Movie fans are still recovering from Monday’s bombshell that James Gunn and Peter Safran are out at DC Studios. This decision came as part of their latest film, clay facedid well at the box office; another, The Batman Part IIfighting production delays to get into theaters as soon as possible; and their overall story is expected to continue with next year The man of tomorrow.
What Gunn and Safran didn’t anticipate when it all started to sink in was Skydance. The company, which previously acquired Paramount in 2025, acquired Warner Bros. in 2026, and its CEO David Ellison arrived with a new vision. Originally, it seemed like Gunn and Safran were part of this vision. But since the news broke, several different versions of the story have emerged claiming the opposite.
As expected, Hollywood trades were everywhere at the DC outlet, speaking to industry sources. The Hollywood Reporter story claims that Gunn and Safran, who were initially announced as part of the new Warner Bros. team, were informed last Friday, November 6, that their plans had changed. The Wrap spoke to some sources who supported this version of the story, as well as others who claimed the move took place over the weekend. Basically, whatever the case, it seems very likely that the ouster happened pretty quickly for Gunn and Safran.
Both men are replaced by Jeremy Latcham, a former Marvel Studios executive. And, according to reports, Latcham may have been aware of this long before Gunn and Safran. The Hollywood Reporter spoke to a source who said Latcham was contacted earlier this fall about the possibility of taking over the studio.
So why these changes? Well, besides some of the biggest and most obvious reasons why Ellison would want Gunn and Safran to hang out (Supergirl bombardment, Superman not meeting expectations, lack of clarity around Batman), apparently a lot of the tension also had to do with the structure of the company. Under their previous agreement, Gunn and Safran only answered to Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav. There was no intermediary between them and the boss.
Under Skydance and Ellison, however, that was likely to change, with the pair reporting not to Ellison himself but to Skydance Motion Picture Group’s new co-presidents, Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg. This duo was set up to oversee films at both Paramount and Warner Bros., which saw Gunn and Safran’s former colleagues, Pam Addy and Michael DeLuca, similarly shown the door.
Basically, Gunn and Saffron were used to reporting to the boss, and now they would have reported to someone under the boss, and no one really liked that.
However, Latcham would have to be OK with that, and since the announcement, there has been a lot of speculation about what his DC Studios version might be. Many point out that while Latcham’s claim to fame lies in his early work with Kevin Feige and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (he also played a key role in hiring Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy), it has more recently pivoted in another direction.
“An occasional foray into big-budget cinema like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves nevertheless, Latcham focused on inspirational films such as the Wright Brothers feature film. Prospectus for the faith-focused studio Wonder Project, where he also helped direct House of Davida TV show about the biblical character,” writes the Hollywood Reporter. “The producer is known for expressing his Christian faith and his desire to make uplifting projects.” He has even appeared on a podcast called Bible Bros. to talk about Wonder Project. “Let’s be the HBO of religious and family audiences. Let’s try to make films and TV shows that restore faith in things to believe in,” he said.
What effect, if any, Latcham’s forward-thinking values will have on DC’s future won’t be revealed for some time. First, he’ll have to deal with everything currently on the table from Gunn and Safran and decide what he’ll keep, what he’ll discard, and how to move forward. He will have to deal with the fact that, whatever happens, Gunn’s story will continue next summer. The man of tomorrow. That there’s a weird DC series called The People Against Gorilla Grodd in production. Plus, there’s this not-so-minor problem of having a Batman movie on the way that’s detached from everything else.
Basically, it’s a complicated situation from top to bottom, and everyone is still trying to piece the puzzle together. For even more details, head over to Wrap and Hollywood Reporter for what we think are the best in-depth reviews.
Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.
Gn entert
