"Pam Abdy & Mike De Luca"

24:56And so we - You had the verdict in Raging Bull and Kramer versus Kramer, which now you can't have those sort of adult dramas. And so now everything's been kind of, it's kind of like, you know, it's what people complain about pop music, if you will, that everything just becomes the very, you know, homogenized and very much the same. And have we damaged tastes? I don't think so. I think, and again, because the tastes are always refreshed by new audiences coming up. I think what's happened is the bar has just gotten higher for what we consider theater-worthy criteria, things that will make something not streaming but theatrical.

25:32But I think when you see a spread of theatrical successes from Long Legs or everything everywhere all at once, from the Neons and the A24s, they're not tentpoles. They're not making a billion dollars globally, but they are pulling in audiences theatrically. Right. And then on our side of the street, when you have something as diverse as Minecraft and then the next weekend Sinners or at Universal, Oppenheimer, and then we had Barbie. I think that people are up for the theatrical experience and they're up for a variety of movies. The bar is just higher for what will get them out of the house. And that's our job to meet that higher bar.

26:09And it's less about how theatrical is not as good. It is more about how streaming is more appealing and there's good stuff to watch at home. And convenient. Yeah, they're not mutually exclusive. There's enough to go around. Yeah, I think there are consumers that are happy to wait for streaming or watch streaming originals, and then there's consumers that want the theatrical experience. Yeah, and there are people who don't want to ever leave their house, right? Who don't want to go, they won't even go to Larchmont, even though it's three blocks away. Right. I wonder who that could be. Sean, go ahead.

26:42Yeah, you can get everything on your phone. Go ahead, Sean. Now, but you said you'd love it if studios made more movies. Yeah. What do you think is the primary reason that they're not making more movies is because it's getting increasingly more expensive to build a sort of public profile for it, like a marketing profile. Like you've got to buy a bunch of commercials for it and sort of build that social pressure to go see this thing because everyone's seeing the billboards and the commercials. And, oh, my God, I guess I've got to go see that because I've got to talk about it at work. that costs so much money to buy those commercials and those billboards that people say, maybe I'll just make it for streaming where I don't need to do all that stuff.

27:24It's just production costs. Is that one of the big things? No, I think it's about, yes, it's expensive to make some films, but you can make films at different budget levels depending on what it is. But isn't the price to sell them the same? I think marketing has changed, and I think you have to meet the audience where they're receiving their advertising. Not necessarily a 30, right? Not necessarily a 30-second linear TV spot, but like digitally. Like what we saw, just how we saw the fervor of Minecraft with the chicken jockey and the memes taking on a life of its own, coupled with two weeks later, Sinners, and like Mike and my TikTok feed just filling with people, you know, experiencing this film.

28:09Like that was magical. Like magical to see that happen. And I think that's where they are. I think every legacy studio, by legacy studio, I mean, you know, the Paramount, Sony, us, the non-streamers. Coming out of the pandemic, everyone is cautious about, okay, is box office down because the pandemic irrevocably altered viewing habits? Or is box office down because we're making less movies? You know, Pam and I feel like it's because we're making less movies. some people feel human behavior may have been altered and the audience may be never coming back at the level they were in pre-pandemic. So I think as everybody tries to figure out the answer to that, and it's a very fluid situation, working your slate back up to 10, 15, 20 movies a year, I just, it's gonna be a slow, cautious process.

28:57Everyone's kind of feeling their way of what's exactly causing the downturn. Is it the hangover from the pandemic or is it that we're not making the same amount of movies. Right. You know, almost to that point, you know, it seems like, and you guys tell me, more people than ever are out of work in the history of the entertainment business. It seems like writers, you know, that used to work all the time can't find a get. Like actors, directors, producers, that crew, everybody. Why is that in your opinion? And what does your crystal ball say about the future of that? Do you see that changing? Like Village Roadshow, didn't they just go bankrupt or something?

