As James Gunn and Peter Safran settle into their roles as co-heads of DC Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures found somebody to put in charge of Worldwide Production. That person is Michele Imperato Stabile, who goes by “Missy.” Her name might not sound familiar but Stabile has been a producer for decades with her name attached to a wide variety of films – good and bad.
Deadline reported that Stabile is welcomed warmly by the WB Pictures Co-Chairs she will report to, Michael DeLuca and Pam Abdy. “We think Missy’s one of the best in the business,” they said. “We’ve had the pleasure of working with her before and have seen how skillfully she works with our creative partners and production teams to deliver a top-notch filmmaking experience…”
Adding her work “results in great films,” DeLuca and Abdy declare, “We can’t wait for her to get started.” Stabile comes from MGM where DeLuca and Abdy were too. Before that, she started as an associate producer under director Mike Nichols on his cult classics Wolf and The Birdcage. Later, she moved up to a co-producer beginning with Primary Colors in 1998.
Two of those selections are regarded highly by some, even called great, but her output has been mixed since then. Though Stabile has been involved in film series with devoted followings, such as Twilight and The Ring, and standalone films of some repute from GI Jane to The Fault In Our Stars, some inclusions on her resume could net apprehension.
For instance, her most recent credit in the superhero genre is The New Mutants, the second-to-last installment of the moribund Fox X-Men franchise. That film is considered a disaster in a few senses but Stabile has one other outstanding credit on an established IP as an executive producer of Ghostbusters and not the original or Afterlife.
Stabile’s sole credit related to Ghostbusters is the 2016 reboot directed by Paul Feig and starring Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig. That film did not connect with audiences the way Sony had hoped and led to the studio rebooting again with the legacy sequel (Afterlife) in 2021 directed by Jason Reitman. Without the involvement of Stabile, the series will continue from that point.
Many of Stabile’s films have middling IMDb scores which leads us to ponder if we are in for a situation similar to the one at WB Television, run by Channing Dungey since 2020, that gave the world Velma. Dungey is another former film producer but with fewer credits than Stabile and her most memorable one is the flop Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned.
Will Warner Bros. Studios be negatively impacted after Stabile assumes her position? Tell us your perspective below.