CNBC is reporting that Dan Lin will not be taking charge of Warner Bros. Discovery's DC Films and Television unit. We thought he was a lock for the job, but negotiations broke down and a deal wasn't reached.
Warner Bros. stocks have dropped by 50% since the studio merged with Discovery, and CEO David Zaslav has made getting the messy DC Extended Universe under control a top priority. Lin seemed like a natural fit as a major DC Comics fan responsible for producing hits like The LEGO Movie and IT, but he decided to stay at Rideback, his own film and TV company.
It sounds like the biggest issue was how his ownership of that outlet would factor into the deal and how Warner Bros. Discovery planned to compensate him. Lin hoped to keep Rideback operational with an equity stake owned by his potential new employers, but talks became bogged down.
Zaslav previously approached former 20th Century Studios boss Emma Watts about the role, but she passed. He even met personally with Lin to try and convince him to take over the DCEU, but is now said to be speaking to "several" other candidates.
Back in August, the executive said, "We’ve done a reset. We think we can build a much stronger, sustainable growth business out of DC. As part of that, we are going to focus on quality. We are not going to release any film before it’s ready. DC is something we can make better."
Simply put, DC needs to get better.
Despite some critical and commercial hits, Warner Bros. has delivered more bad than good movies and a plan is desperately needed. Whether whoever gets this job will follow through with Walter Hamada's plan to reboot the DCEU with The Flash before a Crisis on Infinite Earths movie remains to be seen, though it seems doubtful.
Would a full-blown reboot with new actors be what's best? Perhaps, but we'll just have to wait and see!
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