DC Studios’ Peter Safran Named As Possible Replacement For Michael De Luca & Pam Abdy At Warner Bros. Pictures [Report]

In late February, there was a report from Bloomberg making the rounds that painted the picture of Warner Bros. Pictures studio heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy being on the outs with David Zaslav, CEO of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, after the pair was blamed for “overspending” on box office hiccups like “Joker: Folie à Deux” (only mustering $207.5 million globally on production budget of $200 million) in a post-mortem meeting.

Things could be overstated gossip or panicked reactions based on mixed box office results but a follow-up article from Puck adds to the drama and suggests there could be a major shake-up in the coming months with a leadership search. Also, DC Studios co-head Peter Safran was named as a potential replacement.

READ MORE: DC Studios Says ‘Booster Gold’ Had A Showrunner That Lost Interest, Robert Pattinson’s Batman Not Joining DCU

However, a WBD spokesperson speaking on behalf of Zaslav was quoted in the same piece as saying on the pair’s offboarding, “There is no truth to that rumor.”

Playing devil’s advocate on this idea: Safran is very much a seasoned and well-liked producer, but given that DC Studios is still in its infancy and doesn’t have much to show when it comes to box office earnings (James Gunn‘s “Superman” won’t be in theaters until July), it’s hard to see why they’d pull him away. Given that the jury is out this new DCU is going to be attractive to audiences and will see those movies turn profits regularly.

Then again, maybe both Safran and Gunn’s running of DC Studios is simply a temporary situation given that Gunn will likely be expected to keep churning out more directorial efforts (not all superhero-related?) and might not have the time to keep overseeing EVERY project that comes along or is developed in the DC offices.

Expensive creative-driven projects like George Miller‘s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” Bong Joon-ho‘s “Mickey 17” and Paul Thomas Anderson‘s upcoming expensive film, “One Battle After Another,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio are great for audiences as in-theater choices can be limited. But this is still a business at the end of the day, and not delivering profits at the box office is going to get studio executives in trouble with a boss like Zaslav known for their bean-counting (also, scrapping completed films for tax write-offs).

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We’ll just have to be patient to see if these truly are just “rumors” or if there is going to be a real shake-up at Warners with new leadership, only time will tell.