Batgirl The Movie

I doubt WB would allow merchandise to be made, even from concept art.

SwedishHeat said:

It seems like the issue was more of a balance sheet thing. It cost $70 million to make, but be released on a streaming service, where there weren't actual receipts to track how much revenue the film generated. So, they have a new bean counter in charge who didn't like that idea, so they scrapped the movie. This is the same guy that shut down CNN+ after a few days, and it cost $300 million, so $70 million is not that big a deal to him.

It sounds like it was an accounting decision rather than an indictment of the film's quality.

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seems plausible but sad for the cast and crew that needed the exposure rather than the payday they actually got

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/b...os-1235332062/

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Aug 2, 2022 5:17pm PT
Why Warner Bros. Killed ‘Batgirl’: Inside the Decision Not to Release the DC Movie
By Adam B. Vary, Brent Lang
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 19: Members
Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images
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 sources with knowledge of the situation, the most likely reason: taxes.

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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.

LIBBY1957DOG said:

Star Leslie Grace (“In the Heights”) had given multiple interviews expressing her enthusiasm for landing the title role

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One does feel bad for her. On the other hand if this was going to be like Halle Berry's Catwoman perhaps she'll be glad in years to come.

LIBBY1957DOG said:

Will Smith Apology Video Botches His Image Rehab

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It did? Guess he should have known apologies aren't accepted anymore. People like judging others from on high far too much to not simply use the occasion of his apology as another opportunity to...well...smack him in the face.

Centrocal said:

I doubt WB would allow merchandise to be made, even from concept art.

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Hot Toys released some goofy variants of Leto Joker/Affleck Batman, right? That was under different management, though.

Well that sucks..fortunately we can see Keaton returning as another comic character

a-dev said:

One does feel bad for her. On the other hand if this was going to be like Halle Berry's Catwoman perhaps she'll be glad in years to come.



It did? Guess he should have known apologies aren't accepted anymore. People like judging others from on high far too much to not simply use the occasion of his apology as another opportunity to...well...smack him in the face.

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sorry mate the smith thing was a insert trail i missed in the article i cut and pasted

here's the full thing below if your interested to read it

WILL SMITH APOLOGY VIDEO BOTCHES HIS IMAGE REHAB​

By Andrew Wallenstein
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AUGUST 1, 2022 6:00AM PT

WILL SMITH MUST DO MORE THAN PHOTO ILLUSTRATION VIP+: AP PHOTO

IN THIS ARTICLE​

There’s no gun seen pointed at his head in the apology Will Smith released on YouTube last week. But there might as well have been one offscreen considering the production comes across as forced as a hostage video.
Don’t get me wrong: There was nothing offensive about what Smith said in his 5-minute-and-44-second monologue. And the Oscar-winning actor deserves credit for saying anything at all considering his silence was starting to get conspicuous.
Where Smith’s error lies is not in where it’s only natural to focus—the substance of his remarks—but in the style with which he delivers those remarks. The cardinal sin Smith commits here is even evident before he’s uttered a single sentence.

