Live-Action ‘Wonder Twins’ Film Scrapped By HBO Max Following Warner Bros.-Discovery Merger

Toby Emmerich’s exit as chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures group, and the ascension of former MGM film leaders Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, are just the latest instances of upheaval in what is already shaping up to be a tempestuous new era at the studio behind Harry Potter and Batman.Emmerich’s ouster has been gossiped about for years, dating back well before the company was sold to Discovery. Still, his decision to leave for a production deal stunned executives on the studio’s Burbank lot, many of whom had worked with Emmerich for decades.

A British government watchdog agency announced plans Wednesday to investigate whether telco company BT Group’s proposal to merge its sports TV business with Warner Bros. Discovery in the U.K. hurts the competitive marketplace it was created to protect.

Naman Ramachandran “Trixie Motel,” starring drag legend and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” winner Trixie Mattel, “Book of Queer,” “Generation Drag” and “Control” are among the new Discovery+ originals commemorating U.K. Pride Month in June. 2022 marks 50 years of Pride in the U.K.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is investigating the proposed joint venture between Warner Bros Discovery and BT Group which will create a new premium sports offering for the UK and Ireland. The regulator said today that it notified the respective parties on Tuesday and is inviting comments on the transaction until June 17.

Naman Ramachandran The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery and telco giant BT.The entities had revealed a premium sports venture in May, for the U.K.

Wilson Chapman editorMajor entertainment companies Amazon Studios, Warner Bros. Discover, A+E Networks and Banijay Americas have signed on to join Coded for Inclusion, an initiative that aims to combat discriminatory hiring systems in the industry through its Staff Me Up platform.

J.J. Abrams’ ambitious HBO sci-fi drama series Demimonde has hit a major roadblock in its long journey to the screen. The issues, related to the show’s price, come amid talk of a potential reevaluation of the massive deal J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot has at Warner Bros. for film, TV, gaming and digital content as the new Warner Bros. Discovery is scrutinizing every aspect of the assets they took over.

Warner Bros. Discovery has formally named Nathaniel Brown chief corporate communications officer of the newly merged company.

Nathaniel Brown has been named chief corporate communications officer for Warner Bros. Discovery, the company announced on Tuesday.Brown will be responsible for its global communications operations and media relations, while also serving as lead spokesperson.Brown previously led global corporate communications for Discovery, Inc. as the company’s executive vice president of global communications.

Does the world of DC Films seem a little schizophrenic at times? Well, that happens when you change leadership seemingly dozens of times over a few years and or when a company is acquired by a larger parent company, as in the case of Discovery and their recent acquisition of Warner Bros. That might be the long way of saying that it sounds like another DC Comics film adaptation may have been axed.

election.Jennifer Hudson, who is starting a syndicated talk show this fall for the company's Telepictures division, did an awkward onstage sample of it with two HGTV stars, rapper Lil Jon and designer twin Jonathan Drew.The company tried to tie it all together by saying it will offer "live events that thrill us, the headlines that define us, the real-life stories that connect us.“There's now one place where it all awaits us.”Along the way, the company made some programming news. Discovery+ is working on a two-part documentary looking at the roots of the toxic divorce between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, and another that gives a behind-the-scenes look at snowboarder Shaun White's last competition at the Winter Olympics.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe planned “Wonder Twins” live-action movie at HBO Max is no longer going forward, Variety has learned.The news comes just over a month after it was announced that KJ Apa and Isabel May had been cast in the lead roles in the DC film as the titular twins. It also arrives in the wake of the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger and Discovery boss David Zaslav’s pledge to cut approximately $3 billion in costs at the newly merged company.

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, proclaimed the merged company as essentially the fifth broadcast network, and repeated his vow that the company would overcome any skepticism about its prospects.

Jennifer Hudson, host of the forthcoming eponymous Warner Bros. Unscripted TV daytime talk show kicked things off at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Upfront with some help from Discovery and CNN stars.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorWarner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav raised the curtain on the combined Warner Bros.

Selome Hailu Months before the Warner Bros. Discovery deal was completed, execs at the now-merged company promised to find $3 billion in synergy savings over the next three years.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentJohannes Larcher and Luis Duran, respectively HBO Max’s general managers of international and Latin America, are set to exit the streamer as part of the ongoing shakeup at Warner Bros. Discovery, Variety has confirmed.The two top HBO Max execs are the latest layoffs to surface as a new leadership team is being put in place at the merged behemoth by JB Perrette previously Discovery’s president and CEO of streaming and international and now appointed CEO and president of Warner Bros.

Selome Hailu In a memo obtained by Variety on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery’s head of HR Adria Alpert Romm reiterated to staffers that they’d be required to work from the office three days per week beginning June 1.Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia was completed on April 8. On April 26, Deadline reported the company’s first memo mentioning the 3-day requirement.The news comes amid a series of high profile executive exits at Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterBrad Wilson, HBO Max’s U.S. general manager and EVP of global data, CRM and growth, is exiting amid an ongoing shakeup at new company Warner Bros.