Warner Bros. and Discovery have merged their media businesses, creating a huge amount of controversy. David ZaslavThe CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery corporation, addressed the company’s decision to scrap the already-produced movie Batgirl—leading audiences to point out a significant discrepancy.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s ‘Strategic Shift’
Two huge media companies, Discovery and Warner Bros., merged in spring 2021. This change hasn’t affected viewers in any notable way until now. It was announced last week that HBO Max and Discovery+ would merge to create a new streamer. The name has yet to be revealed.
With this already puzzling decision came another blow: two of the company’s direct-to-stream films, Scoob! Holiday Haunt BatgirlThe information will not be made public.
During the company’s Q2 earnings call, CEO David Zaslav remarked: “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.”
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“These are brands that are known everywhere in the world, and as part of that, we’re going to focus on quality. DC is something that we think we could make better and we’re focused on it now.”
Although Zaslav starts his explanation by emphasizing the importance of creating high-quality content and not just making a profit, his tone seems to shift as he goes on.
“This idea of expensive films going direct to streaming—we can’t find an economic case for it, we can’t find an economic value to it, so we’re making a strategic shift.”
Zaslav concludes his statement by saying that the company is “committed to being disciplined about a framework that guides our comfortable investment for maximum return.”
Actions speak louder than words
From Zaslav’s somewhat contradictory statement, it’s difficult to glean if the choice to scrap Batgirl It has less to do with financial return or production value. But actions speak louder than words, so the company’s interests become a bit clearer with the knowledge of its subsequent announcement.
Zaslov confirmed during the same call that The Flash Would be moving forward with release and post-production, despite star Ezra Miller’s many disturbing scandals over the past two years.
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Miller This has been the topic of much controversyA video showing them choke a woman in Iceland has been released. They continued to be violent and were eventually charged with multiple counts of assault and disorderly behavior, as well as protective orders as allegations of kidnapping.
Regardless of Miller’s highly unsettling and illegal behavior, they will keep their leading role in The FlashIt is expected that the film will be released in 2023.
“We have seen The Flash, Black Adam, and Shazam 2,” Zaslav said. “We are very excited about them. We’ve seen them. We think they are terrific, and we think we can make them even better.”
Why It’s Problematic
These decisions have caused a lot of backlash, and even outrage, from the public. It is seen as hypocritical by Zaslav, who claims to be canning. Batgirl in the interest of DC’s reputation when keeping Miller as one of the faces of the brand will only serve to tarnish it.
Zaslov also insisted that scrapping was the right decision. Batgirl It had nothing to do money but then cited the lack of it. “economic case”Its release and a commitment to “maximum return.”
Warner Bros. Discovery is a company, so money is their primary concern. However, scrapping a Films for $90 millionIt is counterintuitive to save money in the interests of savings.
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This is especially true when you consider the fact that it chose to keep a figure with so many allegations about extreme violence at the forefront its brand’s progress.