A New Era Begins at Warner Bros., Entertainment Returns to Its Roots


“Success is about creative talent in front of and behind the screen and fighting and fighting to create a culture that supports this creative vision,” Zaslav said. Said. takeover announcement. For much of the past year, he has raved about the studio’s rich legacy and paid tribute to Jack, Harry, Sam and Albert Warner, the “brothers who started it all”.

On Friday, Mr. Zaslav spoke about his aspirations to “dream big and dream boldly” in an email to his new employees. A Warner Bros. The manager later said “Hallelujah” in a text message. Speaking on the phone at the studio, another executive said he went on a “crazy” shopping spree to celebrate and said, “Hollywood is back, baby.”

Others weren’t so sure. Mr. Zaslav, who ran cable television giant Discovery for 15 years and worked at NBCUniversal before that, qualifies as an entertainment specialist. But he has little cinematic experience. The merger also comes with a breathtaking debt – about $55 billion – that must be paid even as content costs rise. Mr. Zaslav will have to make tough decisions about how to allocate resources. How much money should be spent on film production and marketing? To what extent should the studio make films for special screening in theaters? Should the focus shift even further to supplying movies to the company’s streaming service, HBO Max?

Under the direction of Ms. Sarnoff, Warner Bros. He cut annual theater production by almost half and installed a direct-broadcast assembly line. “The good old days are gone forever,” a Warner-affiliated filmmaker said on Friday.

Hollywood as a whole is in a similar mood: one moment optimistic, the next pessimistic about the future of movies. There is evidence that theaters are finally back from the pandemic. Over the weekend, PG-rated “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” grossed a whopping $71 million in North America, the biggest opening of a Paramount movie since 2014, while “The Batman” (Warner Bros.) grossed $6.5 million. dollar ticket added. Total sales of $359 million, which has been a hit at the domestic blockbuster since it arrived on March 4.

At the same time, one of Hollywood’s most trusted directors, Michael Bay, had a blast over the weekend. The crime thriller “Ambulance” (Universal) made just $8.7 million in ticket sales. In another bummer, “Morbius” (Sony) crashed in its second weekend, raising $10.2 million in the US and Canada, down 74 percent.



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