The Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery was never going to be bloodless. In its aftermath, co-CEO’s of DC Studios James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as co-CEOs of DC studios. In their place comes former Marvel exec Jeremy Latcham to step in as president and chief creative officer.
Gunn and Safran are stepping down from their leadership roles effect Dec. 1, four years after taking over the job. They had released three films during their tenure, (Superman, Supergirl and Clayface), and three live-action TV shows (The Penguin, Peacemaker season 2 and Lanterns). They had a road map that extended out to cover the next ten years. Gunn expressed his frustration with being an exec for the studio. In an Instagram post, he acknowledged that being an exec was “trying, to say the least.” He added: “I dislike the at-times corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that.”)
The duo are still working for the studio. They’re just not going to be in charge of it now. Gunn has Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow in post-production for release next year, with the TV spinoff The People v. Gorilla Grodd also in post production. Gunn and Safran will also stay on as producers on The Batman: Part II as well. The plan is for them to both return full time to their creative work, which is frankly what they were best at anyway. Gunn rose to fame as the blockbuster filmmaker behind Guardians of the Galaxy, while Safran is a prolific producer on numerous DC and horror titles.
“James and Peter launched a new era for DC Studios and led it through a period of real transformation, resetting the foundation and building a slate we’re incredibly proud of,” Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said jointly in a statement. “We’re grateful for their passion, contributions and commitment to this legendary brand.”
Regarding Latcham, the duo stated, “Jeremy has been a longtime creative partner to both, and we have complete confidence that James and Peter will ensure a smooth, collaborative transition and continue this work with care. We look forward to working with Jeremy to build the next generation of DC storytelling and to doubling down on our commitment to fans.”
Latcham returns to his executive roots with the role. He was one of the earliest employees of Marvel Studios, joining the company in 2004, and ultimately rose to senior VP of production and development. As a protégé, and then right hand man for Marvel head Kevin Fiege, he worked on Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Spider-Man: Homecoming. He also worked with Gunn on Guardians, the 2014 movie that made the filmmaker an A-list director, so this isn’t as adversarial as it might have sounded at first blush.
Skydance says Latcham will lead DC’s film, television and animation slate, overseeing the creative pipeline, along with production, talent and strategy. He will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group.
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