[Film] Batgirl

[Daehawk]

From the outside to me it looks like they are trying to bury the show. They probably couldn't handle her sexual orientation. Old prudes. Or was this the trans character that they are shying away from? Either way its old world views. It will bite them. Hope it does.

[Malificent]

Or the new management has different standards - especially after seeing the impact that bad films had on later ones.

It's partly this and partly that the new management appears to be extremely risk averse during the post-merger transition.

Yes, there have been many articles about multiple TV shows getting canceled as a result of the merger and uncertainty about whether a show fits the brand (and which brand). Very risk averse.

[hitbyambulance]

this is hearsay, but an acquaintance with friends-of-friends involved in the production said the test screenings were terrible. like, imagine the worst WB DCU movie/direct-to-streaming production actually released... and it being even poorer than that

[Smoove_B]

I am not really keyed into the whole DC entertainment universe (though I'll watch stuff when I can) but I have noticed the movie stuff (on the whole) is routinely sub-par. And then you have something like Peacemaker on HBO which (I think) has been widely recognized as being awesome and The Suicide Squad (2021) which (I think) was also regarded as a much better movie than the typical DC release.

Anyway, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Batgirl was more in line with the older stuff and they are (slowly) recognizing they have the ability to do much better given the right ingredients (director, actors, writers, etc...). That's a tough $90 million lesson to learn, but they're definitely not helping their image overall by releasing another awful interpretation.

[pr0ner]

Maybe Batgirl was actually bad, but all rumors point to HBOMax getting totally gutted in its current form, with all scripted shows getting the axe, and the streaming service itself being merged into Discovery+ during Warner's earnings call tomorrow. Batgirl getting wiped from existence is the first of many dominos about to fall.

[Scraper]

This movie must be 1990s Fantastic Four levels of bad. I mean DC released Aquaman. Wonder Woman 2 and Suicide Squad (the Leto one). This has to be worse than those movies, which is hard to imagine.

Aquaman wasn't that bad. It's considered Fresh on RT at 65 percent. It certainly wasn't Eternals level of crappy.

I own that movie and I've tried to watch it 3 times. I've never made it through it all the way without falling asleep. And this is coming from someone who collected Aquaman comics through the late 90s.

[AWS260]

Yeah, based on reporting so far it seems like this was much less about the quality of the film and much more about new management's decision to stop producing streaming-only scripted content.

They looked at how much more $ would be needed for reshoots, post-production, and marketing, weighed it against how much of a tax write-off they could claim from canceling, and chose the option that would cost them the least.

[Max Peck]

Maybe Batgirl was actually bad, but all rumors point to HBOMax getting totally gutted in its current form, with all scripted shows getting the axe, and the streaming service itself being merged into Discovery+ during Warner's earnings call tomorrow. Batgirl getting wiped from existence is the first of many dominos about to fall.

So you're saying that maybe we shouldn't be counting on more seasons of shows like Doom Patrol and Peacemaker?

[pr0ner]

Maybe Batgirl was actually bad, but all rumors point to HBOMax getting totally gutted in its current form, with all scripted shows getting the axe, and the streaming service itself being merged into Discovery+ during Warner's earnings call tomorrow. Batgirl getting wiped from existence is the first of many dominos about to fall.

So you're saying that maybe we shouldn't be counting on more seasons of shows like Doom Patrol and Peacemaker?

No, I wouldn't be counting on it right now.

It's possible something big might make it onto HBO as a series (like Peacemaker), but generally speaking, I wouldn't count on any HBOMax originals continuing.

For instance, the most recent season of the animated series Little Ellen, for which season 3 is completed, is simply not going to be aired.

[ImLawBoy]

The reports of the death of HBO Max were apparently greatly exagerrated. During the prior regime, it seems that the focus was on quantity, while now the focus seems to be going back to quality. I think it makes some sense, as that was really what built HBO's core reputation when it came to original programming. There was a lot of hand wringing when my corporate overlords were in charge of things and it looked like WB was just going to crank out content for HBO Max without consideration for how good it would be. Now it's kind of looking like HBO Max will continue as more than just a tab on Discovery+, and will continue to produce original scripted content - just perhaps less of it and less kid-friendly.

I'm all for quality, but I also worry that this might hurt some quirkier programming. Would Raised by Wolves or Doom Patrol get green lit in the new direction forward? I'm not so sure, and that would be a shame. It sounds like the focus will be on prestige programming, and we might lose some of the fun stuff.

[pr0ner]

The reports of the death of HBO Max were apparently greatly exagerrated. During the prior regime, it seems that the focus was on quantity, while now the focus seems to be going back to quality. I think it makes some sense, as that was really what built HBO's core reputation when it came to original programming. There was a lot of hand wringing when my corporate overlords were in charge of things and it looked like WB was just going to crank out content for HBO Max without consideration for how good it would be. Now it's kind of looking like HBO Max will continue as more than just a tab on Discovery+, and will continue to produce original scripted content - just perhaps less of it and less kid-friendly.

I'm all for quality, but I also worry that this might hurt some quirkier programming. Would Raised by Wolves or Doom Patrol get green lit in the new direction forward? I'm not so sure, and that would be a shame. It sounds like the focus will be on prestige programming, and we might lose some of the fun stuff.

I, for one, am happy the rumors of HBO Max's complete demise weren't wholly true. But some people who work in the industry that I know were definitely ringing alarm bells before the earnings call last week.

[Malificent]

The reports of the death of HBO Max were apparently greatly exagerrated. During the prior regime, it seems that the focus was on quantity, while now the focus seems to be going back to quality. I think it makes some sense, as that was really what built HBO's core reputation when it came to original programming. There was a lot of hand wringing when my corporate overlords were in charge of things and it looked like WB was just going to crank out content for HBO Max without consideration for how good it would be. Now it's kind of looking like HBO Max will continue as more than just a tab on Discovery+, and will continue to produce original scripted content - just perhaps less of it and less kid-friendly.

I'm all for quality, but I also worry that this might hurt some quirkier programming. Would Raised by Wolves or Doom Patrol get green lit in the new direction forward? I'm not so sure, and that would be a shame. It sounds like the focus will be on prestige programming, and we might lose some of the fun stuff.

Their stated preference against animation and family fare have me worried about Harley Quinn and the whole DC Animated Universe line.

[ImLawBoy]

The reports of the death of HBO Max were apparently greatly exagerrated. During the prior regime, it seems that the focus was on quantity, while now the focus seems to be going back to quality. I think it makes some sense, as that was really what built HBO's core reputation when it came to original programming. There was a lot of hand wringing when my corporate overlords were in charge of things and it looked like WB was just going to crank out content for HBO Max without consideration for how good it would be. Now it's kind of looking like HBO Max will continue as more than just a tab on Discovery+, and will continue to produce original scripted content - just perhaps less of it and less kid-friendly.

I'm all for quality, but I also worry that this might hurt some quirkier programming. Would Raised by Wolves or Doom Patrol get green lit in the new direction forward? I'm not so sure, and that would be a shame. It sounds like the focus will be on prestige programming, and we might lose some of the fun stuff.

Their stated preference against animation and family fare have me worried about Harley Quinn and the whole DC Animated Universe line.

It's a bit of a puzzler to me. They have an entire channel mostly dedicated to animation in Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, and one would assume they'd need new content for that. Are they going to dedicate resources to that? Will those shows still show up on HBO Max? And that's all separate from the DC animated stuff.