James Gunn and Peter Safran have exited DC Studios.
Gunn said the role had been trying and cited the at-times corporate nature of the job in his departure note.
He said he felt relieved and excited to return to pure filmmaking after his stint leading the studio.
James Gunn and Peter Safran quit as co-heads of DC Studios on Monday (November 9), four years after they took over. Their exit followed the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery, DC’s parent company, with Paramount to form Skydance. Former Marvel Studios executive Jeremy Latcham has taken charge as president and chief creative officer.
James Gunn on exiting DC Studios
Gunn addressed his sudden departure in a social media post and hinted at the reason. He said his time at the studio had been trying and pointed to the job’s corporate pressures.
Gunn penned a lengthy note thanking everyone who supported him and Safran in four years as DC Studios heads.
“But what only the closest people to me have known over the past four years is my time at DC Studios has been trying, to say the least,” Gunn wrote in his post, adding that he disliked the “at-times corporate nature” of the job and thanked Safran for carrying much of that load.
“I’m always a very hard worker, but as a filmmaker I would at least get to take short breaks to unwind, and I’ve stolen even that time from both myself and my loved ones over the past four years (Jenn, I love you and I’m sorry, and you don’t need to feel guilty for being the happiest of all people that I’m no longer doing this job),” the Guardians of the Galaxy director added.
The filmmaker further wrote that his ADHD hyperfocus made it harder to divide his time between the projects he loved and the broader responsibilities of a studio chief. He said that had also cut into time with his loved ones.
Return to filmmaking
Gunn said he felt relief. “I will miss the people around me, and I will miss being the co-caretaker of these great characters, but I’m also incredibly relieved and excited to get back to pure filmmaking,” he added.
He also made clear that he is not fully done with DC work. Gunn is set to direct Man of Tomorrow, the follow-up to his Superman. “That’s not to say Peter and I are immediately done with DC or superheroes. We have Man of Tomorrow out this summer. And we’ve just been engaged on another DC project which I’m writing, and we’ll see where it goes after that. And, of course, the characters we set up will live on,” the filmmaker wrote.
Jeremy Latcham takes over DC Studios
On Monday, Skydance Corp. appointed Jeremy Latcham president and chief creative officer of DC Studios. He will now focus full-time on creative work.
Over their four years in charge, Gunn and Safran drew up a 10-year roadmap for DC Studios. Their slate included Superman, Supergirl and Clayface.
