Amid Speculation About James Gunn’s Future as DC Studios Co-CEO, Paramount Is Reportedly Keen to Keep Creative Teams Intact Should It Buy Warner Bros.
The boss of Paramount Skydance reportedly wants to keep the creative teams of both it and Warner Bros. intact, should it end up buying the gargantuan media company.
Last week, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed it was officially considering buyout offers amid reported interest from Paramount Skydance. Meanwhile, there has been speculation that DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn, and architect of the rebooted DC Universe, may leave his position as a result of the merger.
Bloomberg has now reported that David Ellison, CEO and controlling shareholder of Paramount, plans to keep the creative teams of the two studios intact, while consolidating some of the marketing and distribution. There is no mention of Gunn in the report, but fans are assuming his job would be safe given he is considered part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s creative team. Gunn is yet to respond to the report on social media.
Interestingly, Bloomberg also reports that should the merger go through, Ellison plans to combine Warner Bros.’ HBO Max with Paramount+, creating a single streaming platform with an expanded film and TV library. Bloomberg also reported that Ellison aims to leverage emerging technologies and AI to ramp up production to 30 films annually across the combined entities. He also reportedly believes in theatrical releases as the best way to build long-term franchises.
Gunn is currently working on the script for 2027 movie Man of Tomorrow, following the release of DCU kickstarter Superman in July. Peacemaker Season 2 continued the fledgling new universe, with Supergirl and Clayface set to launch next year. There’s also a Lanterns TV show in the works for HBO Max.
Speaking recently on the BobaTalks YouTube channel, Gunn was asked if the plot developments in Superman and Peacemaker would go beyond The Man of Tomorrow. Replying, he confirmed they go “significantly further,” before adding: “whether or not that’ll be me that’s able to fulfill that promise depends on a lot of things in life.”
Whatever the future holds for Gunn and the DCU, he has ruled out building towards Darkseid as the “big bad.”
In a joint interview with a number of YouTube channels that focus on Easter egg breakdowns of superhero franchises, Gunn said that because director Zack Snyder had intended — and even briefly featured — Darkseid as the DCEU’s overarching enemy, and because of the character’s similarity to Marvel’s Thanos, his DCU was looking elsewhere.
Photo by Wagner Meier/Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
