With studio chiefs in the hot seat, Warner Bros. bets on an ambitious film lineup

LAS VEGAS — As Warner Bros.’ embattled workplace heads Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca confidently unveiled their upcoming films to movie theatre owners successful the Caesars Palace Colosseum connected Tuesday evening, determination was small to suggest a workplace successful trouble.

During their presumption astatine CinemaCon — the movie business’ commercialized amusement successful Las Vegas — they elicited cheers aft bringing retired Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor to beforehand their upcoming film, “One Battle After Another.”

They got the assemblage to collectively groan successful fearfulness astatine a peculiarly gory clip from “Final Destination: Bloodlines” involving an MRI machine, assemblage piercings and a vending instrumentality spring.

And they introduced the prima of “The Bride!” arsenic good arsenic Superman himself, David Corenswet, who walked connected signifier to the “Superman” people with co-stars Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult.

“It’s a large grant to play a relation that exists truthful intelligibly successful the nationalist consciousness,” Corenswet said onstage, aft receiving large applause.

And yet, Abdy and De Luca’s aboriginal — and the occurrence of Warner Bros.’ movie bets — is acold from certain. After a drawstring of container bureau disappointments and grumblings astir precocious budgets, rumors person been swirling that De Luca and Abdy’s days astatine the apical of the astir 102-year-old workplace are numbered, which the workplace has denied.

In October, the Burbank studio’s highly anticipated “Joker: Folie à Deux” was a dud, falling acold abbreviated of expectations contempt a reported fund of astatine slightest $190 cardinal earlier marketing. Director Todd Phillips was fixed overmuch state to marque his divisive philharmonic sequel starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. The gamble backfired.

Then successful March, Oscar-winning manager Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi thriller “Mickey 17” struggled astatine the container office. The movie has made lone $121 cardinal globally, contempt a reported fund of $118 million. The Robert De Niro-led mob movie “The Alto Knights” besides bombed with $9 million.

The workplace is counting connected the family-friendly and video game-inspired “A Minecraft Movie,” which comes retired successful theaters this weekend, to crook its fortunes around. It’s expected to unfastened with astir $60 cardinal successful home summons sales. (Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. president of planetary theatrical distribution, told the Colosseum assemblage Tuesday that beforehand income person been “impressive.”)

The presumption featured immoderate high-stakes gambles.

De Luca and Abdy person stake connected large fund projects by auteur directors not based connected tested intelligence property, the kinds of movies that marque risk-averse workplace chiefs sweat bullets. The executives showed footage for “One Battle After Another,” a $130-million transgression thriller written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.

“It’s an incredibly epic movie,” DiCaprio said onstage.

They besides showed footage from Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!,” which volition get successful theaters adjacent twelvemonth and has a reported fund of $80 million. Abdy told the assemblage Tuesday nighttime that “audiences volition beryllium knocked out” by Gyllenhaal’s instrumentality connected the classical Mary Shelley communicative of “Frankenstein,” saying it “introduces america to a satellite that could lone outpouring from Maggie’s superb imagination.”

“It volition stone your world,” De Luca added.

There was besides footage from Zach Cregger’s “Weapons,” a summertime fearfulness movie astir an full schoolroom of children that goes missing, and a video connection from Ryan Coogler to beforehand his upcoming movie “Sinners.”

“There’s a batch to look guardant to implicit the adjacent year,” Abdy said.

Attendees leaving the Colosseum connected Tuesday nighttime mused that the presumption gave them assurance successful the studio’s slate of films.

“Warner Bros. showcased a batch of crushed to beryllium optimistic astir their slate arsenic the CinemaCon presumption highlighted a fig of high-potential, diverse, and commercially charismatic releases aboriginal this twelvemonth and beyond,” said Shawn Robbins, laminitis of movie concern investigation tract Box Office Theory.

Some of the studio’s container bureau struggles predate Abdy and De Luca’s tenure and were projects green-lighted by a erstwhile regime.

De Luca and Abdy were named to pb the storied workplace successful 2022, replacing Toby Emmerich. They antecedently helmed MGM’s movie operations, wherever they championed filmmaker-driven movies specified arsenic Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” and Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci.” Amazon had closed an $8.5-billion woody to acquisition MGM, location of the “Creed” and James Bond films.

Nonetheless, the drawstring of flops has led to questions astir their enactment and created uncertainty astatine the studio, which has already gone done a large shakeup this year. Marketing main Josh Goldstine and planetary movie organisation caput Andrew Cripps announced their departures successful January.

The unit connected the movie part comes arsenic Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav has taken overmuch involvement successful its operations. The institution is saddled with billions of dollars successful indebtedness and has slashed thousands of jobs to chopped costs.

The perceived instability of the movie studio’s enactment has made immoderate filmmakers wary astir mounting up projects with Warner Bros., particularly those that whitethorn request development, said a Hollywood insider who requested anonymity to support relationships.

Warner Bros. rebutted speculation that Abdy and De Luca’s jobs are successful jeopardy. In a connection to Bloomberg, institution spokesperson Robert Gibbs said that “the rumor of an imminent enactment alteration astatine the workplace is not accurate.”

Under De Luca and Abdy’s watch, the workplace relaunched its animation division, which has 5 films successful production, including “The Cat successful the Hat.” Subsidiary New Line Cinema has franchise installments, including “The Conjuring: Last Rites” and a “Mortal Kombat” sequel. (After a “Final Destination: Bloodlines” clip, Brenner, with a deadpan expression, said, “See you astatine the Oscars.”)

For De Luca, joining Warner Bros was a spot of a homecoming. He’d antecedently served arsenic New Line’s president of accumulation until helium was fired successful 2001 aft a tally of container bureau flops. His replacement was Emmerich.

Both De Luca and Abdy are known for their sensation and being filmmaker friendly. De Luca produced “The Social Network,” portion Abdy did “Garden State” and “Queen & Slim.”

Fellow Warner Bros. executives connected signifier for the CinemaCon presumption offered praise and enactment for Abdy and De Luca’s leadership, arsenic good arsenic the studio’s future.

Bill Damaschke, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, thanked the brace onstage for allowing him to articulation the team, saying their shared imaginativeness was “truly inspiring.”

“Telling archetypal stories and taking risks is the lone way toward creating caller planetary franchises,” Damaschke said.