29:31It just seems like the entertainment business is collapsing. Constrict, yeah, it's getting smaller because there's less stuff being made, yeah? Yeah, there's been some consolidation in the industry, so that immediately means less buyers on the block. There was a contraction in production, both on the series side and the feature side, as we were navigating the pandemic and then the so-called streaming wars, which were never really a war. Netflix won that war before it even started because they had a 20-year head start. all right, I do think things are picking up and will tick up, maybe not to pre-pandemic levels, but I think that has been a symptom of both.

30:12It's all cyclical, right, Pam? Yes. Yeah, I was just going to say, just the studio is making less movies, like we were saying, but also if you go to TV, streaming has created the eight to 10 episode series as opposed to what we all grew up with on network television with 22 episodes. and you constantly felt like, you know, you had all those linear networks that were creating multiple shows filling must-see TV and all that stuff. And I feel like that has been altered, you know, quite a bit since the streaming and since the pandemic. Right. You used to do how many? 24 episodes a year on Will and Grace?

30:49Sometimes 22, sometimes 26, sometimes 23. It was crazy. Amazing. Ozark, how many do you guys do? Just 10. JB, 13, 10? 10. And they're remaking it, right? They're doing it with robots and they said it's got more life to it. You see the way he can set it and hit it. Yeah, they say it's going to breathe smart. Yeah, but, oh, shoot, what was I going to say? By the way, Will, we use Lego Batman in every tribute reel to Warner. Every best of Warner Brothers reel that we screen at CinemaCon, we always include Lego Batman. Yeah, it's our favorite. Don't do that to him, Mike. He's going to dine out on that.

31:24Thank you. We love it. So, guys, you have been uniquely great individually and also together in really getting behind some of the more specific creative voices behind these movies. People like Paul Thomas Anderson and David Fincher, et cetera, et cetera. When you are collaborating with someone like that, who they like to keep the edges on and that's what the audience likes too, but sometimes, oftentimes, that's at odds with the goal to get as many people in the tent as possible, buying a ticket and making it mass appeal and sound around the edges sometimes and not be as controversial, not be as challenging.

32:09How do you manage that? On the producing side, on the selling side, it's probably a lot easier. But in your current roles as trying to bring in profits as well, are those conversations difficult? Do you err on one side or the other? Walk us through that a little bit. I find it because of our background. I mean, listen, I'm 30 years in. Mike's longer than that. We're just a little. That's very polite of you, Pam. Thank you for saying. Wow. Not naming the number of beers. Shots fired. No, no, no. I'm just saying. I'm 30 years in whatever. But I think because both he and I have been in the trenches on a producerial side, there's a certain level of understanding and trust that we bring to this job.

32:55So the filmmakers that we work with, some of them, we've had long relationships. Like we're working with Alejandro Iñárritu right now. I'm on my fourth film with him. I think there's a trust. There's a collaboration. There's a respect. I mean, you have to earn the filmmaker's respect, you know. So I think what we bring to the table is because we have this knowledge of being on the ground and going through the ups and downs and the difficulties of what it is to be on set every day and try to make something great because we all set out to make something great and sometimes shit happens and it doesn't come out exactly how you envisioned it.

33:32You have to be in lockstep together as creative partners. So I think Mike and I try to approach it that way where we look at filmmakers as our partners. We all have the same end goal, to make something great and to get the biggest audience in the theater to see it. So I don't find it difficult. I actually find it invigorating. Well, that's really funny, Pam. That's really funny because you often hear people, you do in comments and stuff saying, these fucking people in Hollywood and they just want to make shit movies. Like nobody sets out to make a shitty movie by the way. I know. Everybody's intentions are good.

34:07Right. And there's no blanket statement for Hollywood. Like it's so different. You know, our friend Donna Langley at Universal is different than Tom Rothman at Sony. We do our thing at Warner's. Like it's not. Donna, another one from New Line. that started out, not as an intern, right? No, we actually hired Donna. She was an assistant to a manager at the time. Wow. And she and another executive, Mary Parent, who went on to do great things and is running legendary for Josh Grode. New Line, it was a great kind of training ground for a lot of people in the 90s. And you met Donna and you knew she was going to run an empire someday.

