Warner Bros. Discovery recently hired Alan Horn as a key consultant to their movie development team, fixing one of WB's many mistakes of the 2010s. Prior to his recent time as chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Horn spent 12 years as WB's COO as a part of an executive shakeup resulting in the promotion of now-disgraced CEO Kevin Tsujihara.
Horn is extremely well respected in Hollywood and has been in high demand despite being at the end of his career. After leaving WB, he initially attempted to retire before former Disney CEO Bob Iger convinced him to take a role at the company. Horn's emphasis on integrity and maintaining relationships with talent has always been a big reason for his popularity, and the results of the film studios he's overseen speak for themselves.
The 2010s were a rough period for Warner Bros., as the departure of Alan Horn and other executives in 2012 and 2013 marked the beginning of the end of an era for the studio, so his return, even in a much smaller capacity as a consultant, is an encouraging sign of healing after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. After joining WB as COO in 1999, Horn and other executives known for their respect for relationships with directors, actors, and other talent shaped Warner Bros. into a studio that attracted some of the industry's most iconic and influential filmmakers like the Wachowskis, Christopher Nolan, Todd Phillips, Ben Affleck, Zack Snyder, Steven Soderbergh, Baz Luhrman, and more. The importance of his return to Warner Bros cannot be overstated.
Alan Horn's Warner Bros. Departure Preceded a Decade of Mismanagement
In 2012, Horn was asked to retire by then-CEO of Time Warner Jeff Bewkes asked him to retire, marking the start of a notoriously cutthroat executive reshuffling that included the departure of Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov, with Kevin Tsujihara becoming the new CEO of WB. Within the next decade, Warner Bros. saw the decline of multiple franchises, some of its previously treasured filmmakers left for other studios, Kevin Tsujiara stepped down after reports of sexual misconduct, and the company was sold twice. Numerous claims of toxicity across multiple WarnerMedia divisions became a major problem, while filmmakers like Affleck, Snyder, and Nolan were all on their way out the door if they hadn't already taken on projects at other studios. Ironically, while Lana Wachowski didn't leave Warner Bros., The Matrix: Resurrections' story is a fairly on-the-nose critique of the way the studio had changed since the original Matrix films.
It's not clear how much direct influence Horn will have over Warner Bros. culture, but due to his reputation, the desire for him to be a voice in the room bodes well for the kind of company Warner Bros. Discovery intends to become over the next decade. If the studio can repair relationships and bring prestige quality back to their biggest franchises, Warner Bros. just might be able to recover from a decade of bad decisions.