With the release of Black Adam this week, it seems that Walter Hamada has held to his recent plan to exit Warner Bros. Discovery.
According to Deadline, Hamada has already exited and is waiting for his exit payout to be finalized. This plan first came to light in the days following the Batgirl cancelation.
According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter at the time, Hamada was informed of the decision to cancel Batgirl while at a test screening of Black Adam by Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy. Reportedly, Hamada was told that under Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s new strategy, the $90 million dollar film wasn’t strong enough for a theatrical release and was too expensive for a streaming release.
A further source stated Hamada was upset that he wasn’t consulted about the decision and that he was concerned for the cast and crew of the film.
The Wrap spoke with further sources that said De Luca and Abdy wanted Hamada to stay in his position. In the weeks following, it was stated that Hamada agreed to stay through the release of Black Adam.
Hamada’s departure brings to a close to his 15 years with the studio. He was originally in the New Line Cinema division where he oversaw productions such as The Conjuring, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the beginning of the IT films. He took on the role of heading up DC Films in Jan. 2018.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is reportedly still hunting for a person who will head up the division in a similar way to how Kevin Feige oversees Marvel Studios.
No word as of yet as to what job Hamada will be moving on to.