34:49I mean, she was just born to do it. And has been in that position of leadership longer than anyone. Yeah. Yeah. Like ever maybe? Through multiple regimes. Running Universal. It's just so incredible. By the way, the new line, the people who have come in and out of New Line, it's a pretty interesting slate of people now that I think about all the people. Brenner's still there with you, right? Yeah. And then you've got - Toby Emmerich wasn't there? Obviously, Toby. Yeah. And then you have our buddy, Ken Alterman, who - Love. Yeah. Who is there. Jason and I still play golf with. We love Kent. Oh, Cole.

35:21Ken's great. Love. Love Kent. And I'm just thinking like, wow, that was it. What an interesting place that was for a lot of people who kind of, you know, learned their stuff there. Yeah, we were given the freedom to really run our projects. And even though you're an executive, you almost behaved like a producer at New Line at that time. So we all learned a lot. And it really does seem like you guys are creating that or continuing that environment of trust and deference to a very specific filmmaker agenda. Like something like Sinners, for example. Like I have not seen it yet, but from what I've seen from the materials and heard from people, it's a very specific and exciting creative leap.

36:05And this response is incredible. Oh, yeah. People are just going crazy for it. We're so happy for Ryan. Selling popcorn and getting incredible reviews. So like that's the mother load right there, right? So talk about how frightening that can be to, well, you, as you say, Pam, you're a partner with the filmmaker, you're coming from a place of shared experience and you kind of know what they're going through and blah, blah, blah. But eventually one has to just kind of close your eyes and jump in and just say, all right, Ryan, I get what you're going for here. We're really not going to be able to gauge until we're done.

36:43And so we have to trust you. We have to wait till after principal photography, get through post, have all that music come in and the color timing and all that stuff to create this very finely cooked meal that it looks like nothing coming out of the grocery store. You look at all the ingredients, like you don't know what you've got till it's cooked. And so you have to give him all of that runway. Is that really, really frightening or is it exciting or both? And we'll be right back.

37:13Sorry, we got to reload. No, it is a good question. It was long, but it is a good question. I find it exciting, I have to be honest. I think when you have that chemistry with a filmmaker, with a director, and when you're pushing and pulling on things, it's not like we're just sitting here saying, hey, go off and run in the field and make this movie. We're all talking all the time through the script process, through the screening process. to get that from running the field. Because I don't know. It's just, you know. Running the field. Go off and play it and play and play. This is going to be a new, people are going to start to use this, by the way.

37:49This is in the field. Thanks, Will. Thanks for Mike teasing me. Thanks, Will. Netflix meeting tomorrow, they're going to be like, look, guys, we're not going to be running in the field over here. Ted doesn't want us running in the field. Exactly. You're going to sell Pam, I just want to run in the field.

38:07Frolicking, you know, having a good time. It's going to be the variety headline tomorrow. like Pam Abbey of Warner Brothers advocates field running as a business plan. By the way, the last six weeks I've been having, I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway. Warner Brothers, Warner ankles field running. But, you know, Ryan, when you're dealing with, like, Ryan comes to the table trailing, you know, like$2 billion in box office. Like he, yes, you could call it IP, but he created the Creed franchise out of his head, you know, And Black Panther, you know, I'm a comic book fan. I'm a huge comic book collector still and geek fan.

38:45And I knew the Black Panther character. But it's not like that was one of the top 10 characters. Ryan, you know, created that franchise also, again, out of his mind, obviously under the brilliant Kevin Feige too. But so when you're doing a film with Ryan Coogler, who has that pedigree, it is a little bit of a hedge against the unknown. I mean, greenlining movies at a studio is like being at a casino. You have a certain amount of money and you're placing bets and you're hoping more of them work than don't work. But the only hedge against the unknown is sometimes you can point to someone's track record.

39:19You know, like when we hired David Fincher to do Seven, you know, I thought Alien 3 was a beautiful movie. It didn't work as big as they wanted to commercially, but there was tremendous artistry. And of course, he had all his music videos and his commercials. Amazing. before that point, made hiring him for Seven very, very easy. We were lucky to have him. So when you can look at someone's pedigree, whether they're established, like Ryan, or a new voice coming up, like we just made a movie with this guy, Zach Craig, who did the movie Barbarian, and I think he's an amazing movie. I love that movie.

