Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav Positions Merged Company As Fifth Broadcast Network, Skips Any Talk Of Streaming – Upfronts

Toby Emmerich’s exit as chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures group, and the ascension of former MGM film leaders Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, are just the latest instances of upheaval in what is already shaping up to be a tempestuous new era at the studio behind Harry Potter and Batman.Emmerich’s ouster has been gossiped about for years, dating back well before the company was sold to Discovery. Still, his decision to leave for a production deal stunned executives on the studio’s Burbank lot, many of whom had worked with Emmerich for decades.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav on Wednesday dropped his memo to staff about Toby Emmerich stepping down as Chairman of the Motion Picture Group and the three new studio divisions being put in place. It’s a slightly similar structure to the way Disney handles its franchise brands, with the hope that DC will have its own Kevin Feige maestro to exploit IP across all mediums.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterWarner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has finally committed to paper a new strategy for the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.In a Wednesday memo to his staff obtained by Variety, Zaslav told studio employees that he will create “three distinct film segments around Warner Bros.

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.

Toby Emmerich is out as the head of Warner Bros. motion picture studio. Replacing him are Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who recently exited the helm of MGM. This had been rumored since before they exited that studio (they’ll stay into the summer until their contracts expire). This is part of Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s grand plan to split Warner Bros into multiple labels, with Warner Bros proper/New Line, DC Entertainment and Animation.

Winner: Neon. The indie distributor has a special touch with Palme d’Or winners. Following 2019’s “Parasite” and 2021’s “Titane,” Neon landed North American rights to this year’s big Cannes champ: Ruben Östlund’s comedy “Triangle of Sadness,” which stars Woody Harrelson as a rabid Marxist who is the captain of a cruise for the super-rich.

The audience at the Cannes Film Festival was trembling for Austin Butler as the King in Baz Luhrmann’s world premiere of "Elvis." The film received an uproarious 12-minute standing ovation, the longest of this year’s festival so far. As the cheers went on and on, a teary-eyed Butler hugged an equally-emotional Priscilla Presley, who flew to the South of France to give her blessing for the movie about her late husband. The Warner Bros.

Cannes Film Festival was trembling for Austin Butler as the King in Baz Luhrmann’s world premiere of “Elvis.”The film received an uproarious 12-minute standing ovation, the longest of this year’s festival so far.As the the cheers went on and on, a teary-eyed Butler hugged an equally-emotional Priscilla Presley, who flew to the South of France to give her blessing for the movie about her late husband.The Warner Bros. musical drama had Cannes spontaneously erupting into applause as Butler recreated some of Presley’s greatest hits including “Jailhouse Rock,” “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Suspicious Minds.”“Elvis” is one of the biggest titles to screen at Cannes, with a star-studded carpet that included Sharon Stone, Shakira, Kylie Minogue, Diplo and Jeremy O. Harris.

J.J. Abrams’ ambitious HBO sci-fi drama series Demimonde has hit a major roadblock in its long journey to the screen. The issues, related to the show’s price, come amid talk of a potential reevaluation of the massive deal J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot has at Warner Bros. for film, TV, gaming and digital content as the new Warner Bros. Discovery is scrutinizing every aspect of the assets they took over.

KJ Apa and Isabel May will NOT be starring as The Wonder Twins after all.

HBO Max has scrapped its plans for a live-action Wonder Twins film, based on the DC characters of the same name, Deadline can confirm.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorBob Iger, Disney’s former CEO and chairman, is now a part-owner of Gopuff, a company that provides quick-delivery services in 1,200 cities worldwide that counts Selena Gomez among its investors.The amount of Iger’s investment in Gopuff wasn’t disclosed. He will become an adviser to the company’s co-founders and co-CEOs Yakir Gola and Rafael Ilishayev and the rest of the executive team to “help deepen Gopuff’s consumer engagement and growth globally,” according to a statement.Gopuff, founded in 2013, says it has raised $4 billion to date — and has a $15 billion valuation.

Speaking at the Warner Bros Discovery upfront, new CNN boss Chris Licht delivered his most expansive public comments since taking over from Jeff Zucker, promising a morning show “disruptor” and a challenge to cable news norms.

Jennifer Hudson, host of the forthcoming eponymous Warner Bros. Unscripted TV daytime talk show kicked things off at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Upfront with some help from Discovery and CNN stars.

Unlike the upfronts themselves, Jimmy Kimmel was not back on-stage live in NYC today for the first time since 2019. Having tested positive for Covid-19 again, the late-night host had to change plans and appear virtually to take a flamethrower to some of Disney’s executives, streaming dreams, and offerings old and new.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeAttendees at the Disney upfront could have played a drinking game by taking a sip everytime someone referred to the company as “unrivaled.” The message to advertisers: You’ve heard from other congloms this week, but no company offers such a wide range of storytelling options than the Walt Disney Co.’s suite of offerings.After an embattled several months atop the helm, Disney CEO Bob Chapek didn’t address any of the recent arrows pointed at him and the company, instead opening the presentation by calling the Walt Disney Company “the most powerful force in the industry” and noting how he started his career in advertising.“Now, as many of you know, Disney will be celebrating our 100th anniversary later this year and that is an incredible milestone,” he said. “I can’t help but think about this moment in the context of what this company has always been, what it is today, and what it will be.

The American Cinematheque has announced David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, is the newest addition to the group’s board of directors.Zaslav spearheaded the recent transaction between AT&T and Discovery, Inc.

David Zaslav, the CEO of the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery, has been added to The American Cinematheque board of directors, the organization announced on Monday.“We are so pleased to have David join the Board of Directors. He brings a strategic perspective that will add to the growth of our film programming and especially with the AC’s expansion into educational initiatives and archive content development,” said American Cinematheque Chairman Rick Nicita.Zaslav leads the global media entertainment company Warner Bros.

Emerging from the long shadow of Covid, we are headed into what traditionally has been known as broadcast upfront week, a ritual dating back to the three-network days and centered on the annual fall release of new car models. The moniker is less apt than ever this year, with the CW as the only broadcast network doing a standalone event; the others all are part of corporate portfolio presentations. Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav, the architect of the Discovery-WarnerMedia $43 billion merger, is expected to take the stage and make the case for the combined entity. One more recently merged entity, TelevisaUnivision, will make its upfront debut. Additionally, a newfronter, YouTube, has elbowed its way in with a breakfast and its Brandcast extravaganza.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentJohannes Larcher and Luis Duran, respectively HBO Max’s general managers of international and Latin America, are set to exit the streamer as part of the ongoing shakeup at Warner Bros. Discovery, Variety has confirmed.The two top HBO Max execs are the latest layoffs to surface as a new leadership team is being put in place at the merged behemoth by JB Perrette previously Discovery’s president and CEO of streaming and international and now appointed CEO and president of Warner Bros.