As has been covered quite a bit over the recent months, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has been hard at work, since the acquisition closed, cleaning house and restructuring the film side of the major Hollywood studio. We already knew that Zaslav was hoping that a large part of the restructure would involve DC Films and how WBD’s superhero franchises move forward at the studio. But what is fairly shocking is who Zaslav has been in contact with about helping change the future of DC Films— none other than Todd Phillips.
According to a new report from THR, David Zaslav has been building quite the friendship and rapport with “Joker” filmmaker Todd Phillips. The two are getting along so well that the WBD CEO has reportedly talked to Phillips about taking an “advisor” role within DC Films to help spearhead the direction of the superhero franchises. Apparently, this doesn’t include a special executive job title for Phillips, but this advisor role sort of fits the narrative that was going around recently that Zaslav was looking for a voice to help lead the DC Films creative future, which has notoriously been without a singular vision for years.
Phillips might not be the craziest choice ever, as the filmmaker is responsible for writing and directing “Joker,” an Oscar-winning, billion-dollar box office hit for Warner Bros. just several years ago. The THR report does clarify that there is one thing holding Phillips back from really embracing the advisor role— his lack of overall DC superhero knowledge. Basically, he’s got the filmmaking and storytelling credentials, but he is lacking the encyclopedic superhero knowledge that someone such as Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige seemingly has.
Does this mean all future DC Films features will suddenly be R-rated, uber-dark stories? Obviously not. But it’s clear that Zaslav is ready to really shake things up and try to find that creative voice to help shape DC Films over the next several years, as the CEO aims to truly create a Marvel Studios-esque filmmaking giant. And if you’re keeping score at home, Walter Hamada, who has been the source of controversy as the head of DC Films is staying put, for now.
In addition to the Phillips news, there are more new changes coming to Warner Bros. Discovery. Namely, WB/New Line boss, Toby Emmerich, is leaving his position at WBD and will likely be replaced by the duo of former MGM execs, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy. De Luca and Abdy are currently finishing up their tenure at MGM, which came to a close after Amazon purchased the studio.
All of these changes, per the report, come as Zaslav attempts to create a Disney-like structure at WBD. THR claims that Zaslav has been in touch with former Disney executive Alan Horn and has picked his brain about how to mimic the Disney studio structure. It’s unclear what future changes will take place, but clearly, Zaslav is not afraid to mix things up.