Warner Bros. Movie Co-Heads Are Burning Through Cash, Irking CEO

Shortly after Joker: Folie à Deux opened in October, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav summoned the co-leads of his movie studio to company headquarters in New York. The sequel to the 2019 smash hit Joker had been a critical and commercial disaster, grossing just $208 million, about one-fifth what the original took in—despite costing nearly four times as much to make.

In a closed-door meeting, Zaslav railed against the performance of the film, which studio heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy had supervised from start to finish after joining Warner Bros. in 2022. Zaslav also ...