As The Alto Knights stumbles at the box office, a long-time producer is coming to the defense of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. The movie, which reportedly had a $50 million budget, takes place in New York City in the 1950s and stars Robert De Niro as the mobsters Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. It was released on March 21 and opened with just $5 million worldwide.

In a report by The New York Times, Zaslav fought to greenlight Alto Knights, as other executives argued that it would inevitably fail. The movie’s producer, Irwin Winker, spoke out about the CEO’s decision to greenlight the movie, describing the movie as “terrific” and praising Zaslav’s skills as an executive. He expected that the movie would eventually become profitable, thanks to streaming services. Check out his quote below:

I think David Zaslav is a really, really great executive. I think the film is terrific. I wish it did more box office. Over the years, I’m sure that Warners will make some money on it. We never did big theatrical business with [Goodfellas], but we certainly did in home entertainment — DVDs in those days. I think that in the long run ‘The Alto Knights’ will have the same kind of long-range audience acceptance.

What This Means For Alto Knights And Zazlav

This Is Not Zaslav’s First Miss

The movie itself was unlikely to achieve success at the box office. 2024’s box office chart was dominated by existing properties, having been led by sequels, prequels, and adaptations. The Alto Knights attempted to succeed through originality, drawing heavily on De Niro’s name, but critics have been unconvinced. ScreenRant‘s Mary Kᴀssel reviewed Alto Knights and argued that the film “has nothing to say about the mafia.” The $50 million budget also ensured that modest results would not make the movie a success. Check out some of Warner Bros.’s recent budgets and the eventual box office results below:

The Alto Knights’ failure is concerning, as Warner Bros. has been struggling since the AT&T acquisition in 2018. It was sold to Discovery in 2022, and Zaslav has been working to repay the studio’s debts ever since. Unfortunately, the studio has faced near-constant box office turmoil, largely due to rising budgets. The tent-pole DC Extended Universe faced eight straight box office failures, and the studio has also generally struggled outside the superhero genre as well. It has only truly seen success with familiar franchises and limited budgets.

Our Take On The Alto Knights’ Box Office Disappointment

Warner Bros. Needs a Win

These continued struggles are a poor sign for the entire industry. The studio has been at the center of Hollywood since its founding in 1923, and its failure would be devastating for Hollywood, especially as other studios continue to take control of popular franchises. Warner Bros. controls Harry Potter, the DC Universe, The Lord of the Rings, the Monsterverse, and the runaway success of Barbie, so there is no reason that it should be seeing so many failures so regularly.

The studio has seen some steady successes in the past few years, including Barbie, but Zaslav will need to reconsider his approach after The Alto Knights‘ disappointing box office opening. He drew controversy by canceling or selling finished productions, including Coyote vs. Acme, The Day the Earth Blew Up, and Batgirl, and the decision to greenlight this movie is simply confusing in light of those decisions. Warner Bros. needs decisive direction in the streaming era, and one gangster film is not quite enough to save it.

Source: The New York Times