Warner Bros/@LeslieGrace
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NOS News•today, 10:03
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American media giant Warner Bros. Discovery has canceled a movie about superhero Batgirl at the last minute. It had already been filmed and should be released in theaters at the end of this year or next year.
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It was speculated that the film scored badly with a test audience and that is why Warner decided to pull the plug on the project. According to leading US entertainment media such as Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter doesn’t make sense. Initially, there was even a positive reaction from viewers, while an unfinished film was shown in which the special effects were not yet finished.
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Less streaming, more cinema films
The media argue that it is due to a change of course at the company. Batgirl was produced by HBO, which initially wanted to make several films that would be released directly on its own streaming platform HBO Max. Batgirl was one of them. With budgets around $70 million, they wouldn’t have to compete with major cinema squatters.
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Until HBO was acquired by Warner Bros Discovery last year. With that, the streaming strategy also went into the trash: Warner does want to compete on the silver screen. In April it was decided that Batgirl had to become a theatrical film and $20 million was added to the budget.
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At the same time, the media conglomerate had to take a loss of 3 billion dollars. In the end, according to sources, the company decided it was better to take the loss, rather than spend another tens of millions on promotion and distribution, which is common when releasing a feature film. In addition, the company will receive a tax advantage if the film is written off this month.
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‘It’s not the actors’
Warner Bros. Discovery confirms in a statement that it has made a change of course. “(Leading actress) Leslie Grace is incredibly talented, and this decision has nothing to do with her acting. We are the filmmakers and actors of Batgirl very grateful and we hope we can work together again in the near future.”
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The cancellation of the project is a hard blow for the Belgian directorial duo Adil el Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Batgirl would be their first project for comics giant DC Comics. Earlier this year they already made the Disney + series for major competitor Marvel Ms. Marvel. According to Deadline, they also got the news while they were in Morocco for El Arbi’s wedding.
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