The sentiment around town is that he has a pole position, and, like Marvel boss Kevin Feige, brings the best of both worlds: Lin It, the franchise creator of films like Sherlock Holmes, the Lego franchise, and the big brand. Titles like Aladdin. And even better, he’s a former Warner Bros. studio executive.
He’s the kind of guy that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav would love, with Lynn being a Harvard Business School MBA grad. Another plus: Former Warner Bros. motion picture boss Alan Horn—present-day Zaslav Consiglier was Lin’s advisor.
As with this discovery, other names are being discussed, but Deadline is hearing that Lynn is interested in the position. He has a production company in Rideback, and a deal with the producer would lead to a potential buyout by Warner.
The band was about Todd Phillips’ name, because Zaslav was in love with him. But the filmmaker’s focus is on crafting his next directorial gig, DC’s Joker: Folie a Deux, the sequel to the highest-grossing R-rated Oscar-winning film of all time, which earned $1.07 billion.
Lin cut his teeth at Warner Bros. under former Worldwide Production president Lorenzo Di Bonaventura. Lin became SVP Production at the company, and left the studio in 2007 to launch his own production company. He had notable picks and tentpoles under his belt at Warner, including Martin Scorsese’s Best Picture Oscar winner The Departed, Oliver Stone’s Alexander, TMNT, and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
A source told us that no formal offer has been made to Lin. We’ll see how it all goes.
We’ll update you when we hear something official from Warner Bros. and Lin.