Hollywood super-boss Walter Hamada is leaving the Warner Bros. brand after 15 years as an executive and nearly four years as the President of DC Films. Hamada is an award-winning producer and business magnate that built up his career producing horror. While serving as President of DC Films, Hamada grew the DC Extended Universe to 11 feature films with several other dynamic projects either in production or soon arriving, including Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam.
Hamada's tenure as the President of DC Films has been loaded with booms and busts. He took over the spot after the famously dysfunctional Justice League film whiffed with audiences and critics. Allegations of toxicity against Justice League reshoot director Joss Whedon prolonged the administrative and legal crisis deep into Hamada's term. But, while under Hamada's leadership and executive producing, the DC brand has produced 3 separate films that grossed more than one billion dollars - Aquaman, Joker, and Wonder Woman, with Matt Reeves' The Batman not far off at nearly $800 million.
Deadline reported that Hamada's departure from Warner Bros. is official, and the search is on for the next president of DC Films. Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav has reinvented the management team while serving as CEO of the company, and Hamada is the fifth film executive to be shown the door. It's been reported that Zaslav is looking for a candidate that can emulate the success Kevin Feige has had with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though world-building talents like Feige are few and far between. Hamada's exit comes a year ahead of his contract expiration, which had him on board DC Films until the end of 2023.
What Does Hamada's Departure Mean For The DCEU?
Hamada is leaving the DC brand in decent shape with hotly anticipated sequels in place for Robert Pattinson's Batman and Joaquin Phoenix's Joker. However, these films exist outside the traditional DCEU, which still needs fleshing out to catch up with Marvel. There was evidently a difference of opinion on the direction of the DCEU between Hamada, the top company brass, and the DCEU's key stars. Hamada was not one of the forces behind shutting down the DCEU's Batgirl, and he considered quitting after the movie was scuttled despite being fully shot. As for talent, the new DCEU frontman Dwayne Johnson reportedly went over Hamada's head to secure a special, secret cameo in Black Adam.
The next 5 films in the DCEU are currently in post-production, but fans cannot assume that projects green-lit under Hamada will make it to the big screen. As evidenced by the Batgirl fiasco, Warner Bros Discovery will not hesitate to pull the plug at the last moment. The next DC Films president will have a tall task ahead of them trying to meet Zaslav's expectations while transitioning out of the mostly successful Hamada era. Black Adam, which Hamada also executive produced, will be the first film out of the gate for DC Films since his exit, arriving in theaters on October 21, 2022.
Source: Deadline
