Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was tough and firm in presenting the company’s quarterly performance to the market this Thursday (4/8) when he faced the controversial decision to cancel the release of ” Batgirl “and the sequel to” Scooby! The Movie “.
“We won’t release a movie until it’s ready,” Zaslav said during the question and answer portion of the call. “And we won’t release a movie unless we believe it.”
The decision to shelve the two near-completed films, most notably a DC film with a $ 90 million budget, stunned the industry at large this week.
During the presentation, Zaslav reiterated that his view is opposite to that of the former WarnerMedia management. Former boss Jason Kilar rocked the market by releasing blockbusters simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max during the pandemic. But the new boss is radically opposed to such initiatives. He goes even further.
“This idea of distributing expensive movies directly via streaming … we couldn’t find a cheap argument for it, so we’re making a strategic shift,” said Zaslav.
By canceling “Batgirl,” he says he intends to value DC’s superheroes – including Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman – as central elements of the company’s broader content strategy. “These are famous brands all over the world,” she said.
“We fully embrace cinema because we believe it creates interest and demand, delivers a great marketing event and buzz, word of mouth, that accompanies movies as they stream and beyond,” he added. “We have a different view on direct streaming movies and have taken some aggressive steps to correct the previous strategy.”
During the presentation, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels cited the strategy led by WarnerMedia’s former leadership – namely Jason Kilar and Ann Sarnoff – to finance “selected films directed at HBO Max” as not being financially viable. In addition to nearly completed “Batgirl” and “Scoob!: Holiday Haunt”, he cited the discontinued “Super Twins” movie as “examples of streaming movies that don’t fit this new strategic approach.”
Wiedenfels said canceling these projects was a “difficult decision”, but the company is “committed to being disciplined on a framework that guides our investment towards maximum return.”
There has been no mention of further cuts, but all expensive projects developed exclusively for streaming must be suspended. This includes previously announced DC Comics productions such as the Supergirl and Zatanna films.
For satisfying during production and earning a spot on the theatrical release calendar, “Besouro Azul”, which marks Bruna Marquezine’s Hollywood debut, would be safe – at least, as long as Zaslav “believes in him”.
Source: Terra
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