Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are reportedly leaving Warner Bros. as the studio prepares to come under new ownership as part of Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The two executives, who have served as co-chairs and CEOs of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group since 2022, will not be part of David Ellison’s management team following completion of the deal, according to reports from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. The approximately $110 billion transaction is expected to close on October 6.
Paramount Pictures co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein are expected to assume oversight of both Paramount and Warner Bros.’ film operations following the merger. It remains unclear whether De Luca and Abdy will remain with Warner Bros. for a transitional period after the transaction closes.
The change comes four years after De Luca and Abdy joined Warner Bros. Discovery to lead its film division. Together, they have overseen Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, sharing responsibility for theatrical production, marketing and distribution. They also held curatorial oversight of Turner Classic Movies alongside filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson.
Their tenure included both significant successes and high-profile disappointments. Recent Warner Bros. hits have included A Minecraft Movie, Superman, Weapons and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. The studio also found awards success during their leadership, including with Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.
The studio also weathered several expensive box-office disappointments, including Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Joker: Folie à Deux. Despite the uneven results, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav renewed De Luca and Abdy’s contracts in 2025 following a particularly successful stretch for the studio.
Both executives arrived at Warner Bros. after working together at MGM. De Luca served as chairman of MGM’s Motion Picture Group, while Abdy was its president. Their MGM tenure included films such as House of Gucci, Licorice Pizza and Women Talking.
The departures are part of a broader restructuring taking shape ahead of the Paramount-Warner Bros. combination. Paramount+ streaming chief Cindy Holland is also departing, while HBO and HBO Max chairman and CEO Casey Bloys has been widely reported as a likely candidate to oversee streaming operations for the combined company, although that role has not yet been formally announced.
David Ellison has also named outgoing Mattel chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO of the combined company, with Kreiz expected to concentrate on day-to-day operations and integrating the two businesses.
The leadership changes coincide with another significant announcement from Ellison: the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. parent company will operate under the Skydance name. Paramount and Warner Bros., however, will continue operating under their respective studio brands.
Ellison has indicated that the combined film operation will maintain a substantial theatrical presence, with Paramount and Warner Bros. continuing to produce films as separate studios under the larger organization.
For De Luca and Abdy, their departure brings to an end a four-year period at the head of one of Hollywood’s oldest studios just as Warner Bros. prepares to enter another new era of ownership.
Source: THR