Batgirl Movie Cancelled

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SprangFan
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Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by SprangFan »

Not that I imagine a lot of us here were that interested anyway, but Warner has now officially killed the "Batgirl" movie, even though it's already been completed at a cost of around $90 million. It will apparently not be seen either in theaters or via streaming.

I knew DC films were lousy, but how terrible would one have to be before Warner is literally ashamed to release it in any form, and how could they not know it was that bad at a much earlier stage, before sinking $90m into it?

There's already speculation online that this is a ruse to avoid spending a dime on marketing. Now all they have to do is sit back and let the internet clamor to see this "forbidden" film, then relent and stream it on HBOMax by popular demand. Voila, millions of dollars worth of marketing for free.

Here's the story:
https://batman-news.com/2022/08/02/batg ... -released/
"You were right again, Batman. We might have been killed."
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dell
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by dell »

I'm no expert, but it is my understanding that a lot of movies lose money, at least on paper. There is just as much creativity in the accounting departments as there is in the script development; maybe even more! Maybe they needed this movie to lose a lot of money to offset gains somewhere else. Anyway, NEVER invest in a movie and expect to make money!
dell
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AndyFish
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by AndyFish »

Yeah I heard it was pretty terrible, the only thing that surprises me is people were surprised. All the DC Movies have been terrible.
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hisyouthfulward
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by hisyouthfulward »

What is being mentioned is that it was complete enough to show to preview audiences and the verdict was that it was unwatchable.
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Hedji
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by Hedji »

The rumor of it being "unwatchable" makes me want to watch it more. Like when someone says "Don't look here!" and you have to look.
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SprangFan
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by SprangFan »

At this point, I think "It's Unwatchable!" is pretty much DC's catchphrase. (Maybe that's the "U" in "DCEU"?)

Maybe the knowledge that they're already sitting on a $200m "Flash" movie that may end up just as unreleasable thanks to Ezra Miller's antics has them skittish about pumping even one more cent into promotion for what looks to be a flop.

Interestingly, a major draw for both films was going to be Michael Keaton's involvement. I strongly suspect both "Batgirl" and the Flash movie will eventually see the light of day if only because fans demand their Keaton Batman fix.
"You were right again, Batman. We might have been killed."
"Or worse. Let's go..."
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AndyFish
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by AndyFish »

SprangFan wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:23 pm At this point, I think "It's Unwatchable!" is pretty much DC's catchphrase. (Maybe that's the "U" in "DCEU"?)

Maybe the knowledge that they're already sitting on a $200m "Flash" movie that may end up just as unreleasable thanks to Ezra Miller's antics has them skittish about pumping even one more cent into promotion for what looks to be a flop.

Interestingly, a major draw for both films was going to be Michael Keaton's involvement. I strongly suspect both "Batgirl" and the Flash movie will eventually see the light of day if only because fans demand their Keaton Batman fix.
Not if they're going to claim it as a tax write off as is rumored, they'd have to give the credit back.
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Hedji wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:48 pm The rumor of it being "unwatchable" makes me want to watch it more. Like when someone says "Don't look here!" and you have to look.
When I think of a DC production being unwatchable, the CW's DC series will always come to mind. They have been, and continue to be the textbook example of low-grade, teen-angsty stuff. A few of those Greg Berlanti series have been cancelled over the past two years (Supergirl, Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, Naomi), and they richly deserved it. If the cancelled Batgirl movie was anywhere near the CW in terms of writing, characterization and scope, then I'd say the world is better off not seeing it. Keaton is not enough to warrant sitting through a bad Batgirl film (besides, I never thought Keaton was fit for the Batman role).
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rsaffle
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by rsaffle »

The best DC movie was probably the 1st Wonder Woman and they couldn't even repeat that success in the sequel which I hated.
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Batfanman
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by Batfanman »

I was never an avid fan in earlier years, save for maybe following the Spiderman daily strip and the Incredible Hulk TV series, but I've got to hand it to Marvel and their movies of the past decades - they did it right and have bested DC at nearly every turn. I find them much more cohesive/enjoyable. The DCEU is a confusing mess that makes COIE look like the directions on how to boil water. Dr. Fate needs to cast a spell to wipe all of this out and start from scratch.
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AndyFish
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by AndyFish »

Admittedly I haven't seen many of either but the Marvel movies I have seen were at least fun and entertaining-- they all blur together to the point that I couldn't tell you if that was an Avengers movie or a Captain America movie but at least they weren't depressing. The DC Movies I've seen (also few) were wretched boring overly dramatic badly acted and poorly written-- "Martha?" C'mon.

If you look back to the 1970s it was the opposite, Marvel was making bad TV movies like DR STRANGE and DC was hitting it out of the park with SUPERMAN THE MOVIE and the WONDER WOMAN TV series-- but even that didn't last very long. INCREDIBLE HULK was arguably the best thing Marvel did in the 70s, but it was really just THE FUGITIVE with our hero being a Hulk. DC owns the LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES mess, so I guess the 70s even out.

