End of a cycle for Warner Bros. cinema. Four years after arriving at the company with David Zaslav’s mandate to revitalize the film slate, Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will leave Warner following Paramount’s purchase, according to several U.S. outlets. They will depart after what seemed like a renaissance for the studio in 2025, which has since collapsed in 2026.
And in Hollywood you can go from being practically fired to becoming the example everyone should follow. And, shortly after, to have one foot out the door again. Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy have walked that path at the helm of Warner Bros., as the studio readies itself to change owners and also to overhaul the leadership of its film division.
Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, the current heads of Paramount Pictures, are poised to oversee both studios. The deal is expected to close on October 6, according to the companies’ statement.
A track record with some bright spots but too many dark moments
De Luca and Abdy arrived from MGM in 2022 to replace Toby Emmerich. David Zaslav tasked them with revitalizing the film production and attracting top creators: in announcing their appointment, the message was to think big.
They inherited projects like ‘Barbie’ and the Dune franchise, which would bring some of the studio’s greatest joys, but also ‘Mickey 17’. ‘The Alto Knights’, another misstep, had received Zaslav’s personal blessing. Not to mention the disastrous ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’.
‘A Minecraft Movie’, ‘The Sinners’, ‘Final Destination: Blood Ties’, ‘F1: The Movie’, ‘Superman’ and ‘Weapons’ demonstrated that Warner could find an audience with very different kinds of projects. The studio closed 2025 with $4.4 billion at the worldwide box office and a record of seven consecutive releases above $40 million in its first North American weekend.
‘The Sinners’ was especially significant: Ryan Coogler’s film surpassed $370 million worldwide.
‘Weapons’ reinforced that idea and the success was accompanied by the renewal of the executives’ contracts, announced about a year ago. The awards also arrived. At the March 2026 Oscars, ‘One Battle After Another’ won six statuettes, including Best Picture and Best Director; ‘The Sinners’ took four and ‘Weapons’ added the Supporting Actress prize for Amy Madigan.
But 2026 has once again shown the risk of such large investments and how hard it is to get right. Following the failure of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ‘The Bride!’, concerns have grown about ‘Digger’, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film with Tom Cruise. And there is more, from ‘The End of Oak Street’ to the disastrous numbers for ‘Supergirl’. It is clear that the recent suspense has weighed more than last year’s approval.
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