UPDATE 5: The leadership moves are official, with Gunn and Safran named Co-Chairmen of DC Studios at Skydance.
UPDATE 4: “For now” has a date: Bloomberg reports the contracts expire April 2027.
UPDATE 3: THR reports Gunn and Safran met David Ellison in person and were told to “keep doing what you’re doing,” but there are no guarantees.
UPDATE 2: Our insiders say the pro-Gunn stories are no coincidence, and the DCU is far from safe: all eyes are on Clayface.
UPDATE: The combined company will be called Skydance, with the announcement video going heavy on Superman and Batman.
James Gunn and Peter Safran are staying at DC. For now.
As Warner Bros. film bosses Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy exit in the Paramount merger, Puck’s Matthew Belloni reports the DC Studios co-CEOs “will be invited to stay on at DC, at least initially.”
Those three words matter.
Paramount is not commenting on any of the leadership moves, which Belloni says will be announced early next week ahead of Tuesday’s close.
The Contract Expires In 2027
None of this is new to CBN readers.
On September 1, two insiders told us there is no new extension for Gunn. His current deal is the extension, and it runs out in 2027, after Man of Tomorrow.
The same reporting said no Gunn Batman movie is happening. A Brave and the Bold script exists, and it sits unmade.
When Jeff Sneider claimed Gunn “just extended,” he walked it back days later.
Warner Bros. has also already shown how these exits work.
Sam Register ran WB Animation for 18 years, and when his contract was not renewed, he was out. The phrase our insiders told us to watch through 2027: “CONTRACT EXPIRED.”
The Dream Team Doesn’t Include Gunn
Belloni’s report lands as David Ellison builds what insiders call a DC dream team: Zack Snyder’s The Dark Knight Returns as a two-part event movie, Matt Reeves going bigger with his Batman universe, and Gal Gadot on record that she returns if Snyder does.
Our insiders have also said the Paramount board hates Gunn, and inside Warner Bros., staffers point at Supergirl, saying DC “chose the wrong comic book character.”
Even the talk around the talent comes with the same qualifier.
This week, a Sneider source claimed David Corenswet keeps the cape for the next decade whatever happens to DC Studios after the merger.
‘Kumbaya’ First, Then The Ax
“At least initially” also lines up with what our insiders said the week the merger was approved: expect three to six months of “kumbaya we all love each other at ParaBros before the ax falls.”
Here is the timeline. The merger closes Tuesday. Man of Tomorrow opens July 9, 2027. And Gunn’s contract expires that same year.
Per our insiders, the two words to watch have not changed: contract expired.
