We'll find out in a few hours when they announce earnings and future plans. But I think it's already been mentioned that there will be sharing of content on the various services. Discovery content on HBO Max and CNN content on Discovery.
More specifically, Batgirl is a made for steaming movie. That seems to be what's being cut, not a series like House of Dragons. I think the goal is to have all future DC movies be theatrical releases. Batgirl the streaming movie is not good enough for that. So in the end it's worth more to Time Warner to take it as a write down than release it in any form.
I think this is a fall out of the various pandemic era strategies. Time Warner decided to release their films straight to streaming. Paramount held Top Gun until the pandemic lightened enough for theaters to reopen. Top Gun made a killing. Releasing straight to streaming didn't. It did boost subscribers but recent Netflix results have shown that adding subscribers for adding subscribers sake is not a good long term strategy. Those subscribers need to be monetized.
So I think the strategy shift for TW is that movies should be released theatrically first, then eventually go to streaming. The old model. That's where the money is. The strategy for the last couple of years of direct to streaming isn't working. Thus the made for streaming movies are being cut.
I think, based on verbiage used in the earnings call, that there will be little/no 'exclusive' streaming content moving forward. If WBD can release something in theaters (maybe w/a shorter window for some likely lesser-performing films), so be it. But I think both exclusive series & films that are ONLY meant to stream on HBO Max are a thing of the past.
As for BATGIRL, I think we can look at it one or maybe two ways:
1. what you said - it was a streaming-only thing and WBD doesn't want to do that anymore
BUT ALSO
2. it _will_ be used as a $90 million tax write-off so it will essentially be shelved in perpetuity.
I've read from some former Discovery employees on social media that this type of thing is par for the course for this current executive: a sort of slash-and-burn talent/employees in order to maximize profits (and we're not talking _losing_ profit, we're talking about "profits weren't as high as we wanted them" - WB still had significant revenue first quarter 2022 compared w/1st quarter 2021). IMO following the earnings call, this is not going to be good for consumers; they're likely going to make some stuff only available on HBO to subscribers while other 'content' will be combined w/Discovery+ HBO Max merger (likely at what I can only presume to be a higher cost). It sounded like they're also interested in licensing other IP, which will take more off of HBO Max.
As a long-time HBO Max subscriber, none of this is pleasing to me. There's a reason I'm not a Discovery+ subscriber (because I mostly don't care about non-scripted "reality" TV), and I'm not interested in paying more for an HBO subscription and getting less content with added Discovery+ garbage "added."
THAT ALL BEING SAID....
I didn't mean for this thread to be about the HBO Max/WB Discover fiasco. I was thinking explicitly about the DCEU approach that WB has had now for nearly a decade that they have fumbled BADLY (and I'm not even counting their soft Superman reboot awhile back with SUPERMAN RETURNS, though its financial shortcomings and 'meh' critical reception almost certainly led WB towards Snyder's radically different Superman interpretation). The stories are intertwined, for sure, I was just being a bit more explicit about how multiple WB top executives keep fumbling the DC brand.
And it'll come as no surprise that on today's call there was comparison with Marvel Studios' handling of their brand, and how DC will emulate them (again). It was said that there is an entire team dedicated to enacting a 10 year plan of DC properties (again).
Sounds very similar to 2014's announcement:
* 2016 BATMAN v SUPERMAN & SUICIDE SQUAD
* 2017 WONDER WOMAN & JUSTICE LEAGUE part 1
* 2018 THE FLASH + AQUAMAN + 'Untitled DC Film'
* 2019 SHAZAM + JUSTICE LEAGUE part 2 + Untitled DC film
* 2020 CYBORG & GREEN LANTERN CORPS
Only today there was no actual announcement (it was a financial call, after all). I suspect there will be a FanDome announcement, and I was kinda surprised there wasn't one announced today. 2021 FanDome was October 16, so there is still plenty of time for WBD to get their act together for that. IMO, this is in the _very_ early stages and I suspect WBD doesn't really know what they're doing yet other than telling investors "we plan on copying the strategy of the hottest studio of the last 10+ years" (though they have no problems introducing characters in streaming series that will then feature in theatrical films, ala John Walker who will almost certainly be in THUNDERBOLTS, or Ms. Marvel who will feature in MARVELS). This feels more like a slight knee-jerk reaction to the company having financial issues from 2021's plan of day-and-date streaming/theatrical releases.
Also, I think they may have a difficult time convincing talent to go with them: completely yanking a movie from release that's nearly finished for the seeming purpose of a tax write-off (and believe me: no matter what WBD says publicly to control spin, the perception is this was a cash-dump) is not the way to win over creatives. BAD BOYS FOR LIFE directing team sounded pretty upset about this movie dumping their BATGIRL, and while there's a definite asterisk to the title that film WAS the highest-grossing film of 2020.
Reminder that "Peacemaker" was an HBO Max-exclusive, and short of making it both an HBO series that will stream on Max, regardless of what James Gunn thinks/says publicly right now I suspect there's nothing stopping WBD from pulling the plug on its 2nd season (that at best is in really early pre-production, and may not be anything more than some scripts-written)