MGM Studios film heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy are set to join Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) as co-chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros Pictures Group, taking over from longtime studio head Toby Emmerich, who is setting up his own production company.De Luca and Abdy had been tipped to take the job since late April, when they confirmed they will leave the James Bond studio this summer. The announcement of their departure from MGM came shortly after Amazon closed its US$8.5bn acquisition.In their new roles, De Luca and Abdy will oversee Warner Bros Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC-Based Film Production and Warner Bros Feature Animation. The pair will join WBD in the summer “after a period of transition.”Under a new “long-range strategy,” WBD said Warner Bros Pictures Group will be broken out into three distinct business segments, with separate leadership teams devoted to Warner Bros Pictures/New Line Cinema, Warner Bros Feature Animation and DC-Based Film Production each under separate leadership.During their time at MGM, De Luca and Abdy oversaw the release of films including House of Gucci, Licorice Pizza and James Bond movie No Time To Die.“Michael and Pam are supremely talented creative leaders with a proven track record of success,” said WBD CEO David Zaslav.“We are thrilled to welcome them both to our Warner Bros Discovery family and look forward to seeing them take this nearly century-old iconic studio to even greater heights of excellence in film.”Emmerich, who has led the film studio division since 2017, will launch a new prodco focused on film, TV and streaming. The new entity is backed by Warner Bros, with WBD set to finance Emmerich’s company under an exclusive five-year agreement. WBD will have distribution rights to films and series produced through the new company.During his tenure, Warner Bros Pictures Group released titles such as Aquaman, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Ready Player One, The Meg, Rampage, A Star is Born, Joker and IT Chapter Two.
©C21Media.