Warner Bros. was dead in a ditch for almost half a decade now. That is until David Zaslav came along. And this isn’t the first time that people have been changing their tune to the WBD CEO’s management style when it comes to the juggernaut studio. For a long while since Zaslav’s arrival, the flashing headlines all around the globe screamed at his scorched earth policy and criticized him for taking a wrecking ball to the core foundation of WB. But, with an iron-fisted rule and an immovable stance, the CEO began weeding away anything and everything that was not essential for WB’s survival in order to make the studio habitable for IPs that were.
10 months later, David Zaslav has managed to turn Warner Bros. around to the glory days of old. The crown has now been returned to the studio that once again finds its place among the top tiers of movie-making goliaths.
Also read: ‘Marvel is 7, 8, 9 times bigger, but we have Batman’: WB CEO David Zaslav Says MCU is Bigger But DC is a Better Money-Making Machine
Warner Bros. Finds a Way Back to the Top Tiers of Hollywood
Within a month of the April ’22 merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, David Zaslav rearranged the iconic lineup that comprised almost 70% of all the IPs housed under the banner of WB and its subsidiaries, including DC and Cartoon Network. Within 3 months, the leftover roster resembled a skeletal structure, barely standing up or even recognizable to its audience. Within 6 months, DC as a whole was dismantled. On November 1, 2022, James Gunn and Peter Safran assumed office at the newly minted DC Studios and got to work.
When the new year came knocking around the corner, the facelift that the CBM franchise and its parent company had received once again shocked its audience into awe and submission. Zaslav did have a plan all along, there was no doubt about it, but the myopic demands of the audience clouded the general public’s vision as to what lay ahead. As of February 2023, David Zaslav has not only dug out Warner Bros. from billions of dollars in debt but continues to revive franchises that were once truly and completely considered dead despite finding a stunning success rate among the fans.
David Zaslav Changes the Face of Warner Bros. Discovery
Once upon a time, Warner Bros. had been synonymous with a bulldozing powerhouse of creativity and success. The Noughties were dominated by the studio that managed to steer Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings into the light. All of a sudden, these IPs that were so stupefying in their favoritism among the audience, were abandoned in favor of lackluster projects. David Zaslav can’t seem to agree with such an approach.
His new policy, as reported to Variety in November 2022 and later by The Hollywood Reporter, seeks to invest in reviving the Harry Potter franchise, and a new Lord of the Rings movie is already in development at Warner Bros. With hope and optimism given tangible shape by Zaslav, one can only nod respectfully at the business acumen of the maestro whose creative direction was once questioned, and rightfully so, by the people back when he assumed charge at WB Discovery.
BREAKING: Since the Warner Bros. and Discovery merger, the company has paid off 7 billion in debt. pic.twitter.com/1o6Q5lL7dQ
— Home of DCU (@homeofdcu) February 23, 2023
You can say whatever you want about Zaslav, but now he is returning the WB Hollywood crown as it was in the 2000s.
Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Batman and now DC. It was so easy, finally there was a SMART leader
— Mr. Miracul (@MMiracul) February 23, 2023
I’m no business tycoon – so I’m gonna take a guess and say that’s mighty impressive?
— Mr-Furious (@JakeLew30297485) February 23, 2023
I remember how everyone used to troll him when he came in and started making changes. He came to the studio when it was beyond repairs due to the last regime and now look how he is managing the situation and taking every department in the right direction especially dc.
— Grayson (@Sweet82053580) February 23, 2023
Holy smokes…. You can’t say the leadership has no business acumen, even if a lot of questions remain about the company’s creative direction.
— Chris Lucas (@c_m_lucas) February 23, 2023
On the other hand, as favorable as the mass approach to Zaslav’s new vision may be, questions still linger regarding the doomed fate of the once-promising DC projects like Man of Steel 2 and Batgirl. The third act of Zaslav’s reign witnessed the massively protested slashing of both these stories and even though done for the right reasons, the fandom can’t help but hope that the films can someday find a way back to the audience, be it via streaming or by the blessings of WB itself.
Source: Home of DCU
