A big feature from Puck News (via Dark Horizons) has laid bare the rather disparate state of things at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Big gambles on projects from interesting directors have failed to fire.
The losses from Joker 2 are legendary, and the report indicates that Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 tested badly. Warner’s put in a cut that tested considerably better, but Ho had the Final Cut approval so his version was released.
Latest tracking has that looking like a $100m loss for Warners.
Huge cost cutting measures have already been implemented.
Some stories say studio heads Pamela Abdy and Mike De Luca may depart as they greenlit these projects. This has been denied by Warners.
One thing the article does say is that Superman is basically the last ditch hope for survival. If it doesn’t go well, the new DCU will be dead on arrival as they simply won’t be able to afford the full plans.
If that happens, then there is talk of the studio going the same way as Fox, being sold to a major rival and essentially ceasing to exist. From Hollywood heavyweight to subdivision of Disney in one movie.
Ryan Coogler’s period vampire tale Sinners is said to have gone over budget and needs an unlikely $50+ opening to stand a chance.
Meanwhile Paul Thomas Anderson’s project is was more pricey than anything else the director has ever done, and he is not exactly a box office juggernaut.
Murmerings are that, should De Luca and Abdy get pushed, DC Studios co-chair Peter Safran could be in the running for the studio head job.
Rumors of a merger with Universal will not go away off the back of this news.