A merger means a lot of things. Among the most upsetting is layoffs, and while the Paramount and Warner Bros. merger has reportedly begun to hit some pretty high-level film executives, two who are safe are James Gunn and Peter Safran. Deadline reports they will continue to run DC Studios once the two companies become one, named Skydance, in the coming days.
Gunn has yet to comment on the deal, but he did repost the video company owner David Ellison posted on Friday morning about the merger, which certainly makes it seem as if he’s on board.
The news comes after reports that Gunn’s Warner Bros. film division counterparts, Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, are expected to be replaced by the heads of Paramount’s film division, Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, who’ll run the output for both studios.
Focusing on Gunn and Safran, though, some speculated that after the disappointing reaction to Supergirl, the pair could be on the chopping block. However, Lanterns has been a huge hit for HBO and HBO Max, the moderately budgeted horror film Clayface is on the way with high expectations, and Gunn is working on his next film, Man of Tomorrow, which will not only bring back the stars of his 2025 hit, Superman, but other characters from the DC Universe as well. Things are just getting started for the DC Universe, even though it feels like it’s been cooking for a long time.
Gunn and Safran also have several other projects in the works. Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II is currently filming. Work continues on the hybrid animation project, Dynamic Duo, and the new Superman spinoff show, The People v. Gorilla Grodd, is also in production. All that, in addition to multiple projects in various stages of development, sure makes it seem as if Gunn and Safran are safe for a little bit at least. As long as the projects turn out as well as we hope, of course.
We’ll have more on the geeky fallout of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger as it develops. But, for now, are you happy that Gunn and Safran are safe?
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