Rumor: Gunn Was Fired From DC Studios
Skydance was looking to get rid of both men for months.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-CEOs of DC Studios, would be stepping down from their positions starting this December. The official story is that Gunn and Safran chose to step down from their roles with the studio, but the scuttlebutt of the moment is that the duo was fired. The Hollywood Reporter alleges that incoming co-CEO of the burgeoning Skydance multimedia empire that now encompasses Warner Bros. had been internally discussing the removal of Gunn and Safran since earlier this fall. Part of the decision to move on was fueled by Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, the co-Chairs of film operations for both Paramount and Warner Bros,
Apparently, under the old arrangement with Warner Bros., Gunn and Safran reported directly to former Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav. There was minimal oversight for the work being done by Gunn and Safran, something that was not going to continue under Skydance. This resulted in friction between Gunn/Safran and Skydance, as the duo was not particularly forthcoming with their plans for the DCU, including details about the slate of projects underway, as well as providing things like recent footage. While that was already a point of conflict, there was another alleged contributing factor to this split, as well: money.
As we reported, the slate of projects from Gunn and Safran's DCU tenure has been largely a failure. Superman underperformed, Supergirl bombed, Clayface rebounded but was largely not even a blip in the pop culture zeitgeist, and TV projects like Peacemaker and Lanterns didn't garner enough views and were similarly irrelevant to the pop culture landscape. Throw in the fact that Gunn's plans for TV and movies have been and were likely to continue to be heavily influenced by his own quirky tastes and interests, it wasn't looking like things would be changing for the DCU any time soon.
With $110 billion invested in the acquisition of Warner Bros., the DC pantheon of IPs was doubtlessly being eyed as a means of not only growing Skydance's impact in theaters, but also a return to prominence for things like toys, clothing, and other merchandise. it isn't easy to plan lunchboxes around franchises with cocaine-fueled orgies, and so it would seem that the difference between Gunn/Safran's vision for the DCU was simply not going to be compatible with Skydance's. Factor in allegations that tens of millions was being wasted on so-called luxury spending inside of DC Studios, and this was all a recipe for disaster.
Again, this is all rumor, but if we learn more, we'll share it with all of you.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter + Variety
