Wait. What?
The Batgirl is currently in production in Scotland and is set to follow the classic DC character Barbara Gordon as she takes on the mantle of Batgirl. Alongside Keaton, Leslie Grace has been cast as the titular character, with J.K Simmons reprising his role as Commissioner James Gordon. Brendan Fraser is set to play the villain Firefly, and Jacob Scipio has been cast in a currently unspecified role.
Yes yes all Keaton all the time!
Old man Batman I hope.
Since I’m old and don’t know who Leslie Grace is, and since I don’t watch enough Saturday Night Live to remember any of their names, I thought Leslie Grace was Leslie Jones. That would have been a rather, um, unusual take on Batgirl, but I would have been up for it!
-Tom
I would have watched that with with Peter Dinklage as Robin. They’ve done great work together.
New WB owners put the brakes on ever releasing this movie.
The leaders of the studio determined ultimately, in spite of reshoots and increased budget, that the movie simply did not work, according to insiders. The new owners and management, led by CEO David Zaslav, are committed to making DC titles big theatrical event films, and “Batgirl” isn’t that. Insiders added that studio brass loves the film’s directors and star, and are actively planning to work with them soon.
Warner Bros. Discovery is working to elevate DC Films to be seen on the big screen. “Batgirl” had not been scripted or produced as a theatrical film.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a studio just flushing $90 million before.
Well now I really want to see this movie.
#releaseanycut
You can’t make this stuff up. The only thing crazier will be if Ray Fisher enters the chat.
Insiders added that studio brass loves the film’s directors and star, and are actively planning to work with them soon.
This part is hilarious to me. “You made a movie that went over budget, cost $90 million, and isn’t even good enough for our streaming service, but we totally love you.”
*Please don’t sue us like Scarlett Johansson.
According to the rumor mill, HBOMax may be in danger of being put out to pasture by the new owners, which kind of explains why this movie isn’t just being dumped there.
Still kind of weird to not just sell it to some other streaming service if that’s the case.
Edit: And Hollywood Reporter is confirming it.
Insiders say that big budget films made directly for streaming no longer financial make sense under the company’s new strategy. In June, Zaslav tapped MGM’s Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy to run Warners, replacing Toby Emmerich.
Warner Bros Discover leadership had been looking to find $3 billion in cost-savings after the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery closed in April.
How can it be cheaper to just drop 90 million instead of doing something with the movie?
I guess the logic is this:
Crazy times.
They’d have to market it, and if they feel it damages the brand they’ll figure it’s better to just abandon it.
Keep in mind that according to the reports of the initial Discovery takeover, those execs were having fits when they learned how much WB spent on the Snyder Cut version of Justice League.
The crazy thing is Max is doing quite well, both critically and commercially. HBO and HBO Max have tons of must-watch originals, the most Emmy nominations, and 77 million subscribers at the end of 2021. Meanwhile, the Peacocks of the world are lost in the woods.
I said it in another thread, but this is all David Zaslav. Dude’s going to kill the golden goose.
Yup. He’s adamant that WB/HBO cut costs like crazy and get to the level of profitability that Discovery has which makes its massive profit from very cheaply made reality TV and nature shows.
Wow, if HBO Max goes, that’s the end of the second golden age of television. It’s all reality shows and let’s plays from here on out.
I don’t know for sure if it was done, just that they finished shooting.
Consider the $90 gone either way. So if there’s any post-production costs to be saved by stopping now, that seems like the question to ask: will a release in any format—HBO Max, straight to “video”—bring in more money than the cost it will take to finish it?
I don’t know how those expenses work, maybe the effects companies and things like that are all paid already out of the $90 they sunk, but I doubt it. Editing, scoring, VFX work, somewhere in there I’m sure there’s money to be saved by stopping now instead of a month from now, or from letting it be finished. And if HBO Max is already a dead platform walking, none of the theoretical release models look promising.