Greg Berlanti Is Sticking With Warner Bros. Discovery In A Whopper Of A Deal
If Greg Berlanti isn't a household name among DC fans yet, it definitely should be. The prolific television producer is the mastermind behind The CW's immensely popular and long-running DC Comics shared universe — colloquially dubbed the "Arrowverse" — which began in 2012 with the crime-drama "Arrow" and will take its formal bow later this year with the series finale of "The Flash."
After a number of shake-ups at both Warner Bros. (DC's parent company, which merged with Discovery, Inc. last year) and The CW (which was recently acquired by Nexstar Media Group), Berlanti's Arrowverse saw many strategic cancelations, including "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." The future of Berlanti's final DC series, the Arrowverse-adjacent "Superman & Lois," remains cloudy beyond an upcoming third season.
Despite this uncertainty, Warner Bros. — now Warner Bros. Discovery — has renewed their partnership with Berlanti in what some are describing as potentially the biggest TV deal the studio has ever made (via Deadline).
Berlanti signs with Warner Bros. Discovery for four year overall deal
As reported by Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, and others, Greg Berlanti has reached an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery that will keep his television projects exclusive to the behemoth media conglomerate through 2027. This means anything Berlanti creates for television for the next four years will be distributed via WBD's in-house networks and streaming platforms (such as HBO Max).
As Warner Bros. Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav said in a statement, Berlanti began his television career in earnest when he first joined WB at the beginning of the 2000s. During that time, he created and produced "Everwood," which ran for four seasons on The WB. "Greg is a huge talent," said Zaslav, "and the impact of his prolific and powerful storytelling on Warner Bros. and audiences, and on our culture, is just 'wow." He later concluded, "We're beyond thrilled to continue our partnership with one of the most accomplished, celebrated, and compelling storytellers in the industry."
It is currently unclear if this new deal will pave the way for fresh DC content down the line, though this is probably unlikely to be on the immediate horizon. Such decisions would seemingly have to be made in cooperation with James Gunn and Peter Safran's burgeoning DC Universe, which spans TV and films, and is currently in the early stages of development.