Peter Safran is Co-Chairman & Co-Chief Executive Officer of DC Studios, a newly formed division of Warner Bros. Discovery. Together with his fellow Co-Chair & Co-CEO, acclaimed writer/director James Gunn, Safran is leading the effort to design and build a long-term creative architecture to realize the power and wonder of the DC Universe across film, TV, animation and gaming to under a single banner. The first chapter of the dynamic interconnected DCU they’re building is set to launch in 2025 with the HBO Max series Creature Commandos, and the big screen debut of James Gunn’s epic Superman on July 11.
A prolific and widely respected producer, Safran was previously President and Founder of The Safran Company, which has generated more than $3 billion in worldwide box office, in collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures & New Line Cinema, with the blockbuster The Conjuring Universe, among others. Since the 2013 release of director James Wan’s The Conjuring, the blockbuster film series has earned a staggering combined gross of nearly $2 billion worldwide, becoming the biggest horror franchise of all time, with the latest installment – 2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – taking in $180 million globally.
Safran reunited with his Conjuring partner James Wan to deliver the 2018 box office juggernaut Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa in the title role. Following its record-shattering run, which topped out at an astonishing $1.14 billion at the worldwide box office, Safran and Wan again reteamed to continue the popular adventure franchise with 2023’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Safran also reteamed with David F. Sandberg, director of the Conjuring franchise entry Annabelle: Creation, to bring one of DC’s most critically praised films to the big screen, the 2019 box office smash Shazam!, which earned over $364 million worldwide, and its 2023 follow-up Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Other recent credits include the upcoming chiller The Nun 2, which continues The Conjuring Universe saga.
Before taking the helm of DC Studios, Safran and James Gunn first teamed up to produce the hit HBO Max series Peacemaker, a spin-off of Gunn’s acclaimed 2021 DC feature The Suicide Squad. He also produced the 2022 Amazon romantic comedy I Want You Back, directed by Jason Orley (Big Time Adolescence) and starring Charlie Day and Jenny Slate.
Raised in the UK, Safran crossed the Atlantic to graduate from Princeton University and ultimately earn his J.D. degree at the New York University School of Law. Following a brief tenure as a corporate attorney, he pursued his passion for film to Los Angeles and an entry level job at UTA. He cut his industry teeth as a talent manager at Gold-Miller Co. then joined Brillstein-Grey, where he rose to the role of President before leaving the agency in 2006 to launch The Safran Company.