While most people are still trying to process the shocking news that James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as Co-CEOs and Chairman of DC Studios, others have started digging into one of this year’s most significant leadership shifts in the entertainment industry.
A Looming Slate Erasure
According to a new report from Puck, plans are already in motion to dismantle much of what Gunn and Safran have plotted beyond next summer’s release of Man of Tomorrow, The Batman: Part II, and an in-the-works HBO series.
This would mark the third reset for DC, if true. It would destabilize any groundwork Gunn and Safran have laid for the company’s future, while also sowing doubt among fans who, more than anything, want DC to have a cohesive cinematic universe for once.
Backing Up the Garbage Truck
Wait! How did we get here? Let’s switch gears and back this garbage truck up, shall we?
While the duo is putting on the guise of a graceful exit, some suspect there’s more at play regarding when they received news that Skydance was resetting the board. In addition to being pleased with Clayface’s $100M+ earnings against a $44M budget and putting the finishing touches on Man of Tomorrow, word has it that a third Superman film was in development as part of a trilogy leading toward a Justice League team-up.
Friday Night Plot Twist
Then came Friday, Nov. 6, when Skydance co-CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz strolled right into Gunn and Safran’s offices on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. But this wasn’t a standard check-in. According to sources, the DC top brass were hit with an unexpected plot twist: despite endless prior promises that they’d have a major hand in running the new Skydance mega-studio, Ellison and Kreiz had pulled a total 180 on their plans.
Enter Marvel Alum Jeremy Latcham
With the old regime sidelined, Skydance didn’t waste time naming a replacement. Stepping into the lofty position is former Marvel executive Jeremy Latcham. Outside of Marvel, Latcham helped make projects like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and a Wright Brothers feature called Flyer. He’s also worked with Wonder Project on the Biblical drama House of David. Latcham is also known for being vocal about his Christian faith and his desire to create uplifting projects.
Contracts, Chafing, and Boardroom Battles
According to inside sources, the real friction came down to classic studio politics, specifically a clash between DC’s Gunn and Safran and Skydance executives Jesse Greenstein and Dana Goldberg.
Back before Skydance came knocking, Gunn and Safran enjoyed a direct line to Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, an explicit reporting arrangement protected in their contracts, even if top leadership changed hands to someone like Ellison. Enter Greenstein and Goldberg, whose whole mission was to lock down every drop of film production under their own umbrella; naturally, that created immediate chafing with the DC duo, who were already used to calling every single shot on their own slate.
Meanwhile, another insider says Gunn and Safran were reluctant to share plans, slate details, and footage with Skydance’s movie heads. When all was said and done, Skydance hired someone they knew would play ball.
An M80 in an Echo Chamber
Obviously, there’s so much more to this than we think. The wound is still fresh, and I’m positive that more details will come out with time. Another angle on the switch is that Gunn and Safran’s movies weren’t earning enough to satisfy executives, even with Superman grossing $618 million worldwide. Superman was supposed to be one of the year’s most significant cinematic events. Instead, it was just another movie, complete with exhausting online discourse, armchair analysis, and a lack of enthusiasm for whatever comes next.
DC needed a pop-culture explosion with Superman; what they got was an M80 going off in an echo chamber.
For now, Gunn’s future at DC Studios feels uncertain. He intends to make another Superman movie at the studio, but that could all fall apart at the drop of a hat. Instead, we could see significant changes for the studio, with Latcham opting for more family-friendly adventures that appeal to specific audiences. Personally, I’m waiting for the smoke to clear before I wrap my head around this shakeup. There are lots of rumors flying around about allegiances, interests, and putting money ahead of what’s genuinely entertaining. For now, all we can do is roll with the punches and hope for the best.
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