I get understanding companies do what companies do
When shit i like get canceled I'm mad but i understand why it happened (not that i support it)
But being a cheerleader and bootlicker is so weird when you don't even work for them
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Batgirl film cancelled: No plans to release film on HBO Max or Theaters
- Thread starter MrPink
- Start date
When shit i like get canceled I'm mad but i understand why it happened (not that i support it)
But being a cheerleader and bootlicker is so weird when you don't even work for them
Kinda figured there's no way a movie that bad to deserve that and the fact it tested fine validate meAlso the test screening scores came out, which showed Batgirl scoring in the 60s. That isn't incredible but hardly a disaster and in line with movies like IT and Shazam 2, the latter of which is notably costlier but critically to all of this was always budgeted and intended as a theatrical release.
Behind the Cancellation of ‘Batgirl’
The HBO Max film fell victim to a change in corporate strategy.www.hollywoodreporter.com
The article then goes on to say:
Not to speak for the poster, but I think they agree with you and were talking about how the film itself shits on the idea of making Matrix sequels. Given that Washowski was 'forced' to make the movie, I do wonder if she's breathing a sigh of relief that maybe all the fuckery has meant that there won't be a huge Matrix revival. Unless she's since changed her mind and wants to make more of these films anyway.
because corporations have armies of lawyers who comb through every part of corporate tax law in order to find some loophole to jump through.
They don't get a tax credit. They invested money in a project that will never be released, that makes all that money a loss. They can therefore write off that loss, which will reduce their overall tax burden and save them some money on their taxes (not anything close to the whole amount spent on Batgirl).
Companies (and individual investors) are allowed to write off losses on their taxes.
I think it's a dumb way to motivate spending and investment, but I'm also not an economist so what do I know.
This is a loss of their own making though.... I don't think intentional losses should be allowed to be written off in the sense that it reduces their tax burden. If the loss was through no fault of their own sure.
But thanks for the explanation.
His opinions on anything streaming are complete trash. He hates anything streaming right off the bat, and anyone involved in making those decisions. I dont trust him at all when it comes to stuff like this, he has a crazy bias
Basically,
[The amount of taxes saved by declaring sunk costs as a loss]
is of greater value to them than
[The revenue the movie can bring in] - [the cost it would take to finish and distribute the movie] and the [negative perceived impact of the quality of the film would have on their brand]
The government does not have the time or resources to go through every single decision every company makes and determination how intentional a decision might be to determine if it hits some nebulous threshold for what should qualify for a tax write off under your model.
This is a very standard part of the tax code. Investors often sell stocks at their end of the year for a loss in order to reduce their tax burden, even if they believe at some point in the future a stock would recover. Companies have released products at less then opportune times in order to just get them out there, stop paying to store them, get what money they can from the market and then take a tax write off for the loss, rather then holding the product and waiting for a better time to sell.
A loss is a loss. In this specific case, since Discovery just took over WB, there are also some additional benefits related to takeovers they can call upon until the 15th of this month that make the decision even more advantageous.
It'd be easy to argue it wasn't an intentional loss cause it wasn't...it's not like they greenlit the film with the intention of doing this, cause why would you. They're still losing a lot of money on the movie, just in theory, less than they would if they carried it through to release.
I don't know how you would argue to stop the expense deduction...studios write-off development and production spend all the time. The difference here is that the film is way further along than what is normally written off. But this can happen...probably the closest I recall is this film:
The Shadow King
The Shadow King is a cancelled film written by Henry Selick. Initially, Disney made plans to release the project, but eventually backed out of the deal, after spending a reported $50 million on it. THE SHADOW KING is a deliciously magical tale about nine-year-old New York orphan Hap who hides...
disney.fandom.com
Oh fuck Rebecca Front was in Batgirl? I love her stuff.
I don't understand why he says "putting something on streaming makes zero money", because it's pretty obvious that the upcoming and ongoing slate for each streaming service has a direct impact on subscriber retention. If Netflix announced tomorrow that they were not making anything new, just maintaining the archive of existing shows/movies, tonnes of people would unsubscribe. Selling a theatre ticket isn't the only revenue source...
Yes she's a quiet bat person.
Thank you for this, we often forget the human element behind these films. I would change "his/her" to "their" to cover more bases, though.
Kevin Feige, James Gunn and Edgar Wright Reached Out to ‘Batgirl’ Directors After Warner Bros. Axed Their Film
Kevin Feige sent his condolences after Warner Bros. shelved "Batgirl" from ever being released.
variety.com
Kevin Feige, James Gunn and Edgar Wright Reached Out to ‘Batgirl’ Directors After Warner Bros. Axed Their Film
Kevin Feige sent his condolences after Warner Bros. shelved "Batgirl" from ever being released.
Sometimes I forget Feige is an actual person and not just a corporate robot man. I mean he just released a show with Adil and Bilal like...this past month, so it's not a huge surprise he'd check with them, but it's still nice to see Hollywood understanding what a shit deal these guys got handed. I hope to see more from them in the future - the episodes of Ms. Marvel they directed were undeniably the show's peak.
I see the idiot YouTubers are saying
"Glad this WOKE garbage was cancelled."
Really can't help themselves, can they?
"Glad this WOKE garbage was cancelled."
Really can't help themselves, can they?
