Key Takeaways
- James Gunn and Peter Safran will continue running DC Studios after meeting with incoming Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison on Thursday, with a source saying they were told to "keep doing what you're doing."
- The combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery company becomes Skydance on Oct. 6, moving to the NYSE under ticker "SKYD," with David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz leading it while other executives like Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy exit.
- Gunn and Safran's upcoming slate runs from Clayface on Oct. 23 through Man of Tomorrow in July 2027 and The Batman Part II in February 2028.
James Gunn and Peter Safran are expected to remain at DC Studios once the Paramount and Warner Bros. merger finalizes.
The co-heads of the Warner Bros.-owned label will continue running DC's film, TV, and comic book hub once Paramount closes its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The pair reportedly recently sat down in person with incoming chairman and CEO David Ellison, and the conversation went well.
One source briefed on the meeting summed up the message the two executives received. "Keep doing what you're doing," the source told The Hollywood Reporter.
The combined company arrives Oct. 6 under the name Skydance, with its stock shifting from Nasdaq to the NYSE and its ticker changing to "SKYD." Ellison will run it alongside co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, the former Mattel chief, who starts Oct. 5.
Elsewhere on the lot, the shakeup is real. Paramount Pictures co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein are in line to oversee every film unit in the merged company, while Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are exiting.
So far, Gunn’s had a varying level of success with DC’s superheroes. His Superman cleared $618 million worldwide last year, Warner Bros.' second-biggest release of the year, but this summer's Supergirl took in a disappointing $126.5 million globally.
Gunn and Safran were installed in Nov. 2022 as part of then-WBD CEO David Zaslav's push to build a Disney-style label hub, Safran coming off The Conjuring, Shazam, and Aquaman, Gunn off The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. They now hold a slate that runs from Clayface on Oct. 23 to Man of Tomorrow on July 9, 2027, and Matt Reeves' The Batman Part II on Feb. 18, 2028.
