Paramount Plan: DC Studios' Gunn, Safran Return; De Luca, Abdy Depart

· BC

Posted in: HBO, Max, Movies, Paramount+, TV | Tagged: paramount, Warner Bros

Paramount Plan: DC Studios' Gunn & Safran Return; De Luca, Abdy Depart

Paramount Report: DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran "will be invited to stay on," while Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy will depart.

Published Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:16:10 -0500
by Ray Flook
|
Last updated Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:18:46 -0500
|
Comments

Article Summary

  • DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran will be invited to stay after the Paramount-Skydance-WBD merger closes.
  • Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy are expected to exit as David Ellison shapes the new leadership team.
  • Early merger shakeups also point to Ynon Kreiz joining as Co-CEO, with Casey Bloys poised to oversee key programming.
  • DC Studios faces a crucial stretch as Lanterns builds buzz, and Clayface and Man of Tomorrow loom as the next major DCU milestones.

Though everything will become official this Tuesday, when the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger closes, we're getting early insights into who will (and won't) be part of David Ellison's leadership team moving forward. Heading into Friday, we learned that former Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz would be joining the company as a Co-CEO. We also learned that Paramount streaming boss Cindy Holland was departing, and that all signs were pointing to Casey Bloys running all programming for HBO/HBO Max and Paramount+. According to a new Puck report and additional reporting, Warner Bros. film heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy are expected to exit the new company once the merger is finalized. In addition, the same report notes that DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran "will be invited to stay on at DC, at least initially" (though all parties involved have declined to comment on the reporting).

Image: Paramount+; Shutterstock.com (Joe Seer; Fred Duval)

After a banner 2025, De Luca and Abdy have been dealing with a pretty brutal 2026 (for example, The Bride and Supergirl) – one that isn't expected to get much better before the year wraps. Still, demonstrating the rollercoaster nature of the film industry, the duo had stacked up a pretty impressive future lineup that includes The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, The Batman Part II, Gremlins 3, and A Minecraft Movie Squared. Though taking a step back after Supergirl disappointed, DC Studios' Gunn and Saffran have garnered positive buzz for the studio's live-action HBO series Lanterns, as buzz around feature film Clayface continues to grow. But the next big milestone for the DCU is next summer's Man of Tomorrow, which Gunn previewed as different from a direct sequel to the David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult-starring Superman.

Of course, all will become much clearer when Tuesday, October 6th, rolls around. It's important to remember that the new Paramount Skydance Warner Bros company's (the new name hasn't been revealed yet) first priority will be to find $6 billion in savings over the next three years.

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!