“We’re not going to start a movie until it’s ready,” Zaslav said during the Q&A portion of the call when asked directly about “Batgirl” getting the axe. “We’re not going to start a movie to make a quarter, and we’re not going to make a movie unless we believe in it.” During the presentation, Zaslav repeatedly pointed to the company’s DC superhero properties — including Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman — as key to the company’s broader content strategy. To better manage these properties, Zaslav cited his previously stated goal of putting together a team with a “10-year plan focused solely on DC,” similar to the approach Disney took with Marvel Studios, as led by Kevin Feige. But he did not announce who would lead that team. “These are brands that are known all over the world,” he said of the DC characters. “And as part of that, we will focus on quality. DC is something we think we could do better, and that’s what we’re focused on right now.” Zaslav has repeatedly mentioned “quality” when discussing DC, strongly implying that “Batgirl” was not at the level he believes is necessary for adaptations of the broader comic book property. “The goal is to grow the DC brand, to grow the DC characters,” he said. “But also, our job is to protect the DC brand. And that’s what we’ll do.” Zaslav named “Black Adam,” “Shazam! 2” and “The Flash” as DC properties he’s “very excited about.” “We’ve seen them, we think they’re amazing, and we think we can make them even better,” he said. (Zaslav’s report on “The Flash,” currently slated to premiere in June 2023, is especially important as star Ezra Miller faces multiple allegations of abuse and misconduct that neither the actor nor the studio have publicly reported.) The decision to scrap two nearly completed feature films — including a $90 million budget superhero property — stunned the wider industry. On Wednesday, “Batgirl” directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (“Bad Boys for Life,” “Ms. Marvel”) issued a statement saying they were “saddened and shocked by the news,” and star Leslie Grace said she was “proud of the love, hard work and intent all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film.” On Tuesday, Variety reported that the main driver for the decision was the company’s shift in strategy away from making feature films exclusively for HBO Max, as was the case with “Batgirl” and “Scoob!: Holiday Haunt,” after the WarnerMedia merger. and Discovery. “This idea of expensive movies going straight to streaming — we can’t find a business case for it, we can’t find an economic value for it, so we’re making a strategic shift,” Zaslav said during the Q&A. He also referred to this shift during his opening remarks on the second quarter earnings call. “We’re going to fully embrace theatrical as we believe it creates interest and demand, provides a big marketing boost and creates word of mouth buzz as movies move to streaming and beyond,” said Zaslav. “We have a different view on the wisdom of streaming movies and have taken some aggressive steps to physically correct the previous strategy.” During the presentation, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels cited the strategy led by WarnerMedia’s previous leadership — specifically, Jason Kilar and Ann Sarnoff — to fund “film options directly on HBO Max” as lacking “adequate support” for to be maintained. He cited “Wonder Twins” (which was in pre-production) and the near-completed “Batgirl” and “Scoob!: Holiday Haunt” as “examples of streaming films that don’t fit this new strategic approach.” Wiedenfels said canceling those projects was a “difficult decision” but the company is “committed to discipline on a framework that guides our comfortable investment for maximum return.” To cover losses from the cancellation of the films, the company is said to be taking a tax cut on both films, citing a change in strategy after the merger, but that strategy was not addressed during the earnings call.
