Warner Bros Motion Picture Bosses Michael De Luca & Pamela Abdy On Listening To Their Gut, WB’s 30 Oscar Noms & Plans After The Studio’s Acquisition

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EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros Motion Pictures Chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy began 2025 with what on paper appeared to be a risky, auteur-driven slate with tentpole budgets. One of the earlier titles last year, Mickey 17 from Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho, didn’t work. As CinemaCon was getting underway in the spring, Bloomberg ran an audacious piece that Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav was interviewing the duo’s replacements.

But then in the following weekend, De Luca and Abdy’s bets began to pay off, and pay off, and pay off. Teeing off with the near-$1 billion box office success of A Minecraft Movie, then came Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, along with Final Destination Bloodlines, Weapons, Superman, The Conjuring: Last Rites and then the awards fanfare for Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another — all culminating in a $4 billion-plus global box office year, the best Warner Bros has had since 2019.

The fruits of De Luca and Abdy’s guts peaked with the 30 Oscar nominations for Warner Bros, the most for any studio at the Academy Awards this year, and tying with the Burbank lot’s Oscar nom tally of 2004. Sinners alone is the most nominated movie in Oscar history with 16 noms, with Coogler became the seventh Black filmmaker to be nominated in the Best Director category in the Academy’s 97-year history and the fifth Black director ever nominated for both Best Picture and Best Director. One Battle After Another tied with Warner Bros’ Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?‘s prior record of 13 nominations. More benchmarks: With his nomination for the role of Sensei Sergio St. Carlos, Benicio Del Toro became the most-nominated actor of Latino descent (male or female) with three Oscar noms (he won Best Supporting Actor in 2001 for Traffic).

We chatted with De Luca and Abdy earlier Thursday morning about their hot streak, which has made Warner Bros. a prized studio for acquisition by Netflix, and maybe Paramount.

DEADLINE: It was a roller coaster ride for both of you last year, where the headlines just before A Minecraft Movie opened betted against your fate at Warner Bros. But then the streak of box office hits came, and today’s 30 Oscar noms further underscores how your gut and decisions were spot-on right. Talk about that.

MICHAEL DE LUCA: For us it’s always about the filmmakers and the audience. This morning is a victory for cinema and the audience. We’re so grateful for the love, recognition and the attention that these films have gotten, because of the talent that made them. You talk about One Battle After Another, this filmmaking team, led by Paul Thomas Anderson, his longtime collaborator [producer] Adam Somner, his memory to this film is dedicated; he played a big role in getting Paul to make this film. It was 20 years in the making and his producing partner Sara Murphy. They are incredible artists. And Sinners making history this morning made us feel so humble in the presence of artists like Ryan Coogler and Zinzi Coogler — who is an incredible producer — and Sev Ohanian, the teams behind the movies. We were incredibly impressed with the way they executed these movies. To see Delroy Lindo to cap a five-decade career with this first nomination, Pam and I teared up.

PAMELA ABDY: I burst into tears when his name was called.

DE LUCA: And Amy Madigan receiving her second nomination after 40 years in an incredible career. That kind of recognition touched us deeply and really made us feel humbled and grateful that these movies connected this way with a community of artists, which is what the Academy is.

ABDY: How these movies played with audiences, how audiences showed up in theaters to celebrate these films, to get this recognition from our community is just beyond words. We were all saying this morning, “This is the beauty of our wonderful industry that we can celebrate these artists.”

DE LUCA: On the studio side, it feels so validating. This was David Zaslav‘s strategy from the beginning of restoring Warner Bros to its days of glory, being the home for the world’s best filmmakers and putting those films in movie theaters around the globe. This is a culmination of a strategy that began with his authorship three years ago. We can’t wait to continue the celebration with David.

ABDY: It’s a real testament of that strategy of betting on original films. All three of these films that were recognized this morning came from the brains of these incredible filmmakers and their incredible partners. And I think it’s what we all said with David 3½ years ago when we started: This is our slate strategy. We’re going to bet on original films, we’re going to bring the best storytellers back to Warner Bros. And this morning feels like the results of all that passion and hard work.

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DE LUCA: Pam and I have to congratulate our partners on F1 at Apple. We had the best time working with them, and mounting that campaign and distributing that movie was a real honor, pleasure and privilege.

DEADLINE: In an era when IP is king at the theatrical box office, particularly when it’s encroached upon by streaming, what’s the trick to figuring out if an original project can play to a mass audience or a Gen Z one? What’s the hook? Are you seeing the marketing campaign you’re reading the script?

