DC Films at Warner Bros. Discovery is now without Walter Hamada, who served as its head. Hamada spent almost 15 years with Warner Bros., including four as President of DC Films. He took over DC Films in 2018, and in January 2021, he signed a contract extension that would keep him in charge for another two years. Executives at Warner Bros. are currently working to finalise his exit compensation after he served the company for many years.
Sources say Hamada has already packed up his office and hasn’t attended any meetings recently, so his departure isn’t a surprise.
Since 2022, when President and CEO David Zaslav merged Discovery Inc. with WarnerMedia, five other Warner Bros. studio executives have left, including Hamada. Zaslav has previously stated his intention to hire a new DC leader in the mould of Kevin Feige, CEO of rival company Marvel. It is believed that Hamada’s departure can be attributed in part to this openness.
However, Hamada has accomplished a great deal during his tenure at DC films, the most notable being the crossover between DC films and HBO Max, which he conceptualised. During the epidemic, Hamada also directed a production of the blockbuster movie The Batman, which earned $771 million worldwide. In addition to It, Hamada has presided over the cinematic adaptations of The Conjuring, The Final Destination, Friday the 13th, and Stephen King’s The Stand. Despite his achievements, Hamada was not immune to criticism. Actor Ray Fisher accused director Joss Whedon of being toxic during reshoots of Justice League in 2017.
Fisher subsequently pointed the finger of blame onto producers Hamada, Geoff Johns, and Jon Berg, saying they had ignored his warnings and enabled Whedon’s actions. Despite leaving Warner Bros., Hamada will likely find new work as a producer or executive somewhere. A second producing agreement was apparently offered to him, but he declined it because he was unhappy with Warner Bros.’s decision to cancel the production of Batgirl during filming. The studio’s executive Michael De Luca and co-chief Pam Abdy talked Hamada into staying until the premiere of Black Adam on October 21 in the wake of the uproar surrounding the film’s prior instalment, Batgirl.
Zaslav is now looking for someone to replace Hamada; for the time being, De Luca and Abdy are in charge.