'Batgirl' dead on HBO

The New York Post reports that Warner Bros. has shelved the 'Batgirl' movie planned for HBO Max due to poor test audience reactions. 

That's $90M down the hole, with their next two releases dogged by actor scandal. (Amber Heard in Aquaman 2, Ezra Miller in Flash.) DC just can't get it together, can they?

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  • I heard that Batgirl and the Scoob! sequel were cancelled because they decided that there was no profit in streaming new movies anymore.

    Also they were more victims of the Warner Brothers/Discovery merger! 

  • Good grief. I’m never going to get my “Brother Power the Geek” trilogy, am I?

  • What is a "test audience?"

    When we got married in 1989, I got to know my father-in-law. He wasn't a bad guy but Gayle and I agreed he wasn't a rocket scientist. 

    He was around 70 and had a group of friends who were assorted dingbats in their 40s and 50s. People hired to assemble test audiences would grab just anybody off the street in the Hollywood area, no matter the genre of the movie, and give them free tickets to movies that were 90% completed. He and his friends sought out these tickets and attended as many previews as they could. The only goal seemed to be to fill as many seats as possible. They were then to fill out cards with their reactions.

    I'd be surprised if test audiences were any more reliable today. I think Discovery already knew the result it wanted.

  • Here's a piece from Forbes that cleanly makes as much sense of this mess as can be made. https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2022/08/02/batgirl-cancelle...
  • While this wasn't a movie that I was especially anticipating, it does seem a shame to  get so far  on it and then just dump it.

  • As the writer says, they could still make some changes to what they have and release it differently.

    ClarkKent_DC said:

    Here's a piece from Forbes that cleanly makes as much sense of this mess as can be made. https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2022/08/02/batgirl-cancelle...
  • Re: Forbes article. If they are shifting to not using major IP on streaming, what does that portend for the upcoming Green Lantern, or the current Titans and Doom Patrol on HBO Max?

  • It's not like it's the first time DC has mishandled Batgirl.

    Is it the continuity? Because the DC movies have shown about as much respect for continuity as their Silver Age comics.

    Was it just really bad, and they don't want to admit it?

    Will, as the Forbes writer says, they just change their mind soon? Higher-ups have changed their minds a few times about DC productions. It doesn't make a lot of sense not to just drop this on a streaming service at some point.

    About the only people certain of the reasons and happy about this, so far as I can see, are the cellar dwellers who making posts of the hrr drr woke batgirl cancelled LOL like of course it sucked hard maybe DC finally figured out wokism isn't where the money is variety.

  • There's more, as of today (8/4), when Warner Bros. Discovery made its earnings report.

    • HBO Max and Discovery+ will merge into one streamer by next summer, name TBD. HBO Max reports 74M subscribers, and Discovery 24M, but Discovery is in the driver's seat.
    • Some Magnolia Network content will be available on HBO Max by September.
    • CNN content will have a dedicated hub on Discovery+ beginning Aug. 19.
    • Warner Bros. Discovery reported losses of $3.42B in the second quarter, their first as a merged entity.
    • James Gunn tweeted that Peacemaker season 2 is safe.
    • Lady Gaga tweeted she will play Harley Quinn in Joker 2, coming Oct. 4, 2024.
    • New CEO David Zaslav: “This idea of expensive films going direct to streaming — we can’t find an economic case for it, we can’t find an economic value to it, so we’re making a strategic shift."
    • Zaslav announced a 10-year plan for DC properties, Marvel-style, but did not say who will head it. “The objective is to grow the DC brand, to grow the DC characters,” he said. “But also, our job is to protect the DC brand. And that’s what we’re going to do.” He spoke of quality repeatedly, implying Batgirl wasn't up to snuff, according to Variety.
    • In addition to Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, six HBO Originals have been shelved. Per Variety: “Within the past few weeks, at least six Warner Bros. movies have been removed from HBO Max: Moonshot, a sci-fi rom-com starring Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse; artificial-intelligence dystopia comedy Superintelligence, starring Melissa McCarthy; Robert Zemeckis’ 2020 remake of The Witches, starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci and Chris Rock; comedy An American Pickle, starring Seth Rogen as an immigrant who wakes up after being pickled for 100 years; Doug Liman heist pic Locked Down with Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor; and drama Charm City Kings from director Angel Manuel Soto.”
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