DE LUCA: As you can imagine, there’s no crystal ball. You go with your gut. The only hedge in this business that I’ve found in my years of doing this is trying to work with the most talented filmmakers. It’s directors, directors, directors. I can’t say enough. You just try to create a place where filmmakers want to bring their projects. Some of them are established and have gone to the dance before and have had success, and some you’re betting on that next generation that has stories to tell. When you turn the first page of that script, if it moves you, that’s the beginning. And if it moves your colleagues and it moves your boss and it moves the people who have to sell it, then you hope that it picks up steam and moves exhibition, and then it reaches audiences. You can never really know. That’s part of the exciting part, too. Every year, humanity mints a new generation of moviegoers. I think they’re still underserved and starved for original movies, and you take your best shots with the projects that move you the most and hope that you’re connected to the collective humanity that enjoys movies in theaters and goes to movies in theaters. We’re very happy that our 2025 and this recognition certainly points to a thriving theatrical business and an audience that wants more.

DEADLINE: What say both of you to the cynics — whether it was the media with sour headlines or industry associates who questioned the production cost for One Battle After Another or the licensing deal for Sinners, which reverts ownership to Ryan Coogler after 25 years? Your gambles have paid off.

ABDY: I say before you start criticizing what a budget is or what a movie is or what you think something is, give it a chance to come out. Make the choice after you see the film. If you don’t like the film, you’re not moved by the film, that audiences didn’t show up at the film, say whatever you want. I’ve been saying this the whole time: It’s not fair to the movies to give the scrutiny before anyone has had a chance to see them. Just experience the film, and all we can do is try to work with the best filmmakers and tell the best stories and make the greatest films that they can possibly be and get them out globally to the world and let the audience decide.

DE LUCA: We don’t take it personally. Cynicism has been industrialized in the clickbait age, and we get it. But right now, given the performance not just of our films but all the films that have achieved recognition this year, it’s not a time for cynicism. I feel like it’s a time for great optimism and creative innovation. We’re in a dialogue with the audience now. Our mission statement is to continue that dialogue and see it grow, not just at our studio but across the industry.

DEADLINE: There’s something to be said about a diversified slate where you can take these swings.

ABDY: Absolutely. That’s the whole strategy that we started 3½ years ago.

DE LUCA: That was one of David’s tenets: Something for everyone.

DEADLINE: One Battle After Another has been called Paul Thomas Anderson’s most commercial film. In the wake of its success, has it changed the way he’s approached storytelling? It’s also his most-nominated film ever.

DE LUCA: It’s wonderful to see. When we first read it, we felt Paul was presenting something, so completely fresh and unique, he’s always bringing something to the conversation that is completely original and even within his own filmography, all his films are so different. I feel like Paul sits above any punditry about the industry or any discussion about the business. He’s in a class by himself. I’ve always believed this. I know Pam feels the same way. It’s a privilege to handle and be trusted with one of his films because I think Paul is a National Tresure.

ABDY: I feel exactly the same.

DEADLINE: Given the fantastic run you’ve had in reshaping Warner Bros, is there a desire to stay the course whenever the new owner arrives, whether that is Netflix or Paramount? What would take it for you guys to stay the course and continue this streak that you’re having?

DE LUCA: We’re hoping to stay the course. I think 2025 is a proof of concept. It points to what is wonderful about the legacy of this studio, and we’re trying to build on that. We’re standing on the shoulders of giants who have come before. We want to add to that history and add to the library and to continue to innovate for the audience. And I have to believe that anybody who is interested in this studio would want to see that legacy continue. So our goal is to absolutely triple down and to grow the slate, to take advantage of that hunger that we believe is out there from the audience to experience even more original films and innovation within genres and within legacy sequels and IP adaptation. The key is to bring original thought and spins to familiar things while bringing brand-new stories to the table.

DEADLINE: As far as all this noise of the Warner Bros acquisition, does that impact your jobs? Has it slowed the pipeline as far as others bringing projects to the studio as they might be concerned about Warners getting acquired?

ABDY: It’s business as usual. We are starting to plan our slates for 2027. 2026 is fully baked, and 2027 is almost fully baked, and we’re starting to look at 2028. Filmmakers are excited to come and work here. We have one of the best marketing and distribution teams in the business under Christian Davin, Dana Nussbaum, Jeff Goldstein and John Sanford; their work with the publicity team has been on display in the most elegant and innovative way possible. So we have a lot of filmmakers coming here and wanting to work here. For Mike and I, it’s business as usual, staying the course, keeping to the strategy and trying to build a diversified slate for 2027 and beyond.

DEADLINE: Bonus question: How much closer are you to a Goonies 2 greenlight this year?

DE LUCA: We’re moving as fast as possible while maintaining the quality control you’d expect from an Amblin production, but we’re very excited about it.