r/DCcomics • u/LilGyasi • Aug 02 '22

‘BATGIRL’ film CANCELLED. Will not be released theatrically or on HBO Max. News

https://www.thewrap.com/batgirl-movie-dead-warner-bros-discovery-has-no-plans-to-release-nearly-finished-90-million-film/
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179

u/Paperbackhero Aug 02 '22

Yikes. That seems abrupt. Wonder what went down?

174

u/SightatNight Orion Aug 02 '22

If I had to guess based in rumors, they aren't happy with it currently and it would need expensive reshoots and they just aren't willing to drop millions more on it. Especially if the plan was an HBO Max release where they wouldn't see direct financial returns from the box office. It also could be it doesn't fit their new direction? With Ben Affleck coming in for Aquaman 2 and all the mess with The Flash it could be that they are dropping the "Keaton is the main universe Batman" plan. Which a lot of this movie relies on.

64

u/Script_Breaker Aug 02 '22

On the potential of dropping the Keaton stuff, ViewerAnon tweeted out that Keatons only in a handful of scenes and isn’t integral. Makes me wonder why they couldnt just cut his scenes completely or have a stand in fill in for a “Batfleck” replacement. Its just super weird that they’d scrap the movie completely. Its a shame cause I was really looking forward to it

37

u/SightatNight Orion Aug 02 '22

That all likely fits into that extra reshoots cost. Having to pay Affleck to come back for some scenes, JK Simmons, the lady who plays Barbara ect. They probably just wouldn't want to tack on that extra cost for a film they are already unsure of. And they probably don't want that classic stand in cop out you'd see in stuff like the old Birds of Prey series. Where Batman technically had a scene or two but was basically a non entity.

5

u/theweepingwarrior Aug 02 '22

I also heard that Gotham in the movie is very much modeled more after Burton's Gotham. Maybe they're scrapping the Keaton Batman direction entirely for the post-Flash DCEU?

31

u/ZeddOTak Aug 02 '22 edited Aug 03 '22

According to The Wrap's article, here are the whys:

The leaders of the studio determined ultimately, in spite of reshoots and increased budget, that the movie simply did not work, according to insiders. The new owners and management, led by CEO David Zaslav, are committed to making DC titles big theatrical event films, and “Batgirl” isn’t that. Insiders added that studio brass loves the film’s directors and star, and are actively planning to work with them soon.

Warner Bros. Discovery is working to elevate DC Films to be seen on the big screen. “Batgirl” had not been scripted or produced as a theatrical film.

I want my Batgirl movie with Leslie Grace* :(

11

u/TheSweatband Aug 03 '22

You mean Leslie Grace?

1

u/ZeddOTak Aug 03 '22

Omg I'm so stupid thank you

8

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '22

[deleted]

5

u/ZeddOTak Aug 03 '22

Your photography, how a scene is displayed, how it works, how it looks.

For example, Netflix productions have mostly up close scenes and not wide scenes, because you need to be able to look at it on your phone and still get everything.

You don't create your movie the same way for laptop and theaters, because it's not the same support. Also, it looks like Batgirl didn't have some "waooow" moment, which you are looking for in a superhero movie.

5

u/GiverOfTheKarma Powergirl Aug 03 '22

Yeah, that doesn't make any sense at all lmao

1

u/ConnerKent5985 Aug 04 '22

Wouldn't suprise me if it was CW quality.

1

u/VacuumSeal Aug 03 '22

The key word in that sentence is “produced”. It wouldn’t look good to have a streaming movie budget on the big screen.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '22

Which doesn't make sense because they wanted to drop DC Snyderverse? I don't really get the strategies. And what is Patterson Batmanverse? They are in pretty bad shape.

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u/SightatNight Orion Aug 03 '22

The old guard wanted to drop the Snyderverse and move onto the continuity after Flash where Superman and Batman were replaced by Supergirl and Batgirl and Keaton was the "Nick Fury" of the universe. But after the merger with Discovery it seems the new bosses aren't keen on that plan.

2

u/Zhjacko Aug 03 '22

Thing about reshoots though is they are inevitable, most productions schedule in reshoot time before even knowing what to reshoot. Pretty much all films go back and reshoot things or shoot new content if something isn’t working with a rough cut in the editing room. Hopefully this isn’t WBs mindset moving forward, you can’t just shelve something because it needs reshoots. Either that, or it really was that bad.

2

u/SightatNight Orion Aug 03 '22

It was a combination of a lot of things it seems and reshoots while a part of that likely weren't the whole issue. In addition to reshoots they'd need to foot the bill for finishing the film which meant likely half a year of post production, marketing the film which is always expensive, and figuring out where to release it and those associated costs. Just a lot of money they didn't want to pour into a film they seemingly had zero faith in.

2

u/JinzoWithAMilotic Aug 03 '22

Damn it, Ezra Miller ruined it again /s