With the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery having undergone a regime change, new CEO David Zaslav has also reportedly rethought the company’s film release strategy.
A new report at The Wall Street Street Journal indicates that Zaslav wants Warner Bros. Pictures to increase its theatrical release slate to 20-25 films a year – up from 17 last year.
As a result of this, former exec Jason Kilar’s plans for numerous direct-to-streaming HBO Max original films to build up that service are being scratched. Part of the reason according to the report is that theatrical movies tend to perform better on HBO Max than movies made exclusively for the streamer.
The biggest victim is the live-action “Wonder Twins” movie, starring KJ Apa and Isabel May, which is being cancelled. Zalav reportedly determined the film’s hefty $75 million+ budget was too big, and returns on it too limited for a made-for-streaming movie.
As the film only announced its first casting the other week, it’s still early enough to scrap it without much issue. Others like “Blue Beetle” have already made the shift to a theatrical release. The already finished filming “Batgirl” film may follow suit, but that’s not official as yet and so for now still intends to be an HBO Max launch.
Warner Bros. Discovery also reportedly wants to make more movies like “Joker” and is prioritising a new “Superman” film.