39:52Wasn't that an amazing movie? Great. So good. Totally unique, surprising in the genre, innovated within the genre. We were lucky to get his next movie. When you can look at someone's previous work, Also, another great horror movie that came out, Talk to Me, you know, by these two directors who started on a YouTube channel, Rocka Rocka, in Australia. Oh, wow. When you can look at people's previous work, it gives you a little bit of a hedge against the unknown, and that helps us make that call sometimes. There used to be that old adage, or that thing that people would say, that the studios are in the business of not making movies, right?

40:25Do you remember now? Is that true? Yeah, I remember that. I remember when they used to say that. There was a period, right? Yeah. Studios were playing defense. There was a period when I was a non-writing producer, which is literally like Willy Loman, with scripts under your arm, like driving all over town, you know, pitching your wares. That was just from somebody who just got, you get somebody passed on. They're like, yeah. Studios would almost be like, we dare you to make a movie. We dare you to get us to make a movie. And that I find not a helpful attitude. Yeah, that's not helpful. I also don't think you can declare, like that, I think that was like in the early 2000s, Will, when people were like after the boom of the 90s and like we're starting to shift and internet and all that stuff was happening in tech and everything.

41:09I just don't think you can declare any one thing, right? You can't say this is the way it is so we shouldn't make these kinds of movies until one works. Although when we lost DVDs, when DVDs went away, we did lose a safety net. We did. And streaming doesn't quite make up that gap. So we are working without a net, you know, but I also think, like Pam said, that can be really exciting because it just, I think for the consumer, it means that the bar for quality really, really has to be high to get you to get out of your house and convert to being a ticket buyer. But people couldn't, they couldn't have predicted back then in the early 2000s what it was going to become.

41:44And I think that that sort of fear, so, you know, as you said, you lost DVDs. However, everybody was so nervous at the advent of the internet and social media. You remember the fear, you know, I remember the first, when MySpace took off and people were trying to green light movies of people who had a presence on MySpace and everybody's clamoring to be... People were not able to predict what it would be in the same way that we can't now with things like AI, et cetera. And of course, we're going to look back in 10 years and say, my God, we were so foolish to spend so much time worried about X, Y, and Z.

42:18I agree. Yeah, totally. Because obviously something else will happen. People will want to watch stuff. People will want to enjoy stuff in some way. And there is the, they want the communal experience, you know, for certain kinds of films. They want to go and sit with their neighbors and go watch the movie and then go to a cafe afterwards or a bar and have a drink and talk about it. Yeah, and I get that being in a big, a big dark room with a bunch of strangers, it's really fun to like get a shared experience. My 20s. That was my 20s in Chicago. That was Berlin for me. That was Berlin. Twice a year.

42:54I allow myself twice a year. we'll be right back

43:03and back to the show but to like everybody be in the same room all at the same time get scared I get why horror movies make so much money now to think about you know crying next to a stranger I get how maybe dramas I'd rather maybe see that at home on a streamer I get that what I don't get is that there There isn't the desire for a shared experience with laughter in a group of people. So tell us what you guys think. What is your theory of why comedy is such a hard sell in movie theaters nowadays? I'm going to jump in real quick with a super fast answer that you guys do. It's because comedy now you can get on your phone in little tiny bites and you're fulfilled.

43:47And I think that has a bit to do with it. Thanks, Sean. You're welcome. I got to run. I got to run. Are you taking off? TikTok has killed it. I'm so sorry. I'll talk to you guys later. Sean Hayes, brought to you by Netflix. Yes. And TikTok. By the way, think about it. People used to go to theaters to watch porns together. That's true. Think about that. What do you mean used to? That's over now. Right, Sean? That's over now, right, Sean? Used to. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think, you know, a lot of comedy has gone to live on streaming and TikTok in short form. However, I do think that theatrical audience is there.