What’s most striking at the outset of the video is the decision to not have Smith verbally begin the video himself. Instead, the opening image displays the following text: “It’s been a minute. Over the last few months, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and personal work . You asked a lot of fair questions that I wanted to take some time to answer.”
Well, here’s a simple question Smith doesn’t answer: Wouldn’t it have been more effective if he actually spoke those words on camera, rather than dispensing with any kind of opening remarks and just launching into answering a question rather abruptly?
By relying on introductory text instead of speaking the words, Smith conveys he can’t bring himself to eat humble pie. Some PR wordsmith-ing has to do that for him.
Because of this the video gets off on the wrong foot, with Smith projecting a “let’s get this over with” kinda vibe—exactly the vibe an apology should never give off. One can only imagine the kind of arm-twisting necessary for him to cooperate.
In addition, the video is structured in such an odd format, a cherrypicked selection of questions from unnamed inquisitors to which he responds. It’s such an obvious way of pushing forward a distinct set of talking points that prevents any sense of sincerity from coming across.
Then there’s the oddly stilted manner in which Smith reads aloud the very first question, “Why didn’t you apologize to Chris Rock in your acceptance speech,” as if he’s unfamiliar with the English language. It’s the kind of thing that’s meant for the cutting-room floor as a bad take, yet it leads the video.
Something feels very rushed about the production, as if it was actually a first draft of something meant to be more polished and substantial. But instead of being endlessly massaged by his publicists, perhaps the video was snatched from their trembling hands and unceremoniously dumped online far from what the finished product was conceived to be.
That really shouldn’t be the case. Maybe the understanding types among us could give Smith a pass that he wasn’t able to handle himself as best as possible in the heat of the Oscar moment. But what defies comprehension after all this time is that cooler heads in his camp aren’t prevailing with a more sensible strategy. This video is no less tone deaf that how he conducted himself that fateful night in late March.
Maybe Smith isn’t truly contrite and never will be. OK, but shouldn’t he know enough to at least summon his thespian skills in order to fake contrition? What’s most regrettable about the video is that this great actor somehow can’t convey a reasonable facsimile of regret when he really needed to play the part of the penitent celebrity in real life.
No one is going to come away from this video thinking this guy really feels bad about doing wrong. More like: this guy is going to do whatever is strategically expedient to salvage his reputation, but doesn’t understand that people can detect phony remorse uttered through gritted teeth.
To some degree, the slapdash nature of the video is OK; anything that looks too polished feels like a product of PR. And it would have also wrong for Smith to turn his charisma on full blast because then the actorly nature of it all calls attention to itself and renders the proceedings false.
But if he was just trying to act natural, that doesn’t work here, either. He seems to be positively bristling at the indignity of it all, as if he’s too proud to appear cowed. The end result is a video nothing short of unwitting self-sabotage.
This commentary is the latest in a series for Variety Intelligence Platform subscribers that analyzes what no textbook devoted to crisis PR would be complete without: an assessment of how Will Smith has tried to repair his career in the wake of his Oscars fiasco. In the immediate aftermath of the awards show, VIP+ urged him to do more than just offer a written mea culpa. He didn’t face the challenge of Chris Rock, who was counseled to turn the slap into the defining moment of his own career. Then there was the matter of how Apple should handle “Emancipation,” which was scheduled to be Smith’s next film release. We also addressed the price Smith would pay if he waited too long to break his silence. Now that he finally has, the lessons learned from a crisis-PR standpoint are also examined.

You'd think they would have learned their lesson with the batwoman tv show.

Futurion said:

View attachment 592514

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“Blue Beatle”

So I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said here (memes, gifs or otherwise) but I personally would’ve liked to have seen it. It couldn’t be any worse than that “Cage Free” Turkey of a Mortal Kombat movie (which has a sequel in the works) .

Just put it on HBOMax and let the people decide how good or bad it is, take the loss and make more Batman movies

“That new Scooby Doo movie must be terrible for them to cancel it” said no one because this is more about the pledge to save WBD $3billion this year than the quality of work.

WB finally getting wise.

Entropy said:

“That new Scooby Doo movie must be terrible for them to cancel it” said no one because this is more about the pledge to save WBD $3billion this year than the quality of work.

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I’m sure the “tax break” has a lot to do with it, but…. Is it really that hard to fathom that a company like WB made an unwatchable Batgirl movie?

I believe the tax story… WB has already released awful DC films proudly. This one couldn’t have been worse than some of their other crap.

They will probably film Black Canary and Blue Beetle and cancel next year for taxes too

If they released WW84... but thought Batgirl was cancel-worthy, imagine how bad it must have been.

Kinda crazy how they still hold onto the flash tho. After everything that man has done

If it ain’t from Zack Snyder I don’t want to see it.

jye4ever said:

If it ain’t from Zack Snyder I don’t want to see it.

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There are so many other directors out there that can put out a great dc movie series. Why do some think Snyder is the only one who can do it? Lol. Is it cause he’s the first to headline the dceu? Imagine if they got John faveara or whoever to make every mcu film. Or the guy who made ragnorak

ironwez20 said:

There are so many other directors out there that can put out a great dc movie series. Why do some think Snyder is the only one who can do it? Lol. Is it cause he’s the first to headline the dceu? Imagine if they got John faveara or whoever to make every mcu film. Or the guy who made ragnorak

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I must see Snyder’s full vision for his JL.

I must.

Snyderverse > Marvel Phase 4

jye4ever said:

I must see Snyder’s full vision for his JL.

I must.

Snyderverse > Marvel Phase 4

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It’ll come out in comic form in the yr 2035 or as an animated film. It’ll be ok. Lol

jye4ever said:

If it ain’t from Zack Snyder I don’t want to see it.

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Yeah it’s ironic how everything post Snyder has been god awful. Shazam, WW84, birds of prey were all lackluster. They’ve been on the steady decline for a while now. At least Snyder had an overall plan for the DCEU.