Paramount has revealed its plans for the future of DC Studios following its planned acquisition of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. The Warner Bros. Discovery bids have been the talk of Hollywood over the past few months, as both Netflix and Paramount vie for control of the legacy studio. The most recent bid saw Netflix retreat and Paramount emerge as the winner, meaning that WBD and its subsidiaries, including James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Studios, are set to be acquired.
With any talk of a merger like this one, the question inevitably is what will change when the new buyers get their hands on the goods. When Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, it came with layoffs, restructures, and the cancellation of many projects in development (including a few from Marvel). Concerns are rife that the same could happen with Paramount and WBD, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Bloomberg reported last October that Paramount reportedly plans to keep as much of Warner Bros. Discovery intact as possible when the merger takes place. The outlet's sources said that Paramount CEO David Ellison wants to keep the creative teams as they are at both studios but will look to consolidate some of the marketing and distribution teams.
This essentially means that Paramount plans for both WBD and Paramount Pictures to continue to exist independently, at least as far as the creative goes. This is good news for subsidiaries like DC Studios, in particular for James Gunn and Peter Safran, who were only appointed as co-CEOs in 2022 and have only just begun their efforts to relaunch the DCU.
Paramount's winning offer comes after a competitive bidding with Netflix, which initially saw WBD accept Netflix's proposal, which could have put the likes of Superman, Harry Potter, and HBO under its roof. However, one concern about the future of the studio and its franchises under Netflix was the streamer's opposition to theatrical release windows. This will be alleviated with Paramount's winning bid, as the studio already adheres to the traditional theatrical model.
Still, it raises new concerns, particularly as Paramount is already a functioning studio with its own teams and mandates.
There was speculation that a merger of this scale would conflate the staff of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery to cut costs and conserve resources, potentially resulting in a major restructuring. Paramount only recently went through this when it merged with Ellison's Skydance Media. However, more of this, at least on the creative side, does not appear to be part of Ellison's plan, meaning much of WBD and DC Studios seems safe as is (assuming the merger is even approved).
Still, these comments came to light months ago, so it's unclear whether Ellison's tune may have changed on this since, particularly after Paramount Skydance had to increase its offer significantly to beat out Netflix.
What Does DC Studios Look Like Under Paramount?
While keeping the creative heads in place at WBD during this merger is promising news for DC Studios and other assets, there will almost certainly still be changes.
One shift flagged by Bloomberg's report is the consolidation of marketing and distribution teams at Paramount and WBD, which will no doubt result in significant layoffs across both studios.
Trimming down marketing and distribution teams could also signal a lower output in film and TV projects in general. Bloomberg reported that Ellison will still aim to release 30 films a year combined from both studios, which would not be a reduction. However, with fewer staff to market and distribute these projects, it's not clear how this would be sustainable. Does this mean DC Studios' burgeoning slate is trimmed? Possibly.
One thing fans won't have to worry about is the distribution of DC Studios films. Where Netflix may have ushered in a faster streaming pipeline, Ellison has often been vocal about supporting theatrical distribution, so it stands to reason that future DC films, like Man of Tomorrow, will have spots on the big screen for the foreseeable future.
What's less certain is the DCU's streaming future, as it's unclear how Paramount plans to handle its newly acquired asset of HBO Max. The studio already has its own streaming service, Paramount+, but insiders reported that Ellison plans to roll them into a single service. This could affect where fans watch their DCU content, but with the creative teams intact, it shouldn't affect overall quality.
