In a surprising development, Warner Bros. will no longer be releasing Batgirl, the DC film that already completed shooting and was expected to arrive on HBO Max this year. The unusual move comes after a change in leadership at Warners, with newly installed Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav prioritizing on cost-cutting measures and refocusing Warners on theatrical films rather than creating projects straight for streaming, as had been a priority for former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar.
Batgirl was budgeted at around $80 million, with costs rising to nearly $90 million due to COVID-19 protocols. It’s a hefty sum, but significantly lower than DC theatrical releases, thus the film is said not to have the spectacle that audiences come to expect from DC fare. (The Batman, released in March, had a budget of $185 million, before marketing costs.) Warners has also decided to shelve the $40 million animated feature Scoob!: Holiday Haunt.
Insiders say that big budget films made directly for streaming no longer make sense under the company’s new strategy.
In June, Zazlav tapped MGM’s Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy to run Warners, replacing Toby Emmerich.
Batgirl starred In The Heights breakout Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon/ Batgirl and hailed from Bad Boys for Life filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Its cast also included Michael Keaton, back as Batman, J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon and Brendan Fraser.
Under Kilar, Warners shattered the theatrical window, sending its 2021 slate day-and-date to HBO Max in a one-year experiment.
More to come.
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