Warner Bros Discovery Chief David Zaslav On Conglom’s Content Strategy: “Real Focus On Franchises” Like ‘Superman’ & ‘Harry Potter’ - Deadline

In the adjacent future, it’s beauteous elemental what the caller Warner Bros Discovery volition zero successful on: “We’re going to person a existent absorption connected franchises,” President and CEO David Zaslav said connected this afternoon’s Q3 net call.

RELATED: Warner Bros Discovery Q3 Earnings: Deadline’s Full Coverage

“We haven’t had a Superman movie successful 13 years,” Zaslav emphasized. “We haven’t had a Harry Potter movie successful 15 years.”

“The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a batch of profits to Warner Bros question pictures implicit the past 25 years,” helium continued. Recently, Henry Cavill announced that helium was reprising his relation arsenic the Man of Steel aft making a cameo successful Black Adam. However, determination are nary details connected a Superman sequel publication oregon director.

“House of the Dragon is a large illustration of that; Game of Thrones, taking vantage of Sex and the City. Lord of the Rings — we inactive person the close to bash Lord of the Rings movies,” Zaslav noted, but helium did not telephone retired New Line’s upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, due retired successful April 12, 2024.

“You absorption connected the large movies, the tentpoles that radical are going to permission home, permission aboriginal from meal to see,” said Zaslav emphasizing however large pics marque 2 oregon 3 times much successful the U.S.

Then slamming direct-to-streaming movies, a program executed nether the erstwhile WarnerMedia regime, Zaslav said: “We learned what doesn’t work. And this is what doesn’t enactment for america based connected everything that we’ve seen: direct-to-streaming movies. So spending a cardinal dollars oregon collapsing a question representation model into a streaming service. The movies that we motorboat successful theatre bash importantly better, and launching a 2-hour, 40-minute movie nonstop to streaming has done thing for HBO Max successful presumption of viewership, retention oregon emotion of the service.”

Zaslav besides said: “The full room shouldn’t beryllium connected HBO Max and paid for by HBO Max. We person an bonzer library: Friends, Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men — there’s 15 oregon 20 bid that are loved and nourishing the assemblage connected a regular basis. But past there’s a immense fig of bid and movies that aren’t being utilized astatine all.

“If nary of it’s being used, wherefore aren’t we putting it connected an AVOD wherever it volition beryllium used? We looked astatine what radical are watching connected Pluto and Tubi: They’re loving Rawhide and Bonanza. They’re not watching aged bid similar Dynasty on Max. There is simply a level wherever radical person an anticipation and what they privation to watch, and we’ve been capable to get a existent imaginativeness into what radical are consuming and yet that gives america a roadmap.”

Essentially the regularisation of thumb for Warner Bros Discovery is seeing what has and hasn’t worked connected the OTT work and “determining however to run going forward.”

“The assemblage volition archer you what they love,” said Zaslav. “We tin spot it connected Max and what radical walk clip with.”