David Zaslav has become more famous than he would have likely ever imagined (or perhaps even wanted) after being installed as the CEO of freshly-minted multimedia conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery.
Wielding the axe with abandon that’s as reckless as it is ruthless, the executive has been pulling plugs left, right, and center, canceling productions that were close to completion, and just generally doing everything in his power to save as much money as possible after inheriting what could only be described as a fiscal shambles from the previous regime.
Things took another turn last night when Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Shazam! Fury of the Gods were both delayed, and it didn’t take long for reports to emerge that WB is so short on cash that the marketing budget only stretches far enough to see two new wide releases roll out before the end of 2022, with Black Adam and Don’t Worry Darling getting the nod.
Suffice to say, fans had an absolute field day with the news, and the memes began flowing like fine wine in an instant.
We’ve all done our part to cut costs as part of our daily routines, but Zaslav has the misfortune of doing it under a hugely bright spotlight with billions of dollars at stake, all while culling properties, projects, and IPs that have sprawling built-in fandoms. It’s not an easy job, but someone’s got to do it, although we do appreciate the imagination being put in by the online community to try and make light of a difficult situation.