Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will leave Warner Bros Motion Picture Group on Tuesday, the day the merged Paramount-Warner Bros company begins operating as Skydance. The exit resolves months of speculation, but lands at a rough moment for the studio’s theatrical performance.
Warner Bros’ domestic box office from January 1 through October 1 was $448.4 million, compared with the $4.3 billion the studio posted in 2025, Deadline reported. This weekend’s Tom Cruise title Digger, budgeted at $125 million to $160 million-plus, may not reach $10 million domestically.
Why Skydance made the leadership call
Skydance co-CEO David Ellison is keeping Paramount Pictures co-chairs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein in place to run the Melrose lot as well as all Warner Bros theatrical brands. That structure does not fit the De Luca and Abdy WBD contract, which runs through 2030 and has the pair reporting to the CEO with marketing and distribution reporting to them.
Deadline reported that the two executives learned the decision through Thursday night reports, before Ellison spoke with them on Friday. Sources say they were surprised and upset by the sequence, and a payout tied to their contract is now likely.
The record behind the exit
De Luca and Abdy delivered 11 Oscar wins and a blockbuster 2025 for Warner Bros. They also leave a dated slate of 39 films feeding into the merged company, which will count roughly 70 films from this weekend through 2029.
- 2025 domestic gross: $4.3 billion
- January 1-October 1 2026 domestic gross: $448.4 million
- Digger production budget: $125 million-$160 million-plus
- Slate pipeline into 2029: about 70 films
Where the duo could land
For now, no formal offers are in play. Sources told Deadline the pair will take time to rest and recalibrate, and they intend to stay partnered with a goal of running a fully theatrical motion picture studio. Job chatter around Netflix, Sony, Apple and Mubi is not backed by active talks, the trade reported, and Netflix Film Chairman Dan Lin is staying in place.
An independent route is plausible. “Mike and Pam would have no problem raising capital and starting their own venture given their track record,” one source with knowledge of the situation told Deadline. An earlier idea involving former Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins did not materialise; Robbins launched Big Shot Pictures with outside backing while De Luca and Abdy were contractually barred from raising funds during the WBD merger.
The slate they leave behind
Skydance and Paramount now inherit the 2027 flow built under the outgoing chiefs. That includes A Minecraft Movie Squared, the Bradley Cooper-directed Ocean’s prequel with Margot Robbie, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. Paramount is also absorbing a potential $1 billion year-end tentpole in Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Three.
What this means for media planners
For entertainment marketers and media planners, a leadership change at the top of a theatrical operation is a signal to re-map campaign approvals, windowing and distribution priorities. The titles remain on the calendar, but the executives who shaped their marketing and release strategy are leaving. Cost discipline around debt paydown is likely to drive the next set of decisions.
Source: Deadline
