Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav: “We Will Fully Embrace Theatrical”

deadline.com:

In a complete about-face from the business strategy employed by former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav made it firm today that the new merged entertainment conglomerate “will fully embrace theatrical.” Period.“We have a different view on the wisdom of releasing direct-to-streaming films, and we have taken some aggressive steps to course-correct the previous strategy,” Zaslav said about on the previous 2021 pandemic model that was implemented to spike HBO Max subs.David Zaslav Talks DC Reset In Wake of ‘Batgirl’ AxingThe CEO expressed his belief in the theatrical window business model today on the conglom’s Q2 earnings call.No theatrical day-and-date experimentation with the HBO Max streaming service, nada.

And as we’ve seen recently, Zaslav has gone to great lengths to course-correct the previous administration’s production plan to make movies straight for the streaming service, pulling the plug on the $70M Batgirl, which was in post-production, and Scoob!

Holiday Haunt. Zaslav even put the brakes on a DC HBO Max movie centering around the Wonder Twins starring Riverdale‘s KJ Apa.The Dish: What’s Behind The ‘Batgirl’ & ‘Scoob!’ Discard?

David Zaslav’s Abject Rejection Of Jason Kilar’s HBO Max Strategy“For example, we will fully embrace the attributes as we believe it creates interest and demand provides a great marketing tailwind, and generates word-of-mouth buzz as films transition to streaming and beyond,” Zaslav said about the theatrical window model and its downstream ancillaries. “When you’re in theaters, the value of the content and the overall viewing experience is elevated.”He added: “Then when the same content moves to PVOD, and then streaming it is elevated again.