From one of the directors
feel bad for all involved but I gotta say I highly doubt this would have turned out decent lol. guess we'll never know tho
I kind of imagine he cares a lot less about it than most people do. As long as he gets paid he's probably fine - he's really not the kind of guy to get ultra invested in superhero stuff.
Movie tested around Shazam levels at a test screening.
Official statement is that movies made for streaming do not fit their new strategy for HBO Max and DC properties, the latter being focused on tentpole theatrical releases.
We know that WBD can use the project as a tax write-off if canceled, so it's assumed that whatever expected potential profit/benefit of finishing and releasing it didn't outweigh whatever they would recoup from binning it.
I mean, sure, won't stop people from ignoring it.
The official explanation is that it no longer fits in with the company's vision for its release plans. The new Scooby-Doo film (also finished) was cancelled for the same reason.
Batgirl was not finished.
They finished *shooting*.
I wonder what state Scooby actually was in.
They just put out Fantastic Beast 3 let's not act like they give any fuck about quality.
reactions seemed to be reportedly okay, not thrilling but not abominable. more importantly, a new exec just came in a couple months ago and decided he could get quick cash by using it as a tax writeoff, rather than by releasing it as content to support hbomax. so he did, quickly dumped straight into the trash even though it's already nearly finished. he didn't even consult the president of DC films on the decision, who almost quit on the spot over it and started consulting lawyers. the director learned about it while traveling abroad for his wedding.
the new suit is also absolutely not a fan of lower budget projects, wants to go exclusively big event theatrical, and decided that projects like batgirl are no longer on-brand and wants them all buried.
the entire industry is shocked and appalled (by this and all the other decisions he's recently made that are presumably putting legions of people out of work) and warner stock dropped 17%
it's a job
as an actor I'm sure he's disappointed that all the people he worked with will not get their work seen, just as a professional and a creative surely he's not happy about that like any crew member would be
but as for any attachment to the character himself, yeah i dont imagine it's all that important to him. reportedly he didn't have too much of a presence in this movie anyway, and a more meatier return elsewhere is still on the way.
Last edited:
It's not that he has to be pissed off or anything, but it's been a pretty hectic return so far all things considered.
But Shazam did very well! Strategy fit? Wut?
As far as a tax write off, I don't know about movie studio loopholes but in theory, it shouldn't be possible to save more money by not working than by working. That's wack!
Well of course lol. Even if Batgirl was White they would be complaining just on the basis of the lead being female.
The one small silver lining about the advent of the Zaslav era is that if the films still suck, these idiots can't blame the "WOKE agenda" anymore.
It's what they said 🤷♀️
Also Shazam was a completely different situation. Theatrical release, different strategy, different leadership...
It's because of the WB Discovery merger, they have the ability to write off projects that were greenlit under the previous management with the available window to do so ending this month.
I'm not sure that's the take away here, but okay.
That's what I meant, sorry.
According to the writer it was basically done. The animation was finished and the film was expected to be out this fall.
Scoob 2 Writer 'Heartbroken' Over Warner Bros. Scrapping Film: 'The Movie Is Practically Finished' - SlashFilm
This is a real shame.
www.slashfilm.com
Yeah… ok I feel bad now.I'm not sure that's the take away here, but okay.
That's what I meant, sorry.
According to the writer it was basically done. The animation was finished and the film was expected to be out this fall.
Scoob 2 Writer 'Heartbroken' Over Warner Bros. Scrapping Film: 'The Movie Is Practically Finished' - SlashFilm
This is a real shame.
They spent a ton of money, so those are costs. Therefore it reduces their tax liability. If they carried the film through to completion and it did in fact lose as much as they think, it'd be an even bigger tax savings off the film cause they'd have even higher expenses. But they'd also lose more money. Make no mistake, they are losing money on Batgirl right now. Purchasing accounting just means though, they sweep those loses into the merger by doing it now, instead of quarterly financials in some future quarter.
This isn't really a studio loophole, it's corporate accounting. The concept could apply to any type of corporation in a post merger situation.
Now if you're arguing that expenses a company spent shouldn't be allowed to offset their revenues then...well that's a different conversation.
They can write-off pictures anytime within certain rules dictated by accounting guidance. It's more that they can write it off as part of the merger accounting instead of normal quarterly financials. Technically you could do this anytime, there just isn't a merger to shove this into.
And that's the point? Fantastic Beast 3 was from the other owners, for sure they didn't release FB3 under Zaslav watch lol
My man could fit right into GothamFrom one of the directors
Great look though
I believe it's a new creation vaguely resembling his Returns suit
with some modifications and differences
This is the one of the films, and at least the ears, neck and breast plate look different.
Came out before the news of the cancellation but still makes me laugh:
View: https://twitter.com/CultureCrave/status/1554358847979921408
You know goddamned well they will no matter what happens.
there's been a lot of movies released for tax write offs or to extend licensing etc
the Roger Corman Fantastic Four movie comes to mind. but i guess usually they release them and write them off that way.
i suppose it is different for streaming because there is no "box office take" -- its just whatever engagement they get from the streaming bucks, which probably isn't quantifiable monetarily except after formulas
View: https://twitter.com/THR/status/1555539236480327681?s=20&t=-57_JBKWCmMhFU3f3HFBtA
Looks like Hamada is sticking around to see Black Adam release and then... who knows...