Warner Bros. Business Affairs Boss Steve Spira Departing At End Of Year

Steve Spira, Warner Bros‘ President of Business Affairs, will be leaving at the end of the year, we have learned.

Spira reported directly into Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Motion Picture Chairpeople Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. We understand that Spira’s departure boiled down to the completion of his duties.

No word as to who’ll replace Spira yet; we hear the process for a replacement hasn’t begun.

Spira joined Warners in 1985 and departed in November 2020 during the AT&T regime. He was known for being a dealmaker, hatching pacts with Clint Eastwood and Christopher Nolan. When Zaslav arrived at the new conglomerate, he sought to have Spira, a long-trusted exec, back in the fold.

Spira returned in June 2022, a month before former Warner Bros production boss Alan Horn became a consultant for the studio following his run at Disney.

Warner Bros has been in the black in what has been a big rebound year at the global box office under De Luca and Abdy. They were the first studio to cross $4 billion worldwide, even with the pricey Paul Thomas Anderson pic One Battle After Another, which cost around $140 million net (shot in California), and had grossed over $202 million around the world.

Out of the top 20 movies at the global box office this year, Warner Bros currently owns eight of them, including the third highest-grossing movie YTD (second highest for a Hollywood production), A Minecraft Movie. with over $957M. At the North American box office, the Legendary co-production is the year’s top-grossing title with $423.9M million.

The next big theatrical release for Warner Bros is February 13 with Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.