Movies BATGIRL Movie Scrapped by Warner Bros. (Secret 'Funeral Screenings' to Be Held, post #280)

[Chesten_Hesten]

Damn, that means its worse than Catwoman.

 

[Rob Battisti]

Damn, that means its worse than Catwoman.

Walking like she has a stick up her ass

 

[Yoel Bromero]

I was golfing solo and made an eagle on a short par 4, was about 50 yards out. There was a group of 4 women on the next tee who watched it go in. When I walked up to the green one of them yelled out 'nice shot' and immediately after her friend yelled 'no one will fuckin believe you'

If it wasn't for social media Batgirl would be in the same boat. Telling people for years that she's starring as Batgirl in a movie. Starring role I swear to god. Bitch I'm the lead, you just wait. And then no movie. Like it never even happened

 

[Phlog]

What was woke about this, people keep using that word?

 

[Mike]

What was woke about this, people keep using that word?

It's their catch-all term for anything featuring women or minorities. And something starring a female minority?

 

[Rob Battisti]

I was golfing solo and made an eagle on a short par 4, was about 50 yards out. There was a group of 4 women on the next tee who watched it go in. When I walked up to the green one of them yelled out 'nice shot' and immediately after her friend yelled 'no one will fuckin believe you'

If it wasn't for social media Batgirl would be in the same boat. Telling people for years that she's starring as Batgirl in a movie. Starring role I swear to god. Bitch I'm the lead, you just wait. And then no movie. Like it never even happened

 

[NoSmilez]

Damn Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser couldn't even save this project. I wonder how bad it stunk

 

[Mesos]

Update: August 2, 2022

Why Warner Bros. Killed the BATGIRL Movie: Inside the Decision Not to Release the DC Movie

The death of Batgirl on Tuesday sent immediate shockwaves through Hollywood. The film — with a $75 million budget that grew to $90 million due to COVID-related overages — had finished shooting months ago and was in test screenings as directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life, Ms. Marvel) worked through the post-production process. Star Leslie Grace (In the Heights) had given multiple interviews expressing her enthusiasm for landing the title role and working with co-stars Michael Keaton (as Batman), J.K. Simmons (as her character’s father, Commissioner Gordon) and Brendan Fraser (as the villain, Firefly).

In other words, the movie was nearly finished, and already building awareness among fans. Why would Warner Bros. Discovery throw all that away?

According to Variety's sources with knowledge of the situation, the most likely reason: taxes.

Several sources note that Batgirl was made under a different regime at Warner Bros., headed by Jason Kilar and Ann Sarnoff, that was singularly focused on building its streaming service, HBO Max. That effort included Kilar’s infamous decision to release the studio’s entire 2021 theatrical slate simultaneously on the streamer, which helped build the subscriber base but also jeopardized the studio’s reputation with top-tier talent (though many agents and stars privately came to appreciate the move when the company paid generous bonuses as a make-nice).

Even before David Zaslav took the reins of the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery as CEO this spring, the exec went on a well-publicized listening tour designed to repair the company’s relationship with the creative community. As part of that effort, Zaslav has made no secret of reversing Kilar’s strategy and committing to releasing first-run feature films in theaters before putting them on HBO Max.

Batgirl found itself on the bad end of that decision, apparently neither big enough to feel worthy of a major theatrical release nor small enough to make economic sense in an increasingly cutthroat streaming landscape. Spending the money to expand the scope of Batgirl for theaters — plus the $30 million to $50 million needed to market it domestically and the tens of millions more needed for a global rollout — could have nearly doubled spending on the film, and insiders say that was a non-starter at a company newly focused on belt-tightening and the bottom line. (Spokespeople for Warner Bros. and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment for this story.)

Releasing the movie on HBO Max would seem to be the most obvious solution. Instead, the company has shelved Batgirl — along with the “Scoob!” sequel — and several sources say it will almost certainly take a tax write-down on both films, seen internally as the most financially sound way to recoup the costs (at least, on an accountant’s ledger). It could justify that by chalking it up to a post-merger change of strategy.

Doing so, however, would mean that Warner Bros. cannot monetize either movie — no HBO Max debut, no sale to another studio. What the decision will cost the studio in creative capital, meanwhile, remains to be seen.

