Warner Bros. shakes up studio leadership amid film underperformance
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The Warner Bros. film studio has shaken up its senior ranks after several movie misses last year, which has put pressure on the film team to increase its performance and profitability.
Veteran marketing chief Josh Goldstine and international film distribution head Andrew Cripps announced their exits internally Wednesday morning. Neither of the executives was responsible for selecting the movie slate, picking cast members or film production.
The move comes as Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav takes an increased interest in the studio¡¯s operations. The company is burdened with nearly $40 billion in debt, a vestige of Discovery¡¯s takeover of WarnerMedia from AT&T nearly three years ago. Since then, the company has restructured and cut thousands of jobs.
Zaslav and other top executives have signaled to Wall Street that the Burbank film unit is key to the company¡¯s success and shoring up its financial foundation in turbulent times.
Cinematic box office started slow in 2024, but picked up speed in summer and blossomed in fall. But with revenues still down compared with pre-pandemic times, what¡¯s to come?
¡°As the theatrical film business continues to evolve, we remain focused on the growth of WBD¡¯s movie business,¡± Warner Bros. film studio chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy wrote in an internal memo Wednesday that explained the moves.
¡°In building for the future, we have made the decision to realign our business unit with a singular global operation at its center to offer greater alignment for all our team members in the years ahead,¡± De Luca and Abdy wrote.
Warner Bros. produced only two of the Top 10 movies last year.
Two highly anticipated films ¡ª the musical ¡°Joker: Folie a Deux¡± as well as ¡°Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga¡± ¡ª underperformed.
¡°Dune: Part Two,¡± performed best, ranking fifth in global ticket sales, with $714 million at the box office. ¡°Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire¡± landed in seventh place, with $571 million.
Once again, Walt Disney Studios and Universal Pictures led the pack. Disney¡¯s ¡°Inside Out 2¡± was last year¡¯s box office champion, with more than $1.7 billion in ticket sales.
Gone are the days where prospective moviegoers would roll up to the theaters and gawk at the board for their next watch. Theaters are trying to make up that business in other ways.
The veteran Cripps joined the studio more than five years ago and served as its president of international distribution.
¡°I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here, through the ravages of Covid and the seismic changes that the industry has seen but it is the people and the international team that has really made my time here so special,¡± Cripps wrote in his note to the staff.
Goldstine, who proved his marketing chops while as executive at Universal Pictures, became a consultant at Warner Bros. during the pandemic and went on to serve in the executive role.
¡°For the last several years, I have had the great privilege to work alongside a team whom I deeply admire and who brought their very best to every campaign across every imaginable genre of movie,¡± Goldstine wrote in his memo. ¡°From Barbie to Beetlejuice, to Dune and Wonka, your work has been nothing short of inspiring and I cannot thank you enough for your contributions to the many successes we have shared together.¡±
Jeff Goldstein will now oversee all theatrical distribution.
¡°They can¡¯t go on like this,¡± Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich said, referring to the lagging stock and string of missteps by Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav.
Dana Nussbaum and Christian Davin ¡°will be stepping in on an interim basis to oversee the global marketing team,¡± Abdy and De Luca wrote in their joint memo.
¡°Each has spent many years with the studio, bringing much experience and insight to their roles. Additionally, John Stanford, who currently serves as EVP of Creative Advertising, will serve as the interim head of theatrical creative advertising on behalf of the studio¡¯s upcoming releases,¡± Abdy and De Luca wrote.
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