had the rights to broadcast in Europe), and the lack of election-time news coverage. Furthermore, distribution and advertising revenue also fell, 8% and 21%, respectively. Overall, revenue for the third quarter is said to have experienced a 6% decrease from the same quarter from the previous year, resulting in $9 billion in revenue.
According to Variety, this revenue fall could prove beneficial to Warner Bros. Discovery in trying to sway shareholders regarding a drastic restructuring of the company. It was recently reiterated that top brass at Warner Bros. was contemplating splitting the company into two entities to sell them separately, as opposed to one big corporation.
One entity would be called Discovery Global, which would carry WBD's television networks like TNT, TBS and CNN. The other entity would be known simply as Warner Bros. and would carry all the properties and brands already associated with the studio. In this case, the WBD brands currently reported as suffering significant losses are those that would fall under the umbrella of Discovery Global. This is where a split could become enticing for shareholders.
Per Variety, WBD has been letting its investors know it wants to restructure the company, and traditional-TV losses offsetting theatrical revenue will, according to Variety, serve as evidence to show shareholders why the split is necessary.
In a letter to shareholders, WBD stated:
"[Warner Bros. Discovery]] is evaluating a broad range of strategic options, including proceeding with the planned separation, a potential transaction for the entire company, or separate transactions for the Warner Bros. and/or Discovery Global businesses." The company also said it was considering, "alternative separation structure that would enable a merger transaction involving Warner Bros., while Discovery Global would be spun off to our shareholders."
Superman is now streaming on HBO Max.