Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is having a rough go of it so far as a new media entity.
The production studio/streaming service has been in business since AT&T (T) executed a Reverse Morris Trust with Discovery Inc. which saw Warner Media pay AT&T $40.5 billion and Discovery transfer $42.4 billion in equity to the telecom giant.
That deal closed on April 8. Four and a half months later, not only is the company $83 billion lighter (AT&T paid $85 billion to buy Time Warner in 2018), but the stock is also down about 45%.
Content revenue, which includes film and TV licensing, content distribution, rentals and licensed products, fell 12% year over year in the most recent quarter. The company blamed the decline on a rise in the "proportion of inter-segment licensing" as a percentage of total content revenue.
The company reported an operating loss of $3.4 billion in the second quarter.
When looking through that lens the unpopular moves the company has been making seem more understandable.
But even Thanos had a reason for wanting to destroy half the universe.
Aquaman and Shazam on the Move
This week, Deadline got the scoop on Warner Bros. Discovery's scheduled release calendar, reporting that tentpole DC Comics superhero flicks "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" and "Shazam: Fury of the Gods" will be pushed back.
The "Shazam" sequel was supposed to premiere on December 21, 2022, now it has been pushed to March 17, 2023. The Aquaman sequel will now debut on Christmas Day 2023 after being pushed from the same March 17 date Shazam now holds.
Deadline reported that the "Aquaman" sequel is being pushed because it needs more time in postproduction. A request for comment from Warner Bros. Discovery was not returned.
Meanwhile, "Shazam's" director has his own theory about why his film's debut is moving to March.
Warner's studio segment isn't the only one seeing shakeups and changes at HBO Max, one of the company's direct-to-consumer product, and the company's network segment.
The Lebron James-produced "House Party" remake is heading to theaters in December instead of being released on the streaming service as was originally planned.
Warner Bros. vs. DCEU
DC Comics has been one of the best purchases Warner Bros. ever made.
Warner purchased DC in 1969. Since then the comic book intellectual property has resulted in some of the biggest hits Warner's movie and television production studios have ever seen.
Three of the top 5 highest-grossing Warner Bros. movies of all time are DC Comics intellectual property. The original "Aquaman" from 2018 is the second highest grossing WB film of all time with a $1.14 billion box office.
But the studio has been going through numerous changes and now Warner is integrating its content with Discovery, which owns the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, the Food Network, HGTV, and the Travel Channel.
DC has been trying to compete with longtime rival Marvel Studios and Disney (DIS). Disney has dominated the box office over the last decade thanks to the extended cinematic universe powered by Marvel Comics.
But despite the success of Aquaman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman at the box office, the studio still hasn't been able to launch a universe on the same level as its biggest competitor.
Now fans will have to wait even longer for the Justice League to take flight.
