Skydance fires James Gunn and Peter Safran at DC, hires Marvel veteran Jeremy Latcham

Skydance is replacing James Gunn and Peter Safran, the co-chiefs of DC Studios, with former Marvel Studios executive Jeremy Latcham, according to a Reuters report carried by the New York Post and Seeking Alpha. The move was announced Monday evening, and the company said Latcham takes over on December 1.

What was announced

• Latcham will lead DC's film, television and animation slate, including its creative pipeline, production, talent and strategy, Reuters reported.
• He will report to Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, the co-chairs of Skydance Motion Picture Group, the company said.
• Gunn and Safran have run DC Studios for four years. Reuters says they will continue as filmmakers and producers.
• Latcham was part of the founding leadership team at Marvel Studios under Kevin Feige, worked on "Iron Man" and "The Avengers," and left in 2017 to start Latcham Pictures. He previously worked with Gunn on the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films.

A reversal from October

This is a turn from where the story stood a few weeks ago. In early October, trade reports said Skydance chief David Ellison had asked Gunn and Safran to keep running DC after the merger. The company has since closed its roughly $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, according to Reuters. Seeking Alpha's account is that the pair wanted assurances of continued autonomy while Skydance leadership wanted film production consolidated under Greenstein and Goldberg. We have not seen either side confirm that reasoning on the record, so treat it as one outlet's account.

The number behind the move

Reuters sets the commercial gap in plain figures, citing Box Office Mojo: Marvel's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" has grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide this year, against about $126 million for DC's "Supergirl." Those are two different kinds of release, but the contrast is the scoreboard Skydance is pointing to. Reuters quotes Emarketer analyst Ross Benes saying the hire could make DC look too much like Marvel, but is a lower-risk choice than an outsider.

What it means for the business

The change lands one day after Skydance's first earnings report since closing the Warner deal, where it promised $6 billion in cost cuts against a heavy debt load. We covered those numbers here. A franchise studio is one of the assets that debt has to be serviced from, so a leadership change at DC is a statement about where management thinks the growth is. By our chart data, Skydance shares were at $7.95 on November 10, about 28.7% below their September 16 peak.

For investors the open questions are practical: whether the 2027 DC slate keeps its dates and directors, and how Gunn's own projects, including future Superman work, fit his new producer-and-filmmaker role. Seeking Alpha says Gunn is expected to return to directing future DC projects. Neither Reuters nor the company has detailed that, and we have not confirmed it.

Sources: Reuters via the New York Post; Seeking Alpha. The story is also carried by AP, the New York Daily News and The Hollywood Reporter. Share price via Yahoo Finance data. This is market information, not investment advice.