Warner Bros. Suspends TV Deals With Greg Berlanti, JJ Abrams' Bad Robot Amid Strikes
Mindy Kaling, Bill Lawrence, and more have also had their deals suspended.
Some major overall deals have been suspended by Warner Bros. Discovery. On Wednesday, a report (via Variety) revealed that Warner Bros. Television has cut existing contracts with a number of significant Hollywood producers, including Greg Berlanti, Chuck Lorre, Bill Lawrence, John Wells, Mindy Kaling, and J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot banner.
According to the reporting, these deals may have been suspended in recent months, amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA Hollywood strikes.
What Shows Was Bad Robot Working on for Warner Bros.?
Abrams' landmark deal, which was announced in 2019, was expected to encompass movies, television shows, and other mass media. A number of projects were announced, including a cinematic universe of Justice League Dark television series, including Constantine and Madame X. Those shows were officially scrapped in 2022 after Abrams and Bad Robot had yet to get anything off of the ground, while his original project Demimonde was "on the bubble" amid reports that it would have a budget of over $200 million. The shows most likely to come to air from the Abrams and Warner Bros. deal include the Batman: Caped Crusader animated series, which has moved to Prime Video, as well as the crime thriller Duster, which was given a series order in February.
"We have the TV series Duster, that's on the runway with him and that is going to be – knock wood – up and running very soon," Max head of originals Sarah Aubrey explained in a late 2022 interview. "I'm very bullish about that, and it's one that JJ has been intimately involved with and that's a really fun process to be a part of. People want to grab onto stories, and development comes together and doesn't come together all the time. That's actually a very normal part of our jobs, and more often than not, it doesn't, honestly. So I think to draw a circle around one or two shows and make an overall judgment is a little inaccurate. I'm very excited about the work that we have at Max with J.J."
What Shows Was Greg Berlanti Working on for Warner Bros.?
Berlanti, who is behind projects like Riverdale and DC's Arrowverse shows, had inked a massive overall deal spanning through at least 2027 earlier this year. The deal was expected to prioritize the individual success of each new Berlanti Productions show — a change of pace, after Berlanti previously had a record-breaking 13 shows on the air at the same time. Shows under that banner would include The Secret to a Good Marriage, 3,000 Hours, TriBeCa, Spoonbenders, The Girls on the Bus, and Netflix's upcoming Dead Boy Detectives.
"Greg is a huge talent, and the impact of his prolific and powerful storytelling on Warner Bros. and audiences, and on our culture, is just 'wow,'" said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "He began his career with us, and we are incredibly fortunate that he will continue to build and grow our TV studio into the future."
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