Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav insists the top franchises at the studio, including Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, are not used to their full potential by the studio.
Per The Wrap, Zaslav discussed the Warner Bros. IP catalog at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference. The studio head believes that their foremost franchises, while being the company's backbone, are being underutilized, "One of the other real strengths of Warner Bros. is we talk about the great IP that Warner Bros. owns. But, for us, the challenge is that our content, our great IP — Harry Potter, DC, Lord of the Rings — that content has been underused," he explains. "We haven't done anything with Harry Potter for more than a decade. We haven't done anything with Lord of the Rings."
Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings will join the DC franchise as IPs Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery will prioritize over the next decade, "We think there's a lot of shareholder value in attaching a 10-year DC — a real plan around DC, bringing Harry Potter back to HBO for ten consecutive years, doing multiple movies of Lord of the Rings," the WB head revealed, insisting that the studio's performance over the last two decades without accounting their three biggest franchises was relatively flat.
Zaslav conceded that although the DC, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings properties were "big differentiators for the company," the studio had to be careful not to overuse the content. Zaslav, however, is fervent in the belief that their major IPs hold the key to sustained success for the studio, "When you put those franchises in, it's the best performing studio in the world," he said. "We need to deploy our best capital, and we need to do it with the best creative people in the world."
Warner Bros. Discovery to Reportedly Lose Up to $500 Million Due to Strikes
Warner Bros. Discovery has revealed that the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes will see the studio's 2023 profits take a half-billion-dollar hit. The strikes will impact WBD's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, ranging from $300 million to $500 million, which places its full-year projection in the bracket of $10.5 billion to $11 billion. The studio believes the financial impact of the Hollywood strikes will persist through the end of 2023.
All Harry Porter and Lord of the Rings movies are available on Max.
Source: The Wrap