Producer Dan Lin attends the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “The LEGO Batman Movie” at Regency Village Theater on February 4, 2017 in Westwood, California.
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Film producer Dan Lin, who has been in talks to head Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC Comics film and television unit, will eventually not take the job after all, according to people familiar with the matter.
Both sides ended negotiations without reaching an agreement.
The news comes during a turbulent time for newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery. CEO David Zaslav has attempted a redesign of WarnerMedia following its merger with Discovery in April, including layoffs and the removal of content from streaming service HBO Max. Shares have fallen about 50% since the merger closed.
After discussing a possible offer from Warner Bros., Lin decided to stay with Rideback, the film and television company he founded and directed, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks were private were. He has produced films such as The Lego Movie and the two-part theatrical adaptation of Stephen King’s It.
A spokesman for Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment. Lin could not immediately be reached for comment.
The 49-year-old film producer was one of the favorites for the role, with expectations that Lin would report directly to Zaslav, bypassing department heads at HBO and HBO Max, Warner Bros. TV and Warner Bros. Pictures. Contract negotiations ran into trouble because of Lin’s ownership of Rideback and the way Warner Bros. Discovery would compensate him for it, two of the people said.
The two sides exchanged term sheets, and Lin wanted to keep Rideback going with a stake from WBD, one of the people said. Both parties decided to go ahead after negotiations stalled, one of the people said.
Zaslav has been looking for someone to stabilize the ship in DC’s film department, home of superheroes like Wonder Woman and Superman, as Warner Bros. Discovery aims to capture the enduring success of Disney’s Marvel Studios.
Warner Bros. recently pushed back its sequel Aquaman, which was originally scheduled for release in March 2023, to December 2023. Also slated for release next year, The Flash has faced controversy over several allegations, including child grooming, because of its star Ezra Miller. Zaslav pulled the almost-completed “Batgirl” off his HBO Max release slate, allowing the company to take a tax write-off.
In April it was reported that Zaslav had approached Emma Watts, a former top film executive at 20th Century Studios and Paramount, to take the mantle, but that Watts had not accepted the job. Warner Bros. Discovery is speaking to several other candidates for the job, one of the people said. Zaslav personally met with Lin to convince him to take the job, another person said.
Zaslav recently spoke about his desire to build a “long-term, much stronger, sustainable growth company out of DC” that focuses on quality. The executive is planning a reboot of the DC movie universe that would set out a 10-year roadmap for the franchise.
Zaslav hired Hollywood producer Alan Horn in July to serve in an advisory role to help the CEO steer the film business. A distinguished executive and Disney veteran, Horn was with The Walt Disney Company when it began creating its Marvel Cinematic Universe and relaunching the Star Wars film series.
He also helped bring the Hobbit films to the big screen, as well as the eight-film Harry Potter film series and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.