The news broke yesterday that Netflix is moving forward with an attempted acquisition of Warner Bros. (we say "attempted" because meeting regulatory approval will be no easy feat, especially with President Donald Trump backing Paramount).
Warner Bros. Discovery stands to gain either way, because if the deal doesn't go through for any reason, Netflix will have to pay the company over $5 billion.
Should the streaming service successfully acquire Warner Bros., it will add Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO, HBO Max, DC Comics, DC Studios, and more to its portfolio. Over the past 24 hours, fans have had many questions about what this potential deal could mean for James Gunn and Peter Safran.
It's already been confirmed that the DC Studios co-CEOs are under contract until 2027—we'll have more on that for you later today—but it's unlikely this deal will be completed before then. With that in mind, it doesn't necessarily mean Gunn and Safran are 100% secure.
Well, John Campea has shared an update, claiming to have heard that Netflix intends to keep Gunn, Michael De Luca, and Pamela Abdy in their current roles within DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures. He's under the assumption that Safran will remain, but hasn't been able to confirm that.
It seems a little premature to assume or even report that anyone will stick around because we won't know what Netflix really has planned for Warner Bros. until the deal is signed, sealed, and delivered. However, if DC Studios continues finding success in the coming years, there's really no reason for Netflix to ditch Gunn and Safran.
They may, however, find themselves dealing with a little more oversight. As of now, it seems David Zaslav is happy to let them pick the filmmakers and projects they want to work with. However, if someone Netflix has a close relationship with says they would like to tell a story in the DCU, DC Studios will likely have no choice but to relent and make it happen.
Offering a hint at what might be to come a few years from now, a resurfaced interview from April with Netflix boss Ted Sarandos saw him share a scathing assessment of the current theatrical model.
"What does that say? What is the consumer trying to tell us?" he said of the struggling box office. "That they’d like to watch movies at home, thank you. The studios and the theaters are duking it out over trying to preserve this 45-day window that is completely out of step with the consumer experience of just loving a movie."
"I think it is [an outmoded idea] — for most people, not for everybody. If you’re fortunate to live enough in Manhattan, and you can walk to a multiplex and see a movie, that’s fantastic. Most of the country cannot," the executive added.
Stay tuned for updates as we have them.