David Zaslav believes Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and DC are “underused”.
Summary
- David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, believes that the company’s key franchises, such as Harry Potter, DC, and Lord of the ringshave been underutilized and see potential in creating long-term plans for each of them.
- The DC Extended Universe (DCU) is set for a reboot with a comprehensive strategy that includes films, television shows and video games. Harry Potter is also being adapted for a new series on HBO Max.
- Warner Bros. Pictures has several projects related to the film Lord of the rings franchise, including an upcoming animated film and other potential films. Zaslav emphasizes the importance of taking full advantage of these popular franchises to maximize shareholder value.
More than two years have passed since then David Zaslav took over the role of CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery after the two companies merged. Since then, he has made major changes, canceling films and television shows and developing a new strategy to revive some of the company’s most popular franchises.
These franchises include Harry Potter, Lord of the rings and that DCUAll brands that have delivered extremely successful titles for the studio in the past. However, in recent years things have changed. Since Harry PotterWhen the main saga of the series came to an end in 2011, the studio sought to expand the universe created by JK Rowling Fantastic Beasts, a prequel saga set many years before the birth of the Boy Who Lived. Although the first film was fairly well received, the second film received mixed reactions from fans, and the replacement of Johnny Depp in the franchise only made matters worse.
In the third part, the role of Grindelwald was recast with Mads Mikkelsen, which divided the audience’s opinions even further. Other problems with the Fantastic Beasts sequel included the Ezra Miller controversy and errors in the script, which essentially led to the cancellation of subsequent planned films.
The DCEU has gotten even worse in recent years. After Zack Snyder’s departure during filming Justice LeagueAfter the film was completed and altered by Joss Whedon, a split occurred in the franchise, which ultimately led to its demise in its current form. After the failure of Black Adam In 2022, Zaslav announced a soft reboot of the entire universe, with James Gunn and Peter Safran taking the reins at the newly formed DC Studios.
Lord of the Rings The trilogy is still one of the most impressive film achievements of all time and was a huge gamble in 2001. Since Warner Bros. got into the franchise, the on-screen offerings have certainly been limited, but that may be because the main story has been told.
It now appears that Zaslav believes there is more money to be squeezed out of these franchises, and it appears he has every intention of doing so.
David Zaslav praises future plans for DC, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings
During a presentation at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference (Courtesy of The Wrap), the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery reflected on the company’s strategy for its major franchises, which he believes are “underutilized”:
“One of the other real strengths of Warner Bros. is that we talk about the great intellectual property that Warner Bros. owns. But the challenge for us is that our content, our great intellectual property – Harry Potter, DC, Lord of the Rings – that content has been underused. We believe there is great value for shareholders in joining a 10-year DC – a real plan around DC bringing Harry Potter back to HBO for 10 consecutive years and making multiple Lord of the Rings films. “
While DCU is getting a new treatment that includes movies, TV shows and video games. Harry Potter will be adapted again into a series for Max. As for Lord of the Ringsthe animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was recently pushed back to December 2024, but it will be just one of the many JRR Tolkien-created projects related to the world that Warner Bros. Pictures is planning, as Zaslav has already hinted.
