Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. CEO David Zaslav has begun informal meetings with potential candidates to replace the current heads of the film studio, Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, whose contracts are set to expire in 2026. These discussions are in the early stages, and no final decision has been made regarding the future of De Luca and Abdy. The move follows the 2022 merger of Discovery Inc. with WarnerMedia from AT&T Inc., valued at $43 billion. The decision to consider new leadership comes amid reported tensions at Warner Bros. Pictures due to recent movie flops, including 'Joker: Folie à Deux' and 'Mickey 17'. Zaslav reportedly lost confidence in De Luca and Abdy, who have been criticized for their spending on projects with uncertain commercial prospects. The studio has signed development and production deals with actors Tom Cruise and Margot Robbie, and has acquired projects from directors like Alejandro González Iñárritu and Paul Thomas Anderson. Despite these efforts, the division's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization fell 24% to $1.650 billion last year. De Luca and Abdy, previously at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, home of the James Bond franchise, left after Amazon.com Inc. acquired the company in 2022. They recently fired marketing head Josh Goldstine and international distribution chief Andrew Cripps, and hired Ted Lim from Amazon to improve studio profitability. The release of 'One Battle After Another' by Anderson and 'The Bride!' by Maggie Gyllenhaal has been delayed. Warner Bros.' next release, 'A Minecraft Movie', is projected to earn over $55 million domestically and is set to premiere at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. In a separate development, Warner Bros. Discovery has added Anton Levy to its board of directors following pressure from activist hedge fund Sessa Capital, which holds a 1% stake in the company. Levy, who was co-president and chairman of global technology at General Atlantic, managing over $103 billion in assets, joins the board alongside Anthony Noto and Joey Levin, who were appointed earlier this year. Levy's notable investments include Airbnb, Alibaba Group, Crowdstrike, Facebook, Klarna AB, Mercado Libre, Slack, Snapchat, Squarespace, and Uber. His appointment follows a comprehensive search process, and he will receive $240,000 in stock and $105,000 in cash retainers for his service. Samuel Di Piazza, chair of the board, expressed appreciation for the input from John Petry of Sessa Capital during the selection process. Levy's addition aims to enhance the board's expertise and drive value creation for shareholders.