From Fired to Front-Runner: The Mike and Pam Warner Bros. Oscar Comeback
Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy—Warner Bros.’ co-chairs and co-CEOs—surged from near-fire to steering the studio to a record Oscar year, with two Best Picture frontrunners (Sinners and One Battle After Another), a string of box-office hits, and 30 nominations. Their journey—from MGM leadership and a firing at New Line to a contract renewal amid a Netflix/Paramount tug-of-war—centers on backing filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan, championing ambitious, theatrically driven projects, and staying focused on the studio’s North Star: delivering exceptional films to theaters.