Walter Hamada has officially stepped down as the head of DC Films at Warner Bros. Discovery. Hamada worked for Warner Bros. for over 15 years, and served as the President of DC Films for four years. He has run the DC film company since 2018, and renewed a contract in January 2021 that was supposed to last for two years. Senior Warner Bros. executives are in the process of finalizing his exit payout following his long-term run at the studio.
Hamada’s exit is not unexpected, as sources said he packed up his office and hasn’t been a part of recent meetings, indicating that his exit had been planned. Hamada is the fifth Warner Bros. studio executive to leave since President and CEO David Zaslav combined Discovery Inc. with WarnerMedia in 2022.
Zaslav had been open about his desire to bring in another executive to run DC, like Marvel chief Kevin Feige. This transparency is speculated to be one of the contributing factors to Hamada’s exit. But Hamada has achieved many accomplishments during his time with DC films, most notably creating the crossover between DC’s films and HBO Max. Hamada also oversaw the filming of The Batman during the pandemic, a hugely successful film that grossed a total of $771 million worldwide. Other films that Hamada presided over include The Conjuring, The Final Destination, Friday the 13th, and the first film of Stephen King’s It.
Hamada also encountered controversy in the midst of his success. In 2017, actor Ray Fisher called out filmmaker Joss Whedon for toxic on-set behavior on the set of Justice League's reshoots. Fisher then placed blame on producers Hamada, Geoff Johns, and Jon Berg, accusing them for dismissing his concerns and enabling Whedon's behavior.
Despite his exit from Warner Bros, Hamada is expected to move on to another position as a producer or executive. He was reportedly offered another producing deal, but turned it down as he criticized Warner Bros’ decision to scrap Batgirl in the middle of production. After the Batgirl controversy, studio executive Michael De Luca and co-chief Pam Abdy convinced Hamada to stay until the release of Black Adam, which premieres on October 21.
Zaslav is currently on the search for Hamada’s replacement, with De Luca and Abdy steering the ship for now.