According to a supposed insider, Warner Bros. Discovery recent opening of its purse strings was meant not to help position the company for better future success, but rather to help sweeten the pot for its potential (and likely) sale to a rival entity.
From signing an exclusive partnership deal with Mission Impossible franchise star Tom Cruise in January and a multi-year first look deal with Barbie star Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment production company the next month, WBD has spent the early months of 2024 loosening their purse strings, seemingly in service of boosting their own reputation and industry standing.
And according to a new report from Variety’s Tatiana Siegel, it seems WBD’s spending spree is far from over, as not only have they allowed the budget for the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux to reach a staggering $200 million USD – a budget not only equal to that of Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, but also a full $140 million more than that given to the first Joker – but the company is also in a fervent and expensive compeition to secure the distribution rights to Quentin Tarantino’s next film, The Movie Critic.
Further, per “sources who have done recent business with the studio” who supposedly spoke to Siegel, “the mandate to spare no expense to land big talent comes via Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.”
However, as noted above, rather than these moves being made in service of producing better films or righting their ever-sinking, a WBD insider claims that they have been done in order to make the company a more tantalizing investment to potential buyers.
Speaking anonymously to Siegel, said insider alleged, “The strategy at Warner Bros. right now and the reason they made some of these big star deals is they’re basically playing with other people’s money.”
“They’re shopping for Quentin or Cruise with the notion they can use it as a shiny object that is going to be additive when Zaslav sells the company,” they added.
To this end, Siegel notes that “many on the lot” believe this sale will come sooner rather than later, as April will see the expiration of a two-year ‘lockup’ period – a common business agreement which establishes a set amount of time following a company merger wherein insiders can not sell their respective holdings – established by WarnerMedia and Discovery as part of their 2022 merger.
Notably, though this clause has yet to actually expire, last December saw Zaslav meet with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish for what sources told Deadline was a “preliminary” discussion regarding a possible sale of WBD proper.
However, the exact details of this meeting have not been detailed to the public, and it remains unknown whether or not Paramount Global is considered an actual contender to eventually own WBD.
As of writing, neither representatives from Warner Bros. Discovery nor Zaslav himself have offered public comment on the claims raised in Siegel’s recent report.
Further, it is currently unknown what such a sale would mean for James Gunn and Peter Safran’s plans for DC Studios.
(But hey, on the wild off-chance WBD is bought out by Disney, maybe we can get an animated Amalgam Comics series?)
