The impact of the pandemic hit WarnerMedia hit hard this week as Friday’s shift in upper management has now trickled down to hundreds of employees being let go yesterday from Warner Brothers, HBO and DC Universe as the company undergoes reorganisation.
The widespread layoffs come as AT&T moves to consolidate WarnerMedia’s production operations into a single entity that aims to streamline the business and put new emphasis on HBO Max. That also means big changes are in store for the Warner Bros. Pictures film slate – especially in a future where the pandemic is an ongoing and potentially long-term issue.
The company’s CFO, John Stephens, recently spoke on an investors call (via THR) and explained how the studio plans on approaching movies in the future. While the release plans for “Tenet” are locked, he admits it’s not clear if the studios two other major films for 2020 – “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Dune” – could be further delayed or perhaps even sent to other distribution methods.
Stephens says: “I am not certain where those [films] are going to go” and adds that “further delays in some of the titles” could happen as theatrical release schedules remain in flux and the studio continues to figure out what the future holds with the pandemic “forcing us to look at new ways to distribute content.”
WarnerMedia so far has been one of the most reluctant to send major projects to streaming, even as Sony sold off “Greyhound” to Apple, Paramount sent “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” to CBS All Access and Netflix, Universal sent “Trolls World Tour” and “The King of Staten Island” to PVOD, and Disney put “Artemis Fowl” and will soon add “Mulan” (in PVOD form) on Disney+.
As it’s unlikely either film will be sent to streaming, more delays seem quite possible with many waiting to see how “Tenet” performs before deciding what to do.