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/batgirl-movie-why-not-releasing-warner-bros-1235332062/

Deadline added that the makers of the live action Batgirl and the animated Scoob! learned today that those films were being stopped in their tracks. The timing was particularly awkward for Batgirl co-directors Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah. Both are in Morocco for El Arbi’s wedding — some wedding present — and they expected to return to the cutting room and continue work on the film

There were initial cries that the scrapping of Batgirl carried bad optics because the title role is played by a Latina actress. But there were reasons for the move. In both cases, the filmmakers were told that it came down to a “purchase accounting” maneuver available to Warner Discovery because the company has changed hands, and also changed strategy from the previous regime. This opportunity expires in mid-August, said sources, and it allows Warner Bros Discovery to not have to carry the losses on its books at a time when the studio is trying to pare down $3 billion in debt across its divisions.

There has been much speculation on why Batgirl was canceled, having to do with it being a bad movie. Sources said that the film tested once, and the result wasn’t that bad, considering that the cut had temporary visual effects which tend to temper audience enthusiasm in the scores. Already, the studio is discussing making different deals with the directors and Miss Bala star Grace, because this was not a reflection on their talent as much as the radical strategy shift.

Much of the decision came down to the following: Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav rejecting of Kilar’s strategy to lean heavily into building streaming subscriptions for HBO Max. That was punctuated by his Project Popcorn initiative that put the entire 2021 theatrical slate — including Dune, Godzilla Vs Kong, King Richard, Matrix 4 — day and date in theaters and on HBO Max when theater attendance was sparse during the pandemic. Even after he was shown the door, Kilar continued to call the strategy a win. Many did not agree, particularly after Top Gun: Maverick waited and grossed north of $1.3 billion. It’s a decidedly different world from when Kilar made the move. Wall Street is no longer impressed by subscriber numbers as much as profits, as seen by the precipitous decline of Netflix’s stock value.

Back to Batgirl and Scoob! Batgirl is a gritty entry — not near the budgets of DC theatricals The Flash and Aquaman 2 — and wasn’t designed to compete with tent pole theatrical releases, and neither for that matter was Scoob! In addition, there were introductions of characters in that film that the studio wanted to save for those DC theatrical titles. Rather than spend vast sums pumping up the budgets of each film to compete in theatrical marketplace, and then spend $80 million in global P&A, the studio felt that scrapping both of the movies was a better choice, when coupled with the purchase accounting maneuver.

Sources don’t expect other films to get killed like this, because the accounting opportunity expires by the middle of this month. But as all Warner Bros Discovery braces for Thursday’s quarterly earnings report and the layoffs that are sure to come, no one with a project made specifically for HBO Max or execs there can feel confident at this moment.

Warner Bros Discovery just released this statement: “The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max. Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future.”

https://deadline.com/2022/08/batgir...slav-jason-kilar-hbo-max-strategy-1235084032/

Taxes, budget blah blah blah bs copium

The new boss knew the movie sucked and it was dumpster fire that they didnt want to keep throwing money on. He cut his losses

 

[Mesos]

What was woke about this, people keep using that word?

Its fairly obvious bro come on now

 

[Dizzy]

Its fairly obvious bro come on now

Say it.

 

[Iron Mang]

The budget-conscious CEO, according to Variety, has split WB into multiple segments, including a reorganized “DC-based film production” group.

With that in mind, WB is said to be searching for a head honcho to run the flailing DC Extended Universe and whip it into coherent shape, like Kevin Feige did with the far more successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is owned by Disney. The current president of DC film production is Walter Hamada. Warner Bros. Discovery will report their Q2 earnings and announce future plans on Thursday.

DC urgently needs all the help it can get.

They should just make James Gunn the head honcho of the "DC film production group". What he has already done for DC has been excellent.

 

[chrisdiaz]

If this really never comes out completed I wonder if the semi unfinished version will leak like x-men origins did.

 

[Mesos]

Say it.

Ok will use their logic. Shitty WB Execs be like:

"Batmangg is our most prized franchise. *Why yes I concur! Its such an amazing money maker but it mainly appeals to males. *We must make something to appeal to women, to make even more money! But this new generation of women is woke so we have to be woke to! *Wait sir I have brilliant idea! Lets do a female batman! *Oh shit wait minute, that already exists! Batgirl! but we can do better to check off all the woke boxes. Shes not a white ginger chick anymore. *Lets make her a Black Latina and lets put a grandpa Batman in as her mentor. *Is Keaton still alive? Ah okay perfect he is, lets use him to lure in the core male Batman fans. It will be woke symbolic to, Grandpa Batman giving over the Mantle to the Black Latina Batgirl to be the new hero!!

*Woah this movie gonna be so awesome omg! we be so smart! * Why yes I concur thats why we are in this room. *rich douchey laughs commence* Yep no nepotism or family connections got us in here. We are brilliant!

Yea it prolly went something like that

 

[The Elemental O]

 

[Cyrano200]

What was woke about this, people keep using that word?

