*Courtesy of Eric Charbonneau/Warner Bros. via Getty Images.*

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is setting its sights on 12–14 theatrical releases each year across its four core banners — Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. Animation — as it celebrates a standout second quarter at the box office.

In a letter to shareholders accompanying its latest earnings report, CEO David Zaslav outlined the studio’s release strategy:

Warner Bros. Pictures: 1–2 major tentpoles rooted in the studio’s well-known IP.
DC Studios: 1–2 films annually.
New Line Cinema: 3–4 titles, spanning horror, comedy, and other genres.
Warner Bros. Animation: 1–2 films per year.
Additionally, a select number of moderately budgeted original films.

The Motion Picture Group, led by Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, has delivered over $3 billion in global box office revenue so far this year, with more than $2 billion coming in just from the second quarter. Four key releases — A Minecraft Movie, Sinners, Final Destination: Bloodlines, and F1 (for Apple) — collectively crossed the $2 billion mark worldwide.

The studio has now released five consecutive films that debuted to over $45 million domestically, bolstering what the shareholder letter called “our increased bullishness regarding its future creative and financial prospects.” WBD is projecting $2.4 billion in total Studios profit for 2025, with a longer-term goal of reaching $3 billion.

Zaslav credited the momentum to a three-year rebuilding and transformation effort since Discovery acquired WarnerMedia. This has included:

A data-driven, bottom-up greenlighting process with significant input from distribution and marketing teams.
Systematic marketing and distribution checkpoints, especially during the crucial eight weeks before release.
Real-time data use to fine-tune release windowing decisions.

Additionally, WBD reorganized its marketing and distribution teams into a globally integrated unit, enabling synchronized worldwide releases. The restructuring also led to some recent staff reductions.

On the DC front, ‘Superman’ debuted with a $220 million global opening, the strongest for DC Studios since 2022. James Gunn is already deep in development on future DC projects, including ‘The Batman II’ (2027), slated to start filming next spring; the next DC Universe installment; ‘Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow’ (2026); ‘Clayface’ (2026); and a new untitled Wonder Woman film.

TRENDING NEWS