44:26I thought Jen Lawrence's movie, No Hard Feelings, was a good shot at it. That's one for Tom. Tom, right? Tom Rothman? Yes, Tom Rothman. Hey, Tom. You're back. Hey, this guy. I'm going to give Tom Rothman, too. Anyone But You came out and worked theatrically. Thank you, Mike, for showing Jason up. Jason, Tom is so mad at you. See Tom movies. Tom is mad at you now. Also, comedy is different now. Comedy is different than when we grew up. It's told in a different way. But I think if you had, you know, if you had, we want to bring R-rated comedy back. We want to bring romantic comedy back. But I do think it's a case if you build it, they will come.

45:05We just, so much of the talent, the new talent, has gone directly right into, you know, streaming and TikTok and YouTube that we're just trying to steer them back to, look, let's take a shot with an original script. Let's take a shot with it. Well, we had Blum on here a while ago. Jason Blum, yeah. Jason Blum, because he, yeah. Tracy knows, because she heard it. Yes, okay. And we had Blum on here because he basically forced us to have him on. We love him. We love him. We love him. It's a joke. He was amazing. We love Jason, too. Yeah, we love him. We love Jason, too. I couldn't love him more. Who doesn't?

45:41But we did talk to him about the, because he was, you know, he's obviously the master of horror in horror. Yeah. and he I said why can't we make a comedy he said you just can't make any money and he was quite blunt about it I'm just suspicious of blanket statements like that because everybody says so my career is 40 years now since 1985 every time someone says thank you so much I moisturize I think every time someone says this will never work again and then something comes out and proves it wrong I remember the R-rated comedy was dead and then American Pie came out and suddenly everybody had to have an R-rated comedy.

46:24Hollywood can be such a pack animal sometimes. And I just am very suspicious of blanket statements. And reactionary too, right? Yes, very. Yeah, one of the greatest things I've ever heard is everybody wants to be the second person to say yes. That's a great quote. Yeah, but it's more fun being first through the door. That's true. It just is. Of course. Look, this could be famous last words, but for better or worse, Pam and I feel like you can't do this job if you're afraid of getting fired. You've got to be fearless in it. Because if you breed risk out of the system, then innovation dies and the customer moves on.

46:55Right. And it also breeds a culture of people not wanting to pitch exciting new ideas. And just because it hasn't been done before doesn't mean it's not going to work. Right. And I just think... You could do both. Yeah, you can. You could walk and shoot them at the same time. You can mine your IP, your franchises, but you can also try to find that next generation of filmmakers that'll give you new franchises. Speaking of IP, you know, you mentioned earlier you're a big comic book collector, Mike. So one of the things you guys get to oversee is DC and James Gunn and Peter Safran in there. Tell us what you're excited about coming out of there.

47:29Well, we actually have to stipulate. DC reports directly to David Zaslav. We don't oversee it. But we were big supporters of Peter and James taking the job. Working concert with. Yeah, we agree that that label really could have used – We thought our advice when we were asked is, it doesn't need another career executive. It needs a storyteller in charge. We were really impressed with Pixar. They brought Pete Docter, who's a filmmaker, in from the field to be chief content officer and preside over their slate of movies. And James, you know, I used to chase James as a producer when he did Slither and started with his low-budget movies.

48:10And he's really unique. and I think DC's in great hands with the two of them. We've seen an early cut of Superman and I don't want to bury the lead. There's a lot of marketing about to roll out on the way to its release, but he really understood the assignment. His heart's in the right place. His aim is true. And we're really excited about their new version of DC. That's cool. Yeah, James is great. It's awesome for the whole studio though too because it allows for you to sort of cross promote and like what is it? Rising tides. Will, what's the saying? well all boats all boats right yeah what do you guys think about God you're going to love the real world at some point I just knew I was going to get it slightly wrong honestly it's really enjoyable it's nice that you guys have each other's backs I know I love it yeah it's so cute what do you guys think about like remember Quibi when Quibi came out which may or may not have been it you promised to never bring up Quibi again come on Sean what are you doing wait now we hurt Rothman now you're hurting Jeffrey I didn't say anything about it I just said you remember it I'm kidding.

