Skydance's Ellison Ousts Warner Bros. Film Chiefs Abdy and De Luca

Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, the co-chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, were out by Friday. Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison confirmed their exit while announcing the name of the merged entity: Skydance, his old company, will absorb both Warner Bros. and Paramount.

What did Abdy and De Luca deliver?

The pair rode volatile box-office swings over three years. After a weak 2024 threatened their tenure — George Miller's "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" and Todd Phillips' "Joker: Folie à Deux" underperformed — 2025 produced a $4 billion global year, anchored by Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" and Zach Cregger's "Weapons." Then 2026 delivered nothing above $100 million domestically. Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part 3," due December 18, arrives too late to rescue them.

What sealed their exit?

A.G. Iñárritu's art film "Digger" proved the most consequential bet. Its "official" $125 million budget, signed off by Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, ballooned past $160 million by some insider estimates. Tom Cruise arrived late, delayed by his last "Mission" film. Ellison's producing résumé spans "Mission: Impossible," "Star Trek," and "Terminator" titles — blockbusters, not art films.

He would not have greenlit Paul Thomas Anderson's Oscar-winning "One Battle After Another," which lost money theatrically for Warner Bros. but built long-term library value.

What now runs the studio?

Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg, currently co-chairs of Paramount Pictures, will lead the combined motion picture operation. The Consent Decree governing the merger sets strict production quotas:

• 30 films per year for the first two years from both studios combined
• 32 films per year for the following three years

Greenstein and Goldberg are capable executives. Greenstein and Ellison bonded over aviation before Greenstein left Sony for Paramount. Goldberg worked with Ellison at Skydance. But both lack the auteur relationships Abdy and De Luca cultivated. Speculation is widespread that former Fox and Disney executive Peter Rice could join the new conglomerate, following a recent lunch with Ellison's new co-CEO Ynon Kreiz.

What is left on the slate?

The 2027 and 2028 lineups include projects Abdy and De Luca developed but will not supervise:

• "Godzilla King: Supernova"
• Bradley Cooper's "Oceans 11" prequel, inspired by "To Catch a Thief"
• "Minecraft Squared"
• Keanu Reeves in shark thriller "Shiver"
• Taylor Sheridan's drug-crime thriller "F.A.S.T."
• Ian McKellen as Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum"
• Robert Pattinson returning as The Batman in "Part II"
• Chris Columbus's "Gremlins 3" with Jim Henson puppets
• A Baz Luhrmann original
• Two Zach Cregger projects: "The Flood" starring Jennifer Lawrence, and "Weapons" spin-off "Gladys" with Amy Madigan

What was their philosophy?

De Luca, a 27-year-old wunderkind at New Line under Bob Shaye when he backed "Magnolia" and "Austin Powers," and Abdy, formerly of MGM ("Queen & Slim," "Garden State"), defined themselves against spreadsheet filmmaking. Many are rooting for them — the same observers who predicted their "Sinners" deal would destroy the business. That deal granted Ryan Coogler final cut, first-dollar gross, and rights reversion in 25 years. The film became a global hit.

"You cannot do the job like you're afraid to get fired," De Luca told Franklin Leonard on a podcast. "Because if you act like that, innovation dies. You're just doing the job to protect yourself and you end up making the same movie over and over again, and the consumer moves on."

Skydance will pay out their four-year contracts. Industry observers expect both to surface at Sony or Universal with new production deals. Ellison framed the merger in studio-historical terms: "Paramount and Warner Bros. shaped over a century of culture. By combining them, we aren't rewriting history — we're equipping these iconic studios with a more powerful engine." His vision is sequels, spectacle, and the Tom Cruise sequel machine — not Iñárritu on a $160 million dig. The creative-first studio Abdy and De Luca ran is the one being absorbed, not preserved.