Warner Bros. Is Finalizing A Deal With Amazon For DC Animated Content
Warner Bros. Television Studios is close to finalizing a major animation deal with Amazon for animated DC-branded content, according to Warner Bros. Television Group chairman Channing Dungey.
Speaking at Content London last week, Dungey explained that Warner is putting together plans to spread its animated IP across different platforms, including its own HBO Max.
About the change in strategy, Dungey explained, “With animation, we used to be about staying in-house but now we are doing it on different platforms. HBO Max is the first stop but we are in the process of closing a big deal with Amazon featuring DC-branded content in animation.”
While Dungey’s comments are interesting and specific, they’re not proposing anything entirely new. Back in August, during a now-infamous Q2 earnings call, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav explained that the company would lean heavily on its impressive IP catalog as it worked towards paying off its nearly $48 billion net debt (according to a November earnings report). Since then, Warner Bros. has confirmed several major titles are no longer moving forward at HBO Max but are continuing development and production with the intent to sell to other platforms or broadcasters.
On the same day that Dungey made her comments in London, James Gunn – recently tapped to co-head DC studios, tweeted, “Making plans,” with a photo of the Justice League.
Making plans. pic.twitter.com/cubPgga066
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) November 30, 2022
Since his appointment, alongside DC Studios co-head Peter Safran, Gunn has explained that the duo would like to create a more unified canon across DC live-action, animation, and video game content. How that will work across multiple platforms is a major question going forward, but certainly fans of animated DC shows should be feeling more confident that their favorites may be sticking around, even as Warner Bros. continues to cut costs across its various production businesses.