49:12I do remember it. Okay. And I just read, I didn't read the whole thing. I read a blurb about that. That's coming back now, like short, short little things, like short episodes that are two minutes long and they're really picking up and kids on social media are loving it. They want a whole season of like two minute episodes and 10 two minute episodes or something that tell a story. What do you think about that? Is that true? And is that really picking up steam? Yeah, I personally think, you know, YouTube, And TikTok and some of the platforms are really about user-generated content. And I think that's great.

49:50And I think some of the user-generated content kind of will evolve into scripted content occasionally. I think so too, yeah. But in a way, when Quibi debuted, I'm not an MBA. I'm not half as smart as a lot of the people involved who ran that company. And I would never say that I know better. I did think, though, like YouTube kind of has that base covered even then in terms of, and, you know, I thought what people really love about those platforms and short-form content is that it's user-generated. There's no distributor involved. It's the creator directly to their audience. That's right, and it's for those platforms.

50:31It's their channels. And I think that's kind of wonderful. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I mean, I actually do think that it was a sort of a valiant effort to try to do that and to get into that space. but I think that you're right and I think that it seems to be one of the mistakes that is consistently made is that people try to jump out of their lane and there's nothing wrong with taking chances but they say, well, now we're going to do the thing. We're going to try to create this and then make it into a movie. Well, no, it is that. It shouldn't be that. It's like when they make that documentary that everybody loved during the pandemic and then they go, let's make it into a movie.

51:05Well, they've already got the documentary. We know the fucking story. Why are we doing that again? I think the same thing. Well, then why have you never said that then? Why did I have to say it? And then you can just agree. You don't get to co-author this. You're the second guy. The second guy in. No, this isn't mine. You can agree with me and say, yeah, you're really smart, but you don't get to have any ownership of it. But wait a minute. I agree, but there are examples where that has happened, but at work where the documentary, I mean, the film of the documentary is actually engaging and thoughtful and successful and, you know.

51:38I mean, sometimes when we did Captain Phillips, I did that with Scott Rudin and Dana Brunetti. The impetus was we were watching the news. You get a version of the story from the news, but we were thinking, gee, the news can't tell you what's being said inside that lifeboat or what the hijackers are saying to Captain Phillips. And when you can dramatize, because I did Moneyball, Captain Phillips, and Social Network, all based on true stories. And the neat thing about dramatizing true stories, whether you're adapting a documentary or working off a nonfiction book, is you can bring audiences dramatic structure, which are peaks and valleys and, you know, moments that you can't - I'm the captain now.

52:23And that was an improv line too, yeah. Yeah, I'm the captain now. And by the way, I remember reading Moneyball, that was 2003 when that book came out. The great Michael Lewis, absolutely. The great Michael Lewis, I've read all his books. These guys have never read a book in their lives. And I read that book. My ears work. They read book reviews, though, I'm sure. But I remember thinking at the time when I heard that they were making Moneyball into a film, I thought, if you've read the book, you think, well, how the fuck are they going to do that, right? Or social network, like, I want to see a fucking movie about Facebook.

52:54And it was incredible. I loved Moneyball, the film. We had the, I mean, Aaron Sorkin, who's one of the, if not the best working screenwriter, certainly one of the greats on social network. And he co-wrote Moneyball with Steve Zellian, who wrote Schindler's List. I mean, these are incredible screenwriters and they were able to find the human story. Obviously, it's amazing. It's brilliant. If you've read the book, you realize how brilliant those screenplays are. But talk a little bit, if you don't think it's going to be a sleeping pill like my questions are, is there an interesting story that Tracy might be interested to hear about how, when you do a true story, How do you put the words into the mouth of real people without getting sued?

53:39Like, how does Aaron Sorkin go off and say, all right, now, you know, Mark Zuckerberg says this. Because it's a dramatization. I know, but you're using real people. So there's legal safe harbor you can get into. Basically the way, not to get too boring about it, but basically if you're not derogatory or defamatory, you know, you have dramatic license, certainly to make up dialogue. You also, we do a legal vetting of every screenplay based on a true story. And it goes through this vetting process of, are you on the right side of the derogatory and defamatory line? What's the risk we're running here?

