ALEX BROWN
The DC Universe is changing hands again. James Gunn and Peter Safran are stepping down as co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios after four years, and former Marvel Studios executive Jeremy Latcham will take over as president and chief creative officer on December 1. Skydance, the company formed by the Warner Bros.–Paramount merger, announced the change on November 9 during its quarterly earnings call. Now a new IndieWire report says money, not just creative direction, was a big part of the decision.
Why are James Gunn and Peter Safran leaving DC Studios?
Officially, Skydance framed the move as a transition. CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz thanked the pair in a joint statement for resetting DC’s foundation and building a slate they called something to be proud of, and said Gunn and Safran would help ensure a smooth handover. Gunn, in his own Instagram post, admitted the executive job had been “trying, to say the least,” and said he was relieved to return to full-time filmmaking.
IndieWire’s reporting, published November 11, paints a more financial picture. The outlet says Skydance is carrying roughly $80 billion in net debt and has promised $6 billion in savings, and that the company was surprised by how badly Warner Bros.’ film unit performed in 2026. One insider told IndieWire the studio’s losses on recent flops are approaching $1 billion. The report also says Gunn’s deal was unusually rich, with insiders putting his total pay as high as $10 million per DC film across his various roles. None of those figures has been confirmed by Skydance.
On the earnings call, Ellison acknowledged the film division had underperformed this year and said Skydance would bring over its Paramount approach of greenlighting films more selectively. It is the same consolidation story that is reshaping the rest of the merged company, from the coming HBO Max and Paramount+ bundle to the troubled Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra game.
How did DC movies perform under Gunn and Safran?
The box office record is mixed. Gunn’s Superman earned about $618.7 million worldwide in 2025, a solid but not dominant result for DC’s flagship hero. Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock, was the duo’s biggest stumble: SlashFilm puts its gross at $126.5 million against a reported budget of $170 million or more, and Page Six cites sources saying the film lost $135 million. Clayface fared better relative to its cost, taking in around $111.7 million on a roughly $40 million budget. On TV, Peacemaker, Creature Commandos and Lanterns kept the DCU visible on HBO Max.
Who is Jeremy Latcham, the new head of DC Studios?
Latcham spent years at Marvel Studios, rising to senior vice president of production and development and helping shepherd Iron Man, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man films before leaving in 2017. He has since produced Bad Times at the El Royale and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and is producing the live-action Naruto film, according to Deadline. Unlike Gunn and Safran, who reported straight to the top, Latcham will report to Skydance film chiefs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein.
What happens to Superman: Man of Tomorrow and the DCU now?
Man of Tomorrow, Gunn’s Superman sequel starring David Corenswet, is still dated for July 9, 2027, and Gunn remains its writer and director. Both he and Safran will keep producing DC projects, including The Batman Part II, due February 18, 2028. Beyond that, the road map is unclear. Fan sites are circulating unconfirmed claims about reshoots and recasting, but none of that has been backed by Skydance or the major trades, so treat it as speculation for now. The clearest signal so far is Ellison’s promise of fewer, safer bets, which suggests DC’s biggest names will take priority over the offbeat corners of the comics that Gunn loved to explore.
For everything else headed to theaters in the meantime, see our guide to the biggest movies still coming in 2026.
This is a developing story.
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Sources: Deadline, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter, SlashFilm