How quickly the fortunes of a Hollywood studio head can change.
Just weeks after the word around town was that their jobs were in jeopardy, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group studio heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy have passed a key test of their film strategy and will likely live to fight another day thanks to the critical and commercial success of Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” and the birth of a new franchise with Jared Hess’ “A Minecraft Movie,” according to multiple insiders who spoke with TheWrap.
Coogler’s vampire horror film’s $48 million domestic opening weekend and extremely rare A CinemaScore — the first for a horror film in 39 years — has strengthened the pair’s position following earlier misfires like Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux” and Bong Joon-ho’s “Mickey 17.”