company a nice little tax write-off of $825M and reinforced the concept that they were going to build a DC Cinematic Universe that could equal Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
To prove it, he brought on an industry heavyweight, former Disney film chief Alan Horn, to help develop a 10-year plan.
His plan?
Closely follow Disney … build the biggest entertainment organizations in history focused on quality.
Lead … follow … or get outta the way!
Of course, financial analysts, investors and the viewing public don’t care much about 10 years from now or even next year. They care about next quarter’s numbers and shows/movies available now.
That’s tough … and getting tougher.
Back before Zaslav took control of the new company, Warner’s CEO Jason Kilar focused the company’s future on HBO Max moving theatrical content to day/date theatrical/streaming release and irritating just about everyone in Hollywood while not particularly impressing potential streaming subscribers.
Kilar’s “all in” approach versus true consumer/project value did enable filmmakers and theater owners to understand that regardless of the genre, there are theater movies and small screen movies … they’re both professional but different.
