There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding a potential Warner Bros.-Paramount merger, but one part of the company that looks set to stay the same is the leadership at Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Studios.
Would Paramount keep James Gunn and Peter Safran as heads of DC Studios if they bought Warner Bros.?
A recent report from Bloomberg detailed that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison “wants to keep the creative teams of the two studios” intact. YouTuber John Campea has since backed up the report, confirming that James Gunn and Peter Safran would be kept on as co-heads of DC Studios.
“I know a couple people over at Paramount, into which I wrote—and I quoted this article out of Bloomberg. I said, ‘Ellison plans on keeping the creative teams in place—And I specifically and directly asked, ‘Does that include [WB Motion Picture co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy], and does that include James Gunn and Peter Safran?’ To which they gave me a simple response: ‘Yes,'” revealed Campea on the latest episode of The John Campea Show (via ComicBookMovie).
It remains to be seen whether Paramount will actually be successful in acquiring Warner Bros., given that the latter recently rejected a third offer from the company. However, it makes sense that Ellison wouldn’t want to make any major leadership changes with Warner Bros.’ film division, as the studio has been blowing up the box office this year with multiple No. 1 movies.
Warner Bros. became the first studio in history to have seven films in a row earn $40 million+ in their debut weekends. This run included A Minecraft Movie ($162.8 million), Sinners ($48 million). Final Destination Bloodlines ($51.6 million), F1 ($57 million), Superman ($125 million), Weapons ($43.5 million), and The Conjuring: Last Rites ($84 million). This commercial success led Warner Bros. to become the first studio to cross $4 billion at the global box office this year.
Up next for DC Studios on the film front is Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock. Inspired by Tom King’s 2022 comic book series Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the movie follows a 21-year-old Kara Zor-El as she travels across the galaxy with Krypto, during which she meets a young girl named Ruthye and goes on a murderous quest for revenge.
Supergirl will be released in theaters on June 26, 2026.
(Source: Bloomberg, John Campea)
