What about the movie?
Zaslav admits that the film is “tough business” at this month's Morgan Stanley Conference and appears to be asking for a little more patience. “It's a long cycle business and we ended up with something that wasn't ours,” he said. It's a reference to flops like “The War of Rohirum” and “Mickey 17” that were given green lights before he arrived. “You're going to see ours over the next few years. I'm optimistic about it.”
The next Warner Bros release, “Minecraft Movie,” could break out when it arrives next week, box office analysts say. “Minecraft” costs $150 million, is based on a popular game and is aimed at families. (The legendary entertainment contributed to 25% of the budget and produced it.) A few weeks later, Warner Bros. will release R-rated “Thinner,” a $90 million original horror thriller set in the 1930s and starring Michael B. Jordan. “The Crime” was directed by Ryan Coogler (The Black Panther). Both films were directed by De Luka and Abi.
At a Morgan Stanley event, Zaslav praised the pair for starting a business with Coogler and other marquee filmmakers on an expensive original project. “In some cases, there may be overdose,” Zaslav said it was an obvious reference to a Bloomberg article on February 26th that questioned the strategy. “We don't think we did that because we wanted to bring the best and brightest people back to Warner Bros.”
The most important film about Warner Bros Discovery's immediate schedule is “Superman” from DC Studios, managed by James Gunn and Peter Saffron. Arrived on July 11th, it represents an effort to reboot the company's superheroes for a new generation of film fans. Zaslav only spent an hour and a half with the DC Studios team at the Morgan Stanley Conference, noting that he was called the film “A Deging Moment for Us.”
Although the budget for “Superman” is unknown, superhero movies usually cost around $200 million without including marketing.
If it became a hit, the result represents a studio turnaround last summer when Warner Bros. released a guy like “Fuliosa: Mad Max Saga” and managed just 4.7% of domestic movie ticket sales. On that scale, it was Warner's worst performance since analysts began compiling seasonal box office data in 1982.
