Barry Reardon Obituary

Barry Reardon has been reported dead by close sources. No cause of death was revealed but he reportedly died on June 5, 2023, in Vero Beach, where he was spending his retirement. He was 92 years old.

He was best known as the head of Theatre Distribution at Warner Bros. who was known for breaking the mold in motion pictures and spearheading several productions.

Under his supervision, the Batman movies raked in $1.2 billion, and over $1 billion in four Lethal Weapon movies. He developed an internal marketing data system with fellow executives that could track rivals’ trailers from the previous 10 years, their grosses, and actors’ track records with box office and critics.

This permitted executives to steer a film with a particular actor away from a critic who has had problems with that actor. The data system also broke down production and marketing costs, as well as audience demos for all major motion picture studios.

Tributes have been pouring in on social media after his death was announced.

“Reardon not only mentored current day distribution bosses such as Warner Bros. current President of Domestic Distribution, Jeff Goldstein, but also was the gold standard to some of the greats,” Joshua Hartloper wrote.

“So sad. Farewell to an old business pal. May he rest in peace,” Claudia Eller.