Warner Bros. enjoyed a triumphant night at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, with Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' winning four Oscars and Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' taking six, including best picture and best director. The victories vindicated the studio's auteur-friendly strategy under executives Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, who faced doubts over their expensive bets on risky films.
De Luca and Abdy were thanked repeatedly during the ceremony, with Michael B. Jordan praising them for 'betting on original ideas and original artistry.' De Luca called it 'the greatest night of my life,' adding that Anderson was 'very overdue' and Coogler would return.
However, the celebration was overshadowed by Warner Bros. Discovery's pending $110 billion sale to Paramount, orchestrated by CEO David Zaslav. The merger has sparked fears of mass layoffs and reduced artistic freedom under Paramount chairman David Ellison, who has ties to the Trump administration. At the Vanity Fair party, Jane Fonda wore a 'no mergers' pin, calling the deal 'problematic' and warning of political control over content.
De Luca and Abdy were hired in 2022 to revive Warner Bros. after the disastrous HBO Max day-and-date strategy under AT&T. They restored trust by offering bigger budgets and autonomy, backing films like 'Sinners' ($90 million) and 'One Battle After Another' ($130 million). While early hits like 'Sinners' and 'Weapons' paid off, recent releases such as 'The Bride!' have flopped, raising questions about the sustainability of their approach under new ownership.