54:13And can you back up things that you're alleging through documentation? On Social Network, we had the transcripts of the lawsuit that Ed Savarin brought against Zuckerberg. And if you remember the movie, that's kind of home base for Aaron. Those depositions in that lawsuit are kind of what he cuts back to as the story's being told. So he was on safe ground there. On Moneyball and Captain Phillips, we actually negotiated the life rights of each of the people. So we had sewn them up before the movies were shot. But then does that give them the right to then look at the script and say, no, I didn't say that, or I would never say that, take it out?

54:51No, not necessarily. They signed it away before it's written. No, of course you don't want to, you try to be responsible because you don't want people saying when the movie comes out, going on a PR jihad. This is rude of my reputation. Moneyball was actually great because we made our deal with Major League Baseball and they were the gatekeepers and all we had to do was make sure Major League Baseball approved the script and approved the cut of the movie. It is helpful when you have the life rights of people and you bring them into the tent. Like films just, I worked on World Trade Center. We had John and Will's rights on Aaron Brockovich.

55:26Aaron's rights on this film Freedom Writers years ago of this teacher, Aaron Gruel. It was based on, you know, we had the kids involved. We changed the kids' names to protect them and their background. But it was so helpful to have that authenticity and to have that collaboration with the real people. But sometimes then your hands are tied, though, because it's a true story. Maybe the ending isn't as movie-ish as you might want it to be. And then you have to deviate from the real story and create some weird ending. Well, let's ask somebody who loves having their hands tied. Sean, would you? Yeah, so I would prefer a twist.

55:58or a twist that's with the glow stick in your teeth or sorry pays to have their hands tied go ahead well before we let you guys go can you talk a little bit about what you guys might be collectively or separately excited about that's coming out of Warner Brothers that the audience can be looking forward to who's who's you guys want to like separately say which is your you can't say which is your favorite coming out but like that's like asking a parent like I know. They're all our babies. I know. But what's coming up next that you're excited about? You're excited about all of them. What's coming up?

56:35Well, look, this is, you know, I'm a little biased about New Line because I started my career there. So it's just neat for me to have it back in my life. Final Destination 6 is a fantastic theatrical experience. That trailer looks amazing. It is so much fun. Incredible. It is so much fun. And then we have Zach's movie, Weapons, which is his follow-up to Barbarian, which is completely original. I can't wait to see that. Wow. And again, an incredible audience response. And Paul Thomas Anderson has made a movie with DiCaprio. That trailer is so bitchin'. It's so of its moment. I mean, we're going to drop, that was a teaser.

57:10There's going to be another trailer. It's so unique and so of the moment. I think that's going to really blow people away. We have Brad Pitt's F1 movie. That looks incredible. It's just a fun, big Jerry Bruckheimer, Joe Kaczynski production. On their day one. Nobody's a bigger fan than Brad Pitt. Cool it, cool it. It's Brad Pitt at his Brad Pittiest. It's just so, it's really amazing to watch in that movie. And then, you know, again, as a comic book geek, I'm really up for, I think, I cannot wait for the world to see James' new Superman. That's great. I'm excited. So I'm excited for all of our sleep.

57:45And we have Mortal Kombat as well, too, in the fall, which is super fun. And I'm really excited for some of the stuff we have in post. I mean, we started, we relaunched the animation division. Oh, yeah, Will, we launched Warner Animation to stand on the shoulders of Lego Movie and Lego Batman. Oh, Will, you're, I guess, not included in that, though, huh? No, we're going to have you back. Warner Animation Group is back. It's back? Yeah. It's back? I feel like I sunk you guys with Teen Titans Go to the Movies, which is actually a great movie if you've ever seen it. What's it called? It's a phenomenal movie.

