James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Studios Exit: Big Spending, Lost Money

· Entertainment · United States

Variety reports that DC Studios co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran are departing after a costly tenure that failed to connect with audiences. The account says the pair spent heavily and lost money, and that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had publicly promoted their "bold 10-year plan" just days after "Superman" opened last summer, when the studio was still projecting confidence. The piece frames the exit as the culmination of a strategy that did not deliver at the box office despite a reboot of the DC film franchise built around Gunn's creative vision. It follows the earlier announcement of the exit itself, adding detail on the financial and audience-performance picture behind the decision.

Why it matters：Superhero franchises are the entertainment industry's biggest bet, and the failure of a high-profile reboot shows how fragile studio strategy is when spending outpaces audience demand.

Key points

  • Zaslav touted the 10-year DC plan just three days after "Superman" opened.
  • The report says the pair spent big and lost money without hooking audiences.
  • The item adds financial detail to the previously announced exit.

Sources (original reporting)

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