DC Palace Coup: Gunn & Safran Ousted — What Now

James Gunn and Peter Safran’s kryptonite turned out to be a new leadership regime.

On Monday morning, Skydance announced that Gunn and Safran were out as CEOs and chairmen of DC Studios, with Marvel veteran Jeremy Latcham taking their place. In four years on the job, the duo rebooted Superman — written and directed by Gunn — to the tune of $618 million, the No. 3 grosser at the North American box office for 2025. This summer, Supergirl tanked with $126 million, while Clayface has been a solid double, earning $109 million on a budget of around $40 million two weeks into its release. On the TV front — while their slate was far smaller than they touted in 2023 — they produced HBO Max’s Peacemaker and for HBO, Lanterns.

In a statement, chairman and CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz credited the pair with “resetting the foundation and building a slate we’re incredibly proud of.” Skydance declined to comment further.

On the Skydance earnings call Monday afternoon, Ellison thanked them, welcomed Latcham and spoke about an “aligned shared vision and optimism of what we can do with the incredible treasure trove of storytelling.”

The shakeup blindsided people inside Skydance, according to company sources. Gunn and Safran had appeared to make it through the merger. So what does their exit signal for DC Studios? We’ve got five key takeaways for the comic brand’s film and TV business, plus a lot of open questions about where it could go next.