58:18What's it called? Teen Titans Go to the Movies. I love that movie. No, I love that film. I hear that. It's great. And I convinced, you know, we worked with those. Those writers, Aaron and Michael, are brilliant. They're brilliant. I agree. Yeah. I think James and Peter are working on a live-action Teen Titans. Yeah, I think they are. And a new Teen Titans Go, I think, actually, too. Will, maybe you could read for that. You play pretty young. It's a really— Yeah, we're really excited about the new animation label. Yeah, our first movie next year is Cat in the Hat with Hader as the cat. Bill Hader.

58:48Really, really excited for that. I was in the original. Like Jason Bateman, Bill Hader's a director that we hope to have making movies at the studio. Yeah, Bill's a great director, too. Yeah, we have Emeril Fennell's movie, Weathering Heights, next year. We have Maggie Gyllenhaal's movie, The Bride, next year. So we're really jazzed about the eclectic slate we're trying to build here with the existing IP and filmmaker-driven. It is really exciting that you guys are there and doing what you're doing and the way that you're doing it. And I'm so excited. Thank you. The success, I don't know when this is going to air, but, you know, Minecraft and Sinners, Double Barrel, you know, Blockbuster is coming out of the gate this month.

59:30And so just huge congratulations to you guys. Oh, Jack's the best. Look, man, when you love movies, it's the best job in the world. You know, we've been obsessed with movies since we were toddlers. And to be able to do this is... It's a dream. It's a dream come true. You can tell with the films you guys are giving your yeses to. So please keep doing that. and thank you very much for joining us today. You guys are - Thanks for having us. Oh my God, thank you. This is so fun. What an honor. Thank you guys so much. We love it. We love Smartly. So great. Thank you. Please now go back to your busy day and green light so much.

1:00:04No, this is the most fun we're going to have today. So thank you for this. Thank you guys so much. Thank you guys. Thanks guys. Bye. Take care. Bye, bye, bye. See you later. So guys, you know, I got to mix it up a little bit. Yes, I was just going to say. I could talk to them for a lot longer. I could talk to them for a lot longer. So interesting to talk to that kind of caliber of people on the show. I know. We never get to talk to those people. We're always talking about them or about studios or about whatever. People who work for the studio, they are running the studio. They are in control of what America is seeing.

1:00:37Yeah, really fascinating. Yeah, and they've got such good taste. And usually those folks don't get hired to do such a corporately responsible job. And they manage to balance the two. I'm just I'm really fascinated with how they're able to do both that yeah God you're so stupid I'm so dumb I know it would be hard for me you know I can't do two things at once I can do anything I always say imagine if I was in charge you think we'd have bridges and roads there would be nothing we'd all be huddled under a tree if I'd been in charge yeah how do you think you would do at running a studio Will terrible I'd run into the ground one week what about you I would love it you would I would love it I think I would really love it too.

1:01:20I don't think I'd be any good at it, but I would love it just for a week to be on the buying side, right? I think I could do it. Get to sit there and just say, yes, tell me. Yeah, and I think it'd be super fun. And like they said - I think you'd both be horrible. You'd drive everybody who worked for you crazy. Everybody'd hate you both. Knowing you both as well as I do, everybody who'd worked there would fucking hate the hell out of you. Snacks, snacks would be so good. And they wouldn't be able to tell you. Neither of you is self-aware in any real way. You know what I mean? We'd have a gummy.

1:01:46Oh, yeah. A gummy closet, a chips closet. Yeah. But you know what? Chocolate closet. You guys are talking about the snacks. Yeah. No, wait. I got one. Oh, here he comes. You know, but the biggest movie that they did was so great. What was it, last year? What was it about the Hasbro, the doll? What was it? Bar? No. No. That's B. It's not B. It's not B. So you can't use it. It's lazy. Try another title that's got B in it. If you want to find a word that does rhyme, why don't you just go and look up and use some help from a bye. No, no, not there either. That's not a word either. Bar-bye would have been great.

1:02:28Let's see here. Bar-bye? Yeah, barby. Yeah, bar-bye. That would have been great. Okay. You know what? I just checked with the judges. They will allow. You know what? Hang on. I'm going to look at a word, and you two, I'm going to put both of you on stand. Bye. Bye. Very good. Bye. No, that's a bye. Smart. Less.

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