Warner Bros Pictures Group Chairman Toby Emmerich is stepping down, the company announced Wednesday, as Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav puts his imprimatur on the newly formed media company.
Emmerich has served as chairman studio since 2018, the year the studio had its greatest box office success, fuelled by such hits as ‘Aquaman’, ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crime of Grindelwald, ‘Ready Player One’, ‘The Meg’, and ‘A Star is Born’.
He will be succeeded by MGM’s Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, the duo behind such acclaimed films as ‘Licorice Pizza’, and ‘House of Gucci’, according to two sources.
The transition comes as Zaslav restructures the film studio around content verticals, in the mold of the Walt Disney Co, Reuters reported.
DeLuca and Abdy will oversee Warner Bros and New Line studios, which have produced the Harry Potter movies and Oscar-nominated films such as ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’. DC films and the animation group each will have their leadership, with all the studio executives reporting to Zaslav.