It’s not a secret that Warner Bros. has been in a financial predicament for a while now, with CEO David Zaslav attempting to shave billions off the budget wherever possible, and he’s pissed off his fair share of people in the process.
Whether it’s Batgirl being abandoned despite being almost finished, countless streaming originals being cancelled, or the recent call to consider licensing content off to Netflix in an effort to bring in some additional revenue, matters haven’t exactly been helped by a slew of high-profile box office disasters like Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash.
However, the company may have taken things one step too far with its plans to decimate Turner Classic Movies in its latest round of layoffs, with almost all of the senior leadership being given their marching orders yesterday. Assembling like an acclaimed bunch of Avengers, it didn’t take long for Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson to pen an open letter urging Zaslav to reconsider.
The trio have gained another high-profile backer, too, with Ryan Reynolds throwing his weight behind the aforementioned filmmakers while outlining the necessity of TCM for cinephiles everywhere.
Of course, the people in charge of multi-billion dollar corporations don’t give a rat’s ass who you are when there’s money to be saved, but seeing as the backlash has roped in a litany of A-listers already, it wouldn’t be a shock were Warner Bros. Discovery forced into at least some sort of minor comedown in regards to its short and long-term plans for TCM.