Warner Bros. Chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy Took Big Risks and Made Great Movies. Their Exit Is a Bad Thing for Cinema

Warner Bros. film executives Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy are leaving the company ahead of the Paramount merger, according to a report from Puck News. The duo, who took over as studio chiefs in July 2022, will not be joining the merged company with Paramount, which has yet to announce its new name. The merger, which is expected to close next week, has yet to be disclosed to De Luca and Abdy by Paramount leadership, according to a source.

Paramount has not commented on the matter. The decision to let De Luca and Abdy go comes before the anticipated low domestic opening weekend for Tom Cruise's film "Digger." Despite this, Warner Bros. is set to release a number of highly anticipated blockbusters, including "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum," "The Batman Part II," "Gremlins 3," and "A Minecraft Movie Squared."

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison plans to promote Paramount Pictures co-chair Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg to oversee both studios after the merger. An additional top executive is also expected to be hired to run Warner for Ellison, though no name has been announced yet. This comes as Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz exits the toymaker to join Ellison's Paramount as part of the merger, becoming co-CEO with a pay package exceeding $46.5 million.