Decker

Wasn't it always going to be on HBO Max?

dex14

And even got a theatrical re-release!

stingermck

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ax-1235191371/

Deftones

This will be this generation's The Day The Clown Cried.

Eric F

At one point, but decided it was too expensive to be dumped on HBO and was going to be released theatrically, but ultimately thought the production value wasn't even good enough for that.

I suspect Blue Beetle is next up on the chopping block, or at least is being seriously considered.

windom

What about the Black Canary movie?

GoldenJCJ

I haven’t kept up with all the news about this movie from the beginning but conversations basically went like this:

WB exec: “We’re going to make a Batgirl movie but it’s going to be smaller budget and we’ll release it to HBOmax!”

WB exec: “We’re going to keep the budget smaller but we’ve decided to release this theatrically!”

WB exec: “This movie looks too low budget! We’re committed to bring only big budget movies in the theater! Now we’re not releasing it theatrically OR on HBOmax!”

stingermck

cultshock

I'm not sure who's doing a better job at sabotaging the future of DC films, Ezra Miller or the new guy in charge of Warner Bros.

Maxflier

Start over and make a damn Cassandra Cain Batgirl movie.

Draven

I understand all of that but "this didn't come together as good as we thought it would" is a far cry from "this should never be seen by human eyes". If the costume looked bad during takes on Day 1, there are enough intelligent people involved who would have said something. Same with the script. Same with the set design.

Morbius is a great example. My son is obsessed with it because it was the fun internet thing to do (and I did buy him an "It's Morbin' Time" shirt that he wore for his graduation party ). But when I try to tell other people about it - I saw that it's just...nothing. Leaves no imprint. But it's not so bad that it should never be seen. It's competently made - it's just boring. Which is why I'm blown away that Batgirl could get all the way through production before someone said "this is so bad it should never be released".

I don't make movies but I produce a talk show every day with a ton of video. If something looks bad on-air, I hear about it from 10 different people.

DJariya

This kind of tells me that the previous regime probably never saw a single daily reel from their shoots and just let the directors do what they wanted. We all know that Kevin Feige is very hands on with what he puts out under the Marvel name since he runs the whole studio.

And remember WB just hired Alan Horn, who was Feige’s old boss as a consultant , and it’s possible he saw the rough cut and told Zaslav it was crap.

Eric F

I don't think they're going to go anywhere near Batgirl for a long time.

What saddens me is that theatrically we're probably going to get a lot more Batman out of DC/WB and not much else. They have great, with such great potential, not just superhero, but sci-fi, horror, fantasy, etc, and what we essentially get is Batman because it's the biggest money maker.

Well, they need to put something on HBO Max, so I expect we'll got a lot more shows and budget movies, hopefully some will be good.

Looking forward to Sandman (ironically Netflix).

fujishig

So I obviously have no clue how these write offs work, but if they write this off, are the even allowed to release it years later, or will the IRS come looking for them?

Noonan

Won’t ever be able to monetize it.

Inhumans99

I read another article on Deadline about the decision, and it sounds like it was less of a oh, after 1 test screening of a film with unfinished effects we determine this film to be unsalvageable and will take the loss, and more of a decision based purely on WB / Discovery having a small window of opportunity that closes in mid-August due to the merger to write off this film and not have to carry the loss on their books once the merger is 100% in place. So a crass but understandable financial decision.

Blaming the write-off on the mixed/negative results/feedback of an unfinished film with 1 test screening is not fair. I used to hear more about how even some of the Marvel Universe films had a mixed reception when they first test screened, and the feedback would give Marvel info they needed to right the ship and make the fixes before the films actual theatrical release.

I do not think it is pure fluff intended to make Leslie Grace feel better when WB says they would like to work with her again and consider her an up and coming actress with a bright future ahead of her. Leslie Grace has looks going for her, she can sing, and I thought for a newbie actress that she did okay in In The Heights. She will be fine, and the directors did just work on well received Disney + show and had a nearly 500m grossing film right before the pandemic hit, so they should not be considered pariahs in Hollywood. It really does seem that this was just a coldly calculated (aka, very ruthless) business decision by WB/Discovery, but yeah...if I was associated with the film the news would sting something fierce.

ETA: It sounds like some other folks upthread have already linked to the story I am referencing in my post.

fujishig

I don't think they were blowing smoke about wanting to work with Grace, I was mainly saying why would she want to work with them, after they basically said the movie she starred in and spent the last year or so making was a bomb that isn't even worth releasing but is more valuable as a tax write off. Not that she should blacklist them or anything but unless there's already a contract in place if I were her I'd be wary of them (as should many other creators)

milo bloom

The thing about damaging the Bat-brand doesn't track, yeah Batman & Robin is remembered as a stinker, put the comics still sold, they still made the animated series, and when the Nolan movies started people watched the heck out of those three and then after the Bat-fleck films, the Pattison film was able to win over fans.

This franchise dates back to 1939 (I just looked this up to be sure, holy shit that is old) and it's had it's ups and downs but still keeps going.

Here's my idea to any Discovery execs reading: change the title to something like Barbara: Rising and release it on HBOMax and 4k/Bluray so the diehards can add it to their collection but don't spend any more on advertising. Something like this deserves a chance.

fujishig

But the "vision" is that DC is a theatrical-release-only property, as stupid as that is, and that Batgirl's tax write off is worth more than releasing it at all. I don't think it would take much for them to release it, and they must have known the backlash this was going to get especially from creative types, and they don't care.

TGM

the movie about what happened behind the scenes with this movie is going to be way more entertaining than the movie itself.

GoldenJCJ

Is there any loopholes they could use to release it at some point? Like, they can’t release the footage as a “movie” but maybe they edit it in such a way to create “limited series” for TV, or sell off the already filmed footage for a loss to a different distributor but agreeing to recoup that money in some other way, etc.

DJariya

You need to ask an entertainment lawyer or accountant for that and I'm pretty no one in this forum fits that bill.

PhantomStranger

Once they use Batgirl as a tax write-off, they are prevented from ever making a dime off the movie in any shape. All the work will be shelved in a vault and I imagine leaked in a decade like previous shelved work.

I've not heard good things about this movie. Most common description was a movie fit for the CW with actual Hollywood talent being its only strength. Discovery was going to need to sink another $30 million into it just to make it release worthy and that is before marketing costs.

Almost every DC project in development stages has been canceled. They are starting over and hoping the Flash doesn't bomb.

GoldenJCJ

How much do you think an entertainment lawyer costs an hour? I’ve got like $6 and could ask the question really fast.

windom

From what I've heard, they could release it in the future but then they'd have to pay some kind of tax penalty at that point.

Disney/Lucasfilm also did basically the same thing Star Wars Detours. I wonder if they ever got a tax write off on that.