Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s Pay Topped $39 Million in 2022, Down From Massive Haul a Year Earlier

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Netflix reported its first-quarter 2023 earnings Tuesday. The streamer added 1.75 million net new subscribers in Q1, compared with gaining 7.66 million for the final quarter of 2022, the period during which its low-cost, ad-supported tier launched.

Lord Of The Rings films in the works.Back in February, it was announced that Warner Bros and New Line had signed a deal to make “multiple” new movies based on J. R. R.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and President David Zaslav, just a day after revealing details of the new combined streaming service Max, joined industry titans Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson to tout another area close to the heart of the studio he now heads: the importance of restoring and preserving Warner Bros.’ rich legacy of film classics, especially as it heads into its 100th anniversary year. Appearing on stage at the opening night of the 14th TCM Classic Film Festival with Spielberg and Anderson in a conversation moderated by TCM host Ben Mankiewicz, Zaslav — who previously stated his belief in the theatrical experience and a return to that after 2021’s much-derided day-and-date release model under past CEO Jason Kilar — made it clear that the studio’s commitment to the preservation and well-being of the studio’s rich library will be a priority in his administration. (Turner Classic Movies is a cable channel under the WBD umbrella.)

chatter over the last year as to whether Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had burned bridges with the longtime WB icon over whether he would have greenlit Eastwood’s commercially unsuccessful “Cry Macho,” this new movie is indeed set for Warner Bros.

Harry Potter book series by is being adapted for television. about an HP series since January 2021, but it looks like it's finally happening.

Despite author J.K. Rowling coming under fire during the pandemic over her comments on transgender issues, Warner Bros has boldly stood by the Harry Potter and Wizarding World architect, in particular this morning, when it was made official that Warner Bros Discovery has greenlit a Harry Potter Max streaming series.

Warner Bros. Discovery disappointed the children’s TV industry last year when it pulled a number of shows from HBO Max, signaling an exit from this part of the business.

Although an introductory video at Wednesday’s Warner Bros Discovery streaming event included clips of NBA star LeBron James and CNN host Anderson Cooper, the rest of the presentation was strikingly sports- and news-free.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Warner Bros. Discovery shares were down 6% at the close of trading Wednesday, on the heels of the company’s expansive presentation of its plans to overhaul the HBO Max streamer. WB Discovery shares have been battered over the past year as the company dealt with post-merger cost-cutting and management realignment. On Wednesday, the stock fell 5.8% to $14.05 on what was a down day overall for the market and a down day for most of WB Discovery’s media rivals, including Disney (down 2.5%), Paramount Global (3.3%) and Netflix (down 2%). The Dow Jones index fell a modest 38.2 points while the Nasdaq dropped 102 points, or 1%. The hourlong WB Discovery presentation was held during trading hours, at 10 a.m. PT on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. Wall Street’s verdict on WB Discovery’s plans is still not in, but the immediate reaction of investors indicates that the company still has a long road ahead in sorting out its profit centers in the age of streaming.

Max streaming service, the CEO says that his company is hoping for the best but prepared for the worst as a potential writers strike in Hollywood looms ever closer. “Everybody needs to feel fully valued from start to finish. I think our objective, that everybody gets fairly compensated for the work that they do,” Zaslav said at a press conference Wednesday on the Warner Bros.

“This is our time. This is our chance,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said today in his livestream intro for the company’s unveiling of Max, its rebranded streaming service that goes live May 23. “This is our rendezvous with destiny.”

“We’re optimistic that we can that we can get through this in a way that’s fair to all parties,” said Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav today of  negotiations between the Writers Guild and the studios and risk of a strike by the scribes.

As rival motion picture studios were becoming intoxicated on theatrical day-and-date releases tied to their streaming platforms during Covid, and big streamers like Netflix completely sidestepping wide theatrical releases, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav believed in the economics of the big picture.

