James Gunn and Peter Safran are out as the heads of DC Studios after a four-year run, Skydance said Monday.
They’ll be replaced by Marvel veteran Jeremy Latcham, who will serve as president and chief creative officer of the Skydance-owned DC Studios starting Dec. 1.
“James and Peter launched a new era for DC Studios and led it through a period of real transformation, resetting the foundation and building a slate we’re incredibly proud of,” Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison and Co-Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz said in a statement. “We’re grateful for their passion, contributions and commitment to this legendary brand.”
Gunn and Safran will now “return full time to their creative work,” the statement said.
Under their leadership, DC Studios has had a mixed record.
The pair had a strong start with 2025’s “Superman,” which hauled in more than $618 million in worldwide box office revenue and was widely seen as a major boost to DC Studios’ fortunes after years of underperforming superhero fare. At the time of their appointment in 2022, Gunn and Safran were tasked with creating a cohesive vision and framework for the DC superhero universe, not unlike rival Marvel Studios, which had long consolidated control under president Kevin Feige.
But not every film on their slate has performed like “Superman.”
Earlier this summer, “Supergirl” flopped at the box office with a global gross of just $126.5 million on a reported budget of $170 million. The film suffered from lukewarm reviews.
October’s “Clayface,” however, had a solid opening and decent theatrical performance. The body horror film tells the story of a Batman villain and has made about $109 million worldwide on a reported budget of roughly $40 million — far less than the typical superhero movie and more in line with horror flick costs, analysts have said.
Gunn and Safran’s exits were unexpected, given that they were listed among the executives tapped to lead the newly combined Skydance after the merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. The pair will still be involved with 2027’s “Man of Tomorrow,” written and directed by Gunn and produced by Safran and Gunn, as well as “The Batman II,” which they will produce.
“Four years ago, we set out to unite DC under one creative vision,” Gunn and Safran said in a statement. “We’re immensely proud of the team that turned that ambition into something real.”
New DC Studios chief Latcham joined Marvel Studios in 2004 and worked closely with Feige to launch Marvel’s powerhouse franchise. During his tenure, he worked on 2008’s “Iron Man,” 2010’s “Iron Man 2” and served as an executive producer on films such as 2012’s “The Avengers” and 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” He left Marvel in 2017 to start his own production company, Latcham Pictures.
“The chance to steward the incredible cast of DC characters to the screen in a way that excites lifelong fans while introducing their timeless stories to the next generation is a massive responsibility that I do not take lightly,” he said in a statement.
In recent years, superhero movies have not been the consistent box office hits they once were, despite some breakout hits such as Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” That’s led to some hand-wringing in the industry about the genre as a whole.
“DC has had several fits and starts,” said Brent Penter, research analyst at Raymond James.”It raises the question of what’s the future of the [DC universe] look like?”