It's their catch-all term for anything featuring women or minorities. And something starring a female minority?

It seems fairly comic accurate.... for the woke version of Batgirl.
View attachment 935533
She lives in a borderline gentrified, hipster neighborhood called Burnside and is helped out by college age she-squad that ticks POC, LGBTQ, and nerd boxes while battling evil cell phone apps. Hell she's taking a selfie amidst primping she/thems in a restroom on the cover.
I loved

View attachment 935535
Barbara rebuilt her life after the Joker crippled her, had complicated adult relationships, was highly effective despite a handicap, has an all female team of very competent adult superheroes, and battled top-tier villains / threats. Why undo that?

Well, they had to take a female, disabled lead character and retcon her to something more hip and woke. This they did in the comic version they based the movie on. THEN they took THAT version and made her a POC for no reason other than it checks an identity politics box. So despite your screeching to the contrary, the dislike is not born of a prejudice against either females or minorities. The animosity for the woke approach is that they must first undo something that was good and remake it to reflect their current misguided cause.
Barbara was already a woman leading a team of women while being wheelchair bound. That isn't inclusive enough?
If you must have a minority as Batgirl, the comics did that too.

This is Cassandra Cain, a mute Asian girl. They did not do her character justice in the Birds of Prey movie (they should have used the source material of that name). Again, she was well liked.

 

[The Elemental O]

Well, they had to take a female, disabled lead character and retcon her to something more hip and woke. This they did in the comic version they based the movie on. THEN they took THAT version and made her a POC for no reason other than it checks an identity politics box. So despite your screeching to the contrary, the dislike is not born of a prejudice against either females or minorities. The animosity for the woke approach is that they must first undo something that was good and remake it to reflect their current misguided cause.
Barbara was already a woman leading a team of women while being wheelchair bound. That isn't inclusive enough?
If you must have a minority as Batgirl, the comics did that too.

This is Cassandra Cain, a mute Asian girl. They did not do her character justice in the Birds of Prey movie (they should have used the source material of that name). Again, she was well liked.

General mainstream audiences don't care whether media is "woke" or not, all they care about if they can get some entertainment value out of said media. Certain people complained about how The Batman was "woke pandering" because it made major established characters like Selina Kyle/Catwoman and James Gordon POC characters or its themes about corruption and yet the movie was a box office hit.

 

[Dizzy]

Ok will use their logic. Shitty WB Execs be like:

"Batmangg is our most prized franchise. *Why yes I concur! Its such an amazing money maker but it mainly appeals to males. *We must make something to appeal to women, to make even more money! But this new generation of women is woke so we have to be woke to! *Wait sir I have brilliant idea! Lets do a female batman! *Oh shit wait minute, that already exists! Batgirl! but we can do better to check off all the woke boxes. Shes not a white ginger chick anymore. *Lets make her a Black Latina and lets put a grandpa Batman in as her mentor. *Is Keaton still alive? Ah okay perfect he is, lets use him to lure in the core male Batman fans. It will be woke symbolic to, Grandpa Batman giving over the Mantle to the Black Latina Batgirl to be the new hero!!

*Woah this movie gonna be so awesome omg! we be so smart! * Why yes I concur thats why we are in this room. *rich douchey laughs commence* Yep no nepotism or family connections got us in here. We are brilliant!

Yea it prolly went something like that

As dumb as I predicted.

 

[LilMountain]

I was golfing solo and made an eagle on a short par 4, was about 50 yards out. There was a group of 4 women on the next tee who watched it go in. When I walked up to the green one of them yelled out 'nice shot' and immediately after her friend yelled 'no one will fuckin believe you'

If it wasn't for social media Batgirl would be in the same boat. Telling people for years that she's starring as Batgirl in a movie. Starring role I swear to god. Bitch I'm the lead, you just wait. And then no movie. Like it never even happened

 

[Cyrano200]

General mainstream audiences don't care whether media is "woke" or not, all they care about if they can get some entertainment value out of said media. Certain people complained about how The Batman was "woke pandering" because it made major established characters like Selina Kyle/Catwoman and James Gordon POC characters or its themes about corruption and yet the movie was a box office hit.

I missed those complaints about The Batman. Most of the concern I read (and shared) was for a previously sparkly vampire as the Bat. I will say that the best way to silence any critic is to be good. Zoe Kravitz and Jeffery Wright were good. Many "woke" projects aren't, Batwoman and The Birds of Prey movie come to mind.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

ahahahahahahahahahahaha
it probably started with a 5 minute monologue about the patriarchy and how white people are colonizers, or whatever woke shit they use
oh well. went broke. lmao.