Los Angeles: In a major leadership shake-up, James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down from their positions as co-CEOs of DC Studios. According to Variety, the duo will be replaced by Jeremy Latcham, who will take over as President and Chief Creative Officer.
Gunn and Safran were appointed to lead DC Studios in 2022 by former Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, with the mandate to build a strong rival to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Under their leadership, the duo rebooted the struggling DC Universe with last summer’s “Superman”, which achieved relative success with USD 618 million in global collections. However, they faced a setback with July’s “Supergirl”, which emerged as a major box-office failure, earning USD 126 million against a budget of USD 170 million. “Clayface”, a darker, R-rated body-horror thriller, performed modestly this fall, collecting USD 109 million against a budget of USD 44 million.
Meanwhile, they expanded the comic book franchise into streaming with shows such as “Peacemaker” and “Lanterns” for HBO Max.
The departure of Gunn and Safran comes as a surprise, particularly as both executives were included in David Ellison’s leadership team at the newly rebranded Skydance following the completion of Paramount’s USD 111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery in October.
After spending four years leading DC Studios and overseeing a major overhaul of its comic book division, which delivered mixed box-office results, the duo are now expected to shift their focus back to creative projects full-time.
Following the announcement, Gunn addressed the major leadership change in a social media post, reflecting on his journey with DC Studios and his time leading the franchise.
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“Oh, boy. What a four years,” Gunn’s post begins. “Thanks to all of you who have supported me and Peter in our time as the heads of DC Studios. When I was a kid growing up in Manchester, Missouri, I used to write and draw my own comics with a mix of DC Comics characters and my own characters. Having full access to these characters to do whatever we wanted has been a dream come true. I didn’t know if I wanted this job when it was offered to me, but I just couldn’t pass up the unique opportunity. I’m glad I took the job,” he wrote.
“There have been so many highs along the way – releasing Superman and Clayface, making Peacemaker, reading the scripts to The People Vs, the entire process of Man of Tomorrow, which thus far has been the best filmmaking experience of my life, and numerous other moments. The highest of the highs have been all the talented and wonderful people I’ve worked with and grown to love: the DC Studios crew, our talented collaborators, our casts and crews, and the boisterous and hilarious fans. And the best part of all has been working with Peter Safran, the smartest and most competent person I know. You’ve been the best partner a person could ask for, and, more so, a truly good friend,” Gunn added.
“But what only the closest people to me have known over the past four years is my time at DC Studios has been trying, to say the least. I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that). I’m always a very hard worker, but as a filmmaker I would at least get to take short breaks to unwind, and I’ve stolen even that time from both myself and my loved ones over the past four years (Jenn, I love you and I’m sorry and you don’t need to feel guilty for being the happiest of all people that I’m no longer doing this job). And the thing my ADHD hyperfocus has had the most difficulty with has been dividing my time between projects I’m incredibly passionate about and the ones I’m not so much and all the things I have to do as a studio head,” he further said.
Gunn and Safran are reportedly set to officially step down from their leadership positions at DC Studios, effective December 1.
