Much has been speculated about the future of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is currently undergoing an auction process, with Comcast, Netflix and Paramount Skydance competing for its assets. The latter is perhaps the biggest contender in the race. As such, much of the conversation has been centered around Paramount's vision for WBD and its brands.
A question that is often brought up regarding Paramount's potential merger with WBD is the future of DC Studios—headed by James Gunn and Peter Safran—which is gearing up for a slate of important releases, including Supergirl, Lanterns, Clayface and Man of Tomorrow. James Gunn has been open about the creative freedom he and Safran have enjoyed to build out their universe. However, given the impending sale, many have wondered how—if at all—the studio could be impacted.
Now, an unexpected development has occurred regarding DC Studios' future. It appears Paramount is confident about acquiring WBD, as according to Puck's Kim Masters, the company has reportedly already started to use Warner Bros. assets as a promise to attract one specific talent: Zach Cregger. The filmmaker helmed the critically acclaimed Barbarian and Weapons, and is currently shooting his Resident Evil reboot in Prague.
Cregger has been open about having a screenplay he wishes to pitch to DC Studios. According to Masters, Paramount is very interested in working with him; so much so that the company's co-chair, Josh Greenstein, reportedly traveled to Prague to meet with the director. Per the report, Cregger told Greenstein he wanted to write and direct a project set in the DC Universe (according to Puck, the characters he's interested in are unclear), to which Greenstein said he would make it happen if possible.
Masters noted in her reporting: "As things now stand at Warner Bros., James Gunn and Peter Safran control who directs DC movies [...]. It sounds like change may be in the wind if, indeed, the Ellisons prevail."
In August, Puck reported Cregger's spec DC script was titled Henchmen, and centered around a "low-level henchman in the Gotham crime world who gains notoriety after managing to incapacitate Batman through a stroke of luck."
If accurate, this could be a significant development for DC Studios, since it appears to indicate its power structure would be subject to change if Paramount acquires Warner Bros. Discovery. Of course, it's important to note this is just speculation and is in no way a definitive development for the studio and its leads. The auction process is still ongoing, and as such, there is no set new owner for the company.
In October, Bloomberg reported that Paramount CEO David Ellison wanted to, "keep the creative teams of the two studios, while consolidating some of the marketing and distribution, according to people familiar with his plans," suggesting Gunn and Safran's positions were safe. Taking that into consideration, it could be that, should a merger between Paramount and WBD happen, the DC Studios co-CEOS will remain in their positions, but with more oversight from the new company owners.
During an interview with the YouTube channel BobaTalks in October, James Gunn appeared to address a potential change in DC Studios while discussing his plans for the DCU: "I I s-- Yes, [plot threads] definitely go significantly further than Man of Tomorrow. So, now, whether or not that'll be me that's able to fulfill that promise [laughs] depends on a lot of things in life, but yeah."
DC Studios' next film, Supergirl, is slated to release on June 26, 2026.