James Gunn and Peter Safran Will Stay at DC Studios After Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger

The future of DC Studios appears locked in as Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to become part of Paramount. James Gunn and Peter Safran are staying put, with the duo set to continue running DC’s movies, television projects, and comic book productions after Paramount completes its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

For DC fans wondering whether another corporate shake-up might mean another creative reset, this is a pretty important piece of news. Gunn and Safran will continue building the DC Universe they’ve spent the past few years putting together.

The two recently met with Skydance co-CEO David Ellison to discuss their future, and the meeting reportedly went well. Under the new corporate structure, the Paramount and Warner Bros. film divisions will report to Paramount Pictures co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein.

There are still some major Warner Bros. leadership questions to sort out. The future of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy remains uncertain, with the pair reportedly still needing to meet with Ellison about their roles in the newly combined company.

For Gunn and Safran, however, the plan is much clearer. They have plenty of DC projects already moving forward.

Gunn is currently shooting the Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, which is scheduled to hit theaters July 9, 2027. DC Studios also has Clayface, its lower-budget genre film centered on the Batman villain, arriving October 23.

Gunn’s Superman became Warner Bros.’ second-highest-grossing movie of last year, earning more than $618 million worldwide. Matt Reeves is also working on The Batman: Part II, which is currently scheduled for February 18, 2028.

Not everything has worked at the same level. Supergirl struggled at the box office this past summer, finishing its global run with $126.4 million.

DC has been finding considerable success on the television side with Lanterns. The HBO Max series, co-created by Tom King, Damon Lindelof, and Chris Mundy, pulled in 10 million global viewers for its third episode during its first three days, including 7 million viewers in the United States.

Since Lanterns premiered, its first episode has climbed past 20 million viewers worldwide. The series launched as one of HBO Max’s biggest titles, giving DC another successful piece of its growing interconnected universe.

Gunn and Safran have been running DC Studios since October 2022, when Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav created a dedicated DC label modeled more closely on Disney’s approach with Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and Pixar.

The arrangement also put Gunn in the unusual position of simultaneously working as a filmmaker and studio executive. He came into the job with an established history at Warner Bros. and New Line, while Safran already had extensive experience producing major franchise films.

Safran’s credits include the multi-billion-dollar The Conjuring franchise along with DC projects such as Shazam! and Aquaman. He also produced Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and its HBO Max spinoff, Peacemaker, starring John Cena, which has now run for two seasons.

There’s also an interesting bit of comic book movie history surrounding Paramount’s acquisition of DC. Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe became synonymous with Disney, Paramount had a distribution agreement with Marvel and helped launch the MCU era with Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger.

Disney acquired Marvel for $4 billion in 2009, eventually bringing distribution of Marvel’s movies under its own roof. Had Paramount acquired Marvel at the time, DC and Marvel would be under the same studio!

Now Paramount is getting a superhero powerhouse of its own. DC joins a Paramount library already loaded with major franchises including Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Mission: Impossible.

After years of DC movies going through leadership changes, competing continuities, abandoned plans, and multiple attempts at creating a larger connected universe, Gunn and Safran will get the opportunity to keep their current plan moving.

Source: Deadline