Warner Bros. CEO Meets With Candidates to Replace Studio Chiefs

(Bloomberg) — David Zaslav, the chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., has started meeting with candidates who could replace film studio heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The talks with potential successors are at an early and informal stage, and a final decision on the futures of De Luca and Abdy has not been made, said the people, who asked to not be identified discussing private conversations. 

“The rumor of an imminent leadership change at the studio is not accurate,” Robert Gibbs, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement. 

De Luca and Abdy’s contracts expire in 2026. Zaslav hired the two executives — Mike and Pam, as they’re known in Hollywood — to restore the standing of Warner Bros. shortly after closing Discovery Inc.’s $43 billion merger with AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia in 2022. But Warner Bros. has continued to struggle, releasing several pictures, including Joker: Folie à Deux and Mickey 17, that have disappointed at the box office.

De Luca and Abdy have signed development and production deals with actors Tom Cruise and Margot Robbie, and purchased projects from directors including Alejandro González Iñárritu and Paul Thomas Anderson. To secure some of those films at auction, Warner Bros. agreed to pay prices rival studios couldn’t justify, the people said.

Under pressure to shore up Warner Bros. Discovery’s share price, Zaslav has been scrutinizing the movie studio’s spending on titles with uncertain commercial prospects, Bloomberg reported in February. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at the division that includes the motion picture group fell 24% to $1.65 billion last year.

Before joining Warner Bros., historically one of the film industry’s most successful and prestigious studios, De Luca and Abdy ran the movie division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, home of the James Bond franchise. They left MGM after Amazon.com Inc. acquired the company in 2022. 

In January, De Luca and Abdy fired two senior studio executives, Josh Goldstine, the chief marketing officer, and Andrew Cripps, head of international distribution. Amazon’s Ted Lim was hired in the newly created role of chief business officer to improve the studio’s profitability. 

This month, De Luca and Abdy delayed the release of two of their most high-profile bets: Anderson’s One Battle After Another and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! 

The next release from Warner Bros., A Minecraft Movie, opens in cinemas on April 4. It’s projected bring in more than $55 million in US and Canadian theaters alone, according to Box Office Pro, potentially delivering the company a much needed hit.

Warner Bros. and other studios are set to showcase their upcoming films to theater operators at the CinemaCon trade show, which starts Monday in Las Vegas.

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