All of the rubber suit Batman movies have had some level of success before they went full third season '66 BATMAN with the George Clooney one. I thought THE DARK KNIGHT was great because of Heath Ledger's performance but Christian Bale's Batman had a serious speech impediment and the movie was so dark. When the only humor comes from a homicidal maniac you've got a problem.

The first two Tobey Spider-Man films were really good, the third one was awful. I've never been a fan of Iron Man but I saw at least the first one and I thought Robert Downey Jr did a good job in that one. I've never seen Thor but I heard that was good.

Bottom line, when I have the urge to watch a superhero film and I go to streaming or my collection it's BATMAN THE MOVIE (1966), the first BATMAN serial (1943) or SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (1979) and that's about it.
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

I find the MCU the same kind of childish, bloated, "we're screaming that its a big event, but its not" stuff which crippled Marvel's comics throughout the 80s and 90s. There's barely a thread of a coherent plot to be found in the 20+ movies. It's like kids playing with action figures and firecrackers: anything goes, and anything happens--even if never makes sense.

The DCEU has a strong series of plotlines which feel like a world building to a logical outcome (with the only exceptions being Wonder Woman '84, Shazam & the unnecessary Suicide Squad reboot), rather than tossing stuff at the screen with a "bang" and calling it "epic" like the MCU.

Where the past is concerned, I cannot watch or stomach most pre-2000 adaptations, as most are so inane, that it felt as if the producers were consciously trying to sink the productions. Exceptions The Incredible Hulk TV series (still the best adaptation of the character, and the MCU's Ruffalo being the worst), The Green Hornet (obviously), some episodes of Filmation's Shazam, the 1st season and very select second season episodes of the '66 Batman, the '77-''79 Amazing Spider-Man TV series, and Kirk Alyn's Superman and the '43 Batman serials.
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AndyFish
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by AndyFish »

Wow you absolutely nailed it! It IS like watching kids play with a bunch of action figures. Cute at first, then you're hoping dinner is ready so you can walk away.
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Larry A.
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by Larry A. »

I'm sticking my oar in this pond...finally. The only DCEU show I was interested in was the 1st and 2nd season of Supergirl because as much as I like Helen Slater, Her movie script was "per....."! I came away saying to myself, "I waited since 1959 for this?????" The only decent scene, imho, was where Helen flew out of the lake! I blame the director for that. He had no idea about the history of the character, and it showed, imho. I initially didn't care for Michael Keaton but grew to like his take. Other than RD Jr. as Ironman and the 1st Thor movie, PLEASE don't get me started on MCU!!!!! As far as Batgirl, the 1st mistake was changing Her costume to match that terrible, Mho, "Batgirl of...." as seen in the comics. As a number of late adults in life have said, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it!" which of course DC HAS :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :( :( :( :( :( :( :( !!!!!!!!!!!! In my humble opinion, it is high past time to leave well enough alone. I have NO problem with the actress cast as Babs/BG and was looking forward to Her action figures coming out. I guess THAT's not happening now!!!!!! :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
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SprangFan
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Re: Batgirl Movie Cancelled

Post by SprangFan »

I'm with you on Helen Slater: very charming performer in a terrible film. I always thought a decent film could have been made from cannibalizing part of Supergirl to fix the (IMO) flawed Superman 2. In the latter film, Kal-El gives up his powers for a roll in the hay with Lois Lane, with plenty of promises of "this is permanent, no way to undo it, you can't go back," and the Earth pays the price. Only soon enough, we learn "Well, okay, so actually you can reverse the process." And we don't even see how: he just finds the "tube of Prell" and then he's back to his old self. (The original Donner cut "fixes" this by having Superman re-power himself via the "sacrifice" of Jor-El...who's just a hologram so it still makes no sense).

So...(see? I was going somewhere with this), I thought it would've been better if they'd taken the whole subplot where Supergirl is trapped in the Phantom Zone and transplanted that into Superman 2: Zod and his minions escape and toss Superman in the Phantom Zone, then wreak havoc on Earth until our hero finds his way out. To me, that's a much better fit for the Superman character than having him abandon his role as Earth's protector just to indulge his libido. Admittedly it doesn't help that I've never regarded the Superman/Lois relationship as one of the great romances of literary history and I especially didn't think Reeve and Kidder's versions of the characters belonged together.

The real problem with both Supergirl and the Superman series, though, was that it was owned by penny-pinching producers who were never going to invest the money and behind-the-scenes talent to make decent films. It wouldn't matter who went into the Phantom Zone if the effects budget was lower than a TV ad for a local car dealership.

Aaaaaanyway...to get this sort-of, kind-of back on topic, it's looking highly likely that the planned "Supergirl" film is also going to be cancelled (https://www.cbr.com/super-girl-movie-li ... ders-dceu/). The new version of the character will debut in the upcoming Flash movie, assuming *that* one can ever be released. I wouldn't bet on it; there's still plenty of time for Ezra Miller to torch an orphanage before then.
"You were right again, Batman. We might have been killed."
"Or worse. Let's go..."
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