Four years after they were handed the keys to DC, James Gunn and Peter Safran are out. Skydance announced Monday, November 9 that the co-CEOs of DC Studios will step down on December 1, with former Marvel Studios executive Jeremy Latcham taking over as president and chief creative officer. The move lands just weeks after Paramount Skydance closed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6 — and despite public assurances that Gunn and Safran would stay on.
Officially, everyone is parting as friends. Skydance chairman David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz praised the pair for launching “a new era for DC Studios” and resetting its foundation. Gunn, confirming the news on Threads, called the job a dream come true while admitting it was “trying, to say the least.” “I will miss being the co-caretaker of these great characters,” he wrote, “but I’m also incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s account of how it ended is less tidy. According to THR, Ellison and Kreiz arrived at Gunn and Safran’s offices on the Warner Bros. lot on Friday, November 6, and told them they were out — reversing earlier assurances that they would be part of the new Skydance studio. Behind it sat a power struggle: the duo’s contracts let them report directly to the top, first to David Zaslav and then to Ellison, while Skydance film chiefs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein wanted DC Studios under their authority. Latcham, notably, will report to Goldberg and Greenstein. THR also reports the pair were slow to share slate plans and footage with their new bosses.
The numbers didn’t argue in their favor either. Gunn’s Superman was a genuine hit — $618 million worldwide and strong reviews — but short of the billion-dollar event Skydance hoped for, and this summer’s Supergirl flopped, raising doubts that the new DC Universe could draw audiences beyond its launch title. October’s Clayface did respectable business on a small budget and their HBO shows were well received, but it wasn’t enough.
What survives the shake-up: Gunn’s Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, due July 9, 2027, with Gunn directing; Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II, now shooting; and the already-filmed series The People v. Gorilla Grodd. Gunn and Safran remain as producers, and Gunn says he is already writing another DC project. Beyond that, the roadmap is Latcham’s to rewrite — Puck reports much of the duo’s planned slate is already headed for the chopping block. Four years, one universe — and DC’s next reboot begins December 1.