It was announced today at the Warner Bros Discovery streamer presser that this spring’s DC feature, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, would be hitting the newly revamped Max service on its relaunch date, May 23.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s not HBO Max — soon it’s just going to be Max. Warner Bros. Discovery officially announced Max as the new name of its flagship streamer, lopping off the HBO part of the name as it mixes in a big bucket of new content from Discovery+ and other new original series. The company announced the name change at a press event Wednesday. The rebuilt Max (on the web at max.com) is set to launch first in the U.S. on May 23, featuring what the company promises will be an average of more than 40 new titles and TV show seasons every month. “Max is the one to watch,” WBD CEO David Zaslav said on stage at the event, with thousands of shows and movies on the service.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery finally revealed the plans (and confirmed the long-rumored name) for its new streaming service, Max, which will combine offerings from HBO Max and Discovery+ into one product, during a splashy press presentation on the Warner Bros. Studio lot Wednesday. The event kicked off at 10 a.m. at the iconic Burbank location, presided over by WBD CEO David Zaslav, president and CEO of global streaming and games JB Perrette, HBO and HBO Max CEO and chairman Casey Bloys (who now also has oversight of Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Network), and U.S. networks group chairman and chief content officer Kathleen Finch. Variety is on the scene, ready to fill you in on all the details about the new streamer, Warner Bros. Discovery’s direct-to-consumer strategy, the future of HBO and the standalone version of Discovery+.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Gordon Ramsay is looking to find a new culinary entrepreneur to financially back in his upcoming Fox competition “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars,” and Variety has your first look at the food and drink industry execs who will be competing for the celeb chef’s $250,000 investment. Among those picked as contestants for the series, which debuts May 24 on Fox after the “MasterChef” Season 13 premiere, are the masterminds behind food brands and businesses including Fat Miilk, the Pepper app, Confetti Cakes baking kits, Snow Cone King, Happy Grub, Vegan AF, Pizza Girl, Smart Cups, Luther Bob’s and more. See the full list of competitors for “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars” Season 1 below.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor David Zaslav went office-furniture shopping when he moved into the executive building on the Warner Bros. lot last year. The new CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery had Jack L. Warner’s large dark-wood desk pulled out of storage for his use. He also found a leather legal pad holder once clutched by another of his predecessors at the storied studio: Steven J. Ross. Zaslav wanted these totems in his sunken workspace overlooking Olive Avenue in Burbank to show the formidable legacy, in business and in popular culture, he has inherited. “I wanted them to remind me that we need to show as much courage now in leading this business as the Warner brothers did in launching it one hundred years ago,” Zaslav says. As the studio marks the centen- nial of its incorporation as Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. (the official date is April 4, 1923), the company has never been more focused on using the wealth of intellectual property assets, the production expertise and the global distribution muscle built up over the past 100 years to power its second century. The vast Warner Bros. movie and TV library is the foundation of WB Discovery’s empire-building ambition to transition from traditional cable to direct-to-consumer streaming.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “The Masked Singer” staple Ken Jeong is set to lead a new Fox single-cam sitcom based on Dan Harris’ popular book and podcast “10% Happier,” Variety has learned. Hailing from Lionsgate Television and Fox Entertainment, the comedy, which has a script-to-series commitment at the broadcaster, the centers on a family man and mid-level juice company executive who finds himself in a major life rut. After a panic attack at work, he has an epiphany where he realizes he needs to change everything about the way he lives in order to become…”10% Happier.” Apple’s “Acapulco” and Fox’s “The Cool Kids” writers and producers Michael Lisbe and Nate Reger are penning the script and executive producing alongside Jeong, author Harris, Brett Carducci and The Tannenbaum Company’s Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Jason Wang.

reported by Bloomberg, the show would be based directly on J.K. Rowling’s best-selling novels, with each season focusing on one book in the seven-book series.The potential series would not be based on an in-universe spin-off, such as the “Fantastic Beasts” films.The concept of one season per book suggests that the franchise would be an ongoing, years-long project from Warner Bros.Rowling is in preliminary talks to join the project as a producer and would have a degree of creative involvement, though she would not be the primary creator or showrunner of the series.Once Rowling is officially on board, the project is expected to look for a writer.There have long been talks about a “Harry Potter” television series, with rumors first sparking in January 2021 — although Warner Bros.