All this news comes at a time when Emmerich and Zaslav traveled together to Cannes and sat side by side at the world premiere of Baz Luhrmann`s Elvis, which this year received the longest standing ovation of the festival at 10 minutes. Deadline spoke briefly with Zaslav at the premiere on the Croisette and was delighted with Elvis` welcome and excited about Lurhmann. It was recently reported in the Wall Street Journal that Zaslav Warner was raking Bros-Messing on coals over his spending on the 2021 list (which went day and date on HBO Max), especially Clint Eastwood and his Cry Macho, the Oscar-winning filmmaker known for being frugal and delivering his final cuts on time. We assume that Emmerich never attended such meetings when Zaslav ran out of budgets. This will be an interesting adjustment for Zaslav, whose experience lies in tax-advantaged unscripted tariffs. It took years of care and feeding for Elvis to guide him through a pandemic in which his star Tom Hanks was the first major celebrity to catch Covid. Filmmakers like Clint Eastwood (who delivered the surprise blockbuster American Sniper a few years ago) have traditionally been the cornerstone of Warner Bros. Even at 92, Eastwood runs as if parked twice, and besides, has never been known as a prodigal giver, so this story, if true, hardly flatters Zaslav. During the couple`s tenure, MGM released blockbuster films such as the Oscar-nominated “House of Gucci,” the Oscar-nominated film “Licorice Pizza,” and the Oscar-winning James Bond franchise “No Time To Die.” During his 30-year career in the film industry, De Luca has been responsible for an impressive portfolio of films including: “Reminiscence,” “Captain Phillips,” “Moneyball,” “The Social Network,” “Boogie Nights,” “Blade,” and “The Mask.” He also produced the $1.3 billion “Fifty Shades of Grey” franchise. He has served as President of Production at New Line Cinema and DreamWorks. Even though Kilar was deceived about the decision to put the slate on HBO Max after Top Gun: Maverick, you can`t help but wonder how some of the movies on the WB list like Dune would have fared if the studio had shown a little more patience. These box office receipts are cold money, unlike the volatile streaming figures that Wall Street has disputed with the sharp decline in Netflix shares.
There were rumors that former Warner Bros. and then Disney executive Alan Horn might be a consultant in the new setup, and he would have a good influence on Zaslav. His return to Warner Bros., after the studio unceremoniously and foolishly fired him years ago, would be as compelling a narrative as De Luca`s. Premium access for companies and educational institutions. We support payments by credit card, debit card and PayPal. Cosby Show`s Geoffrey Owens is `beyond proud` of Son Jordyn`s acting debut in Netflix`s Uncoupled People Industry Industry Industry veterans and former MGM executives Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy have been named co-presidents and CEOs of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which currently includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC-based Film Production and Warner Bros. Feature Animation. Emmerich took the helm of Warner Bros. after leading New Line as president and chief operating officer in December 2016.
Greg Silverman later stepped down as president of creative development and global production, and Emmerich became president and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Pictures Group. “Michael and Pam are extremely talented creative leaders with a proven track record. We are thrilled to welcome them both to our Warner Bros. Discovery family and look forward to seeing them take this nearly century-old iconic studio to even higher heights of cinematic excellence,” said David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO. UPDATE with more details, confirmation by studio: Toby Emmerich has retired as head of Warner Bros. film studio. He is replaced by Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who recently stepped down as MGM executives. This was said even before they left the studio (they will stay until their contracts expire in the summer). It`s part of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav`s grand plan to split Warner Bros.
into multiple labels, along with Warner Bros./New Line, DC Entertainment and Warner Animation. Under Emmerich`s leadership, Warner Bros. Pictures Group had its most successful year in 2018 with a global box office of $5.57 billion. This success has been fueled by a diverse series of blockbuster films, including “Aquaman” – the most successful DC superhero movie of all time and Warner Bros. the second greatest title of all time, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”, “Ready Player One”, “The Meg”, “Rampage”, “A Star is Born”, “The Nun” and “Crazy Rich Asians”. In 2019, the studio released the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, DC`s “Joker,” which grossed $1.08 billion at the global box office and won two Oscars, as well as the hit horror sequel “IT Chapter Two.” Emmerich will remain at the helm until the summer, when De Luca and Abdy will step aboard, and they will run DC on a short-term basis with animation until Zaslav does his shots. MGM, which loses De Luca and Abdy, is aggressively seeking new leadership to remain a theatrical content generator. Deadline learns that former Fox director Emma Watts is the most frequently mentioned candidate for a plum job.
De Luca has always appreciated filmmakers, and it will be interesting to see how patient Zaslav will be. One of the highlights of From Lucas to New Line was Seven, a film that was terribly tested but turned out to be a landmark New Line blockbuster. They don`t rush David Finchers and Paul Thomas Anderson, and Warner Bros. discovered how fragile those relationships can be when Jason Kilar put the entire 2021 list on HBO Max to build subscribers. Although he didn`t have a movie on that slate, Nolan was furious. Nolan, whose Warner Bros. blockbusters included The Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception, did not invite Warner Bros. to bid on his upcoming Oppenheimer film, which Universal won to win, hoping it would be Nolan`s new home.
