The major trades have announced that due to poor reception that HBO Discovery has opted to shelve Batgirl indefinitely.
Via Variety:
“Batgirl,” the feature film adaptation of the DC Comics character, has been killed at Warner Bros., Variety has confirmed. It will not premiere on any platform at the studio — neither theatrically nor on HBO Max.
The $90 million production — starring Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) and directed by “Bad Boys for Life” and “Ms. Marvel” filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah — was greenlit in 2021 as part of a company-wide effort at Warner Bros. to create feature films specifically for HBO Max. But the new corporate regime at Warner Bros. Discovery has pivoted the company’s priorities back to theatrical features, leaving “Batgirl” without a proper home.
Studio insiders insist the decision was not driven by the quality of the film or the commitment of the filmmakers, but by the desire for the studio’s slate of DC features to be at a blockbuster scale. “Batgirl” was budgeted to screen in homes on HBO Max, and not for a major global release in theaters. The budget for the project, which finished principal photography earlier this year and was in post-production, reached $90 million due in part to COVID-related delays and protocols.
The decision still comes as a shock, as studios almost never shelve productions outright, preferring to get at least some return on their investment. It also comes as Warner Bros. is still contending with what to do about “The Flash,” a DC adaptation created — and budgeted — specifically for theatrical release in 2023. The film has been utterly hamstrung by repeated allegations of abuse and misconduct by its star, Ezra Miller.
And it’s not like “Batgirl” was a small movie, either. Along with Grace, J.K. Simmons plays Barbara’s father, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and Michael Keaton reprises his role as Batman (as he also does in “The Flash”). Brendan Fraser plays the villain, Firefly, and Grace told Variety in April that she had preliminary discussions with El Arbi and Fallah about what a sequel “could be.”
Batgirl wasn't the only film that got the ax on Tuesday; Warner Bros. also decided to shelve the $40 million animated film Scoob!: Holiday Haunt.
The New York Post first reported on Warner Bros. decision to not release “Batgirl.” They're claiming that test screenings were so bad that the studio decided to shelve the nearly completed film.
As a comic book movie fan, I would have loved to have seen for myself how bad this film is, especially after the amount of money they spent on it.
However, since Warner Bros is under new management, CEO David Zaslav has been making lots of changes, including canceling 90% of shows on CW's roster (it was also announced today that The Flash will end after it's extremely short upcoming ninth season).
So if it's really bad, better to take that financial L and spare the actors involved the embarrassment of being a part of a crappy film that fans will tear you a part for on social media.
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