DC's new parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is focused on getting its superhero movie universe on the right track. The "Batgirl" movie was one of the casualties.
The company said this week that it had canceled the release of the film, which had wrapped production earlier in the year and was supposed to be shown on the pay TV channel.
David Zaslav defended the decision during Warner Bros. Discovery's Q2 earnings call.
He said the goal is to grow the DC brand. Our job is to protect the DC brand.
Zaslav said a theatrical release creates word-of-mouth buzz for a movie's eventually streaming debut. "Batgirl" became a straight-to-streaming movie and was put under increased scrutiny.
It's a huge change from Kilar's vision. He directed that all Warner Bros. movies be released on the same day. "Batgirl" is an exclusive movie from the studio.
Zaslav said that they couldn't find an economic case for it. We're making a change.
The movie cost $90 million to make and is still a modest budget compared to most superhero blockbusters. According to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Discovery decided to scrap the project in favor of a tax writedown as it looked to save costs and carve out a new direction for DC movies.
While some DC movies have been hits, like "Aquaman" and "The Batman", they haven't reached the same level of critical and financial success as the MCU.
Warner Bros. is trying to change that. According to Zaslav, the company has a 10- year plan for DC.
He said that there had been a reset. There will be a team with a 10-year plan focused on DC. We think we can build a sustainable business.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
