Written by Edwin Francisco and Mikey Sutton • Editor-in-Chief • Owner
Walter Hamada is no longer overseeing DC Films. On April 15, I scooped that Warner Bros. Discovery wanted to replace Walter Hamada. Furthermore, on June 26, 2021, I leaked that new CEO David Zaslav would fire the old regime. I mentioned Warner Bros Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich, Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Ann Sarnoff, and DC Films president Walter Hamada would feel Zaslav’s axe.
Sure enough, the axe crashed down on Emmerich and Sarnoff.
Per Deadline, Zaslav has removed Walter Hamada’s power. Granted, Zaslav hasn’t fired Walter Hamada yet.
Nevertheless, Zaslav pulled away his authority. To be specific, Deadline reports that Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy “will oversee DC in the interim upon their arrival. A search is underway for a new head of DC.”
De Luca and Abdy are the new co-chairpersons and CEOs of Warner Bros. Pictures Group. They replaced Emmerich.
Another scoop confirmed.
Some, especially the anti-SnyderVerse crowd, claimed that Zaslav would keep the status quo.
That Zaslav was pleased with the work of Emmerich, Sarnoff, and Hamada.
That James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad reboot the DCEU.
The Batman would stop Zaslav from removing Emmerich?
Bazinga?
Warner Bros. Discovery is going through a major overhaul: DC Films and other related projects are on top of the list.
Even before Discovery bought Warner Bros., DC Films was already in their targets. It felt like everyone saw the potential, but Warner execs kept dropping the ball.
Furthermore, Warner keeps missing opportunities and not taking advantage of a connected universe.
Walter Hamada No Longer Oversees DC Films
The studio canceled a ton of DCEU projects and then focused on solo features. They kept moving most of the projects to HBO Max instead of a theatrical release. This felt like DC Films doesn’t feel confident to move forward with the SnyderVerse.
At one point, Walter Hamada and his fellow gatekeepers wanted The Flash to erase the SnyderVerse. Ironically, Zaslav is erasing the people in charge.
When Discovery got the chance to hold the DC franchise, it seems like they wanted action as soon as possible. The restructure of the company was inevitable, but we did notice that there was a glaring focus on DC Films.
With the announcement of Emmerich’s firing, it only shows that the gears of this transition are well underway. The trades tried to play down Emmerich’s removal. Insiders revealed the hard and more believable truth. One source acknowledged:
Emmerich didn’t step down. He was stepped on.
Mergers aren’t nice. There will be pink slips.
There’s a stopwatch next to Walter Hamada. It’s going tick-tock. Syl Abdul and I have been saying this on his YouTube channel for a year.
Zaslav is still looking for his own Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios. Marvel Studios has this sense of a unified and coherent universe. Regardless of what project Feige does for Marvel Studios, the vision is still intact and focuses on the MCU. Zaslav is looking for that person who has that similar intuition for DC Films.
Spoiler alert: It’s not Walter Hamada.
As part of Warner Bros.’ overhaul, Zaslav met with Emma Watts, former president of Paramount. Not only that, she was also a top film executive at 20th Century Studios.
Walter Hamada No Longer Oversees DC Films
Image: Getty Images
At the time, Zaslav considered Watts for DC Films. This was Walter Hamada’s role in Warner. In other words, Watts almost took Walter Hamada’s job. Unfortunately, it didn’t push through.
For now, Zaslav is still looking for his Feige.
Zaslav thinks that DC Films is not reaching its full potential.
Sound familiar?
We broke that on May 26.
Instead of Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel 2, DC Films pursued The Wonder Twins.
Zaslav shut it down.
Instead of restoring the SnyderVerse, Warner Bros. gave J.J. Abrams a $250 million deal. To date, Abrams hasn’t gone into production with anything. His DC projects are in limbo.
In addition, DC Films had Joss Whedon slaughter Zack Snyder’s Justice League. It flopped.
DC Films didn’t understand nor did they believe in the SnyderVerse. Walter Hamada was a significant part of that.
Although 2019’s Joker was a $1 billion global success, neither Walter Hamada nor Emmerich wanted it made.
Zaslav sees how DC Films is lacking.
Without Snyder’s vision, they kept the DCEU characters separate. The success of Zack Snyder’s Justice League proved Warner Bros. wrong.
Zaslav has spoken to is industry veterans like Bob Iger (former Disney executive), Alan Horn (former Disney Chief Creative Officer, former President of Warner Bros) and Bryan Lourd (head of Creative Artists Agency). Horn is currently in talks to be a consultant for Warner Bros.
Fans are still looking forward to Zack Snyder’s Justice League to come back. They are still rooting for Cavill’s Superman, for Ben Affleck to return as the Dark Knight. They are still hoping for Ray Fisher to be back as Cyborg.
Whoever is the new head of DC Films, he or she has to decide the fate of the DCEU SnyderVerse in their hands.
The good news is it won’t be Walter Hamada.