Why ‘Batgirl’ got cut
Warner ax man Zas: Superhero flick wasn’t ‘ready’
Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav didn’t mince words about the company’s controversial decision to cancel releases for “Batgirl” and “Scoob!: Holiday Haunt.”
“We’re not going to launch a movie until it’s ready,” Zaslav said on a quarterly earnings call late Thursday. “We’re not going to launch a movie to make a quarter, and we’re not going to put a movie out unless we believe in it.”
Warner Bros. Discovery, whose properties include HBO, CNN, Warner Bros., HGTV and TLC, shocked fans when it announced this week it would scrap the already-completed “Batgirl,” starring “In the Heights” star Leslie Grace.
While cutting “Batgirl” and the animated sequel to 2020’s “Scoob!” will likely save the media giant a fortune in marketing costs and any back-end payouts, it rattled employees, who according to Puck News call Zaslav “the butcher” behind closed doors.
Since the $43 billion merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia, Zaslav has displayed a no-nonsense, budget-focused leadership style that has translated to more than a few “rip the Band-Aid off ” decisions.
Most notably: Shortly after the merger closed, the CEO shuttered CNN’s month-old $300 million streaming service, CNN+.
On Thursday’s earnings call, Zaslav underscored the importance of smart financial decisions when it comes to big-ticket releases — “Batgirl” reportedly cost the company between $70 million and $90 million — and he pointed to the company’s DC superhero properties as central to the company’s broader strategy.
“You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman — these are brands that are known everywhere in the world,” Zaslav said. “We have done a reset. We’ve restructured the business where we are going to focus, where there is going to be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC.”
Zaslav’s strategy is similar to Disney’s playbook for Marvel, the movie studio run by Kevin Feige that dominates the box office with billion-dollar blockbusters like the “Avengers” franchise.
Zaslav recently brought in Feige’s former boss, retired Disney film chief Alan Horn, as consultant.