Batgirl movie cancelled

[amethal]

Thing is they only that $90 million tax deduction if they bury the film.

That can't be right.

I'll accept that they get the tax deduction earlier if they bury the film, but the cost of making the film has to be deductible eventually.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

On a related note, I'd really like to see Star Wars Detours some day.

Star Wars Detours - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That can't be right.

I'll accept that they get the tax deduction earlier if they bury the film, but the cost of making the film has to be deductible eventually.

Yeah I'm not buying the whole tax write off thing, your not going to save enough money to make up for not releasing the movie at all.

No the truth is this is to save the brand from a movie audiences will hate, same reason Supergirl got cancelled as well am the Flash is likely next on the chopping block.

 

[trappedslider]

That can't be right.

I'll accept that they get the tax deduction earlier if they bury the film, but the cost of making the film has to be deductible eventually.

Yeah I'm not buying the whole tax write off thing, your not going to save enough money to make up for not releasing the movie at all.

No the truth is this is to save the brand from a movie audiences will hate, same reason Supergirl got cancelled as well am the Flash is likely next on the chopping block.

did no one read the article I posted that has a tax guy explaining it?

When Warner Bros. files its taxes this year, explains Blum, the company will combine the income from its profitable movies with its losses to determine its taxable income. The loss from Batgirl would lower that taxable income significantly.

“If they were to write this off as a worthless investment, they get a deduction,” says Blum. “It’s like a business venture that fails.”

Writing the entire production off as a loss, and using that loss to offset gains from successful productions, Blum says, is likely the easiest path forward for the company to reach a financially sound conclusion for the film.

Why did Warner Brothers kill a $90 million Batgirl movie starring Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne? A big tax write-off probably isn’t the only reason

While Warner Bros. says the decision to call off the $90 million Batgirl is due to its recent merger with Discovery, a tax attorney says there's likely more to the story.

fortune.com

 

[trappedslider]

Simu Liu pokes fun of WBD’s canceling of projects

 

[amethal]

did no one read the article I posted that has a tax guy explaining it?

Why did Warner Brothers kill a $90 million Batgirl movie starring Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne? A big tax write-off probably isn’t the only reason

While Warner Bros. says the decision to call off the $90 million Batgirl is due to its recent merger with Discovery, a tax attorney says there's likely more to the story.

fortune.com

That link doesn't explain why the cost of making the movie isn't deductible anyway, even if they release it.

If you are in the business of selling movies then the cost of making them is clearly an allowable business expense.

I can speculate that not releasing the movie allows them to claim the loss earlier; maybe they have profits this year to offset the loss against and they are not sure that will apply next year (the jurisdictions I am familiar with would allow them to carry the losses forward to future years, until they made a profit to offset them against, but maybe the notoriously corporation-friendly US tax system doesn't do that?)

It's very hard for non-Americans like me to make any sense of the US tax system, partly because it is very complicated and partly because it never seems to be explained (or is flat out explained wrong - like the classic "it's tax deductible so it doesn't cost them anything" which is only true if tax is being paid at the rate of 100%).

 

[trappedslider]

That link doesn't explain why the cost of making the movie isn't deductible anyway, even if they release it.

They cut their losses because the costs of distribution and marketing would add millions to its budget, which is currently at or around 90 million.

It's very hard for non-Americans like me to make any sense of the US tax system, partly because it is very complicated and partly because it never seems to be explained (or is flat out explained wrong - like the classic "it's tax deductible so it doesn't cost them anything" which is only true if tax is being paid at the rate of 100%).

you'd honestly be amazed at the list of things that are tax deductible in the US if you can claim them as work-related expenses like an actual watch for example. (not joking, I was in an IRS office and read one of the booklets lol)

 

[trappedslider]

Warner Bros. Discovery Reveals DCEU 10 Year Plan Inspired By Kevin Feige's MCU

After years trying to play down direct comparisons, Warner Bros. Discovery are now looking to emulate the MCU with a 10 year DCEU plan.

movieweb.com

"Our ambition is to bring Warners back and to produce great high quality films, and as we look at the opportunities that we have broadly, DC is one of the top of the list for us. You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman — these are brands that are known everywhere in the world. The ability to drive those all over the world with great story is a big opportunity for us. We have done a reset. We've restructured the business. We're going to focus.

There will be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC. It's very similar to the structure that Alan Horn and Bob Iger put together, very effectively, with Kevin Feige at Disney," he added. "We think that we could build a long-term much stronger, sustainable growth business out of DC. And as part of that, we're going to focus on quality. We're not going to release any film before it's ready. We're not going to release a film to make a quarter. We're not going to release a film unless the focus is going to be, 'How do we make each of these films in general as good as possible?' But DC is something that we think we could make better and we're focused on it now. We have some great DC films coming up — Black Adam, Shazam, and Flash – and we're working on all of those. We're very excited about them."

 

[wicked cool]

He's already starting off on a BAD foot and bad footing. He's already deviated from the set path Feige set forth...which is...KEEP GOOD WILL WITH THE FANS.

I think he's made more people upset with cancelling Batgirl than he understands, and his statements about Snyder probably has gotten him some even MORE ill will.

With such mis-steps right off the bat, I think he has a massive PR problem of his own causing right now. Sometimes keeping that 100 million (yes, 90 million to make so far, but it will take a few more million to be ready I imagine) is better for LONG term profit and PR than a short term tax break.

It's like 4e. Setting forth that new plan and new way to do things, but they started off on the wrong foot right off the bat.

Anecdotal, but I know I have gotten all the DC stuff in streaming, dvd, blu ray, gone to see it in theaters, gotten the merch. He's made ME skeptical...and when you upset those who are the bigger supporters, sometimes that's a very bad move.

That's why with 5e, it didn't matter what they actually were doing or did, with PR they ALWAYS tried to appeal to the hardcore fans and older fans, because many times where they lead, others will follow.

Quality movies are good. Creating BAD PR about things is NEVER a good move.

The next step is to build off the niche. Fiege was a fan already, and saw areas from Marvel that no one else wanted and built them up to be things that everyone desired. DC still has it's biggest properties, so in theory, it should be even easier for DC to pull of a Marvel...but not when you are telling old DC fans that you don't want their stuff, and by default, don't want them.

Thoughts are that he's going to cancel the ONLY GOOD part of DC that was actually being rather successful (We'll see, but thoughts are blazing right now that they only have another season...if that) which is the arrow verse and it's extensions...which right now would be the Superman and Lois show and Stargirl.

Edit: Reading someone who reported on the earnings call today. The CEO is also planning on following in Netflix's steps (yes, the steps Netflix has taken which seem to be losing subscribers and gained a lot of ill will towards it recently) in putting ads into HBO's services...and similarly to Netflix, have different levels of how many ads you get depending on how much you pay them.

He thinks this move will gain Discovery+ 40 million more subs (We'll see, I think in a pig's eye...but we'll see).

Only thing I think he was right on was the overspending on the stream vs. what the income they were getting back was. But, there are many things I don't like about this plan.

One other item, that it sounds like. Beyond the cost of what they paid for the merger, it seems like they have 53 Billion in long term debt. Leveraged to or around 500%? I see why AT&T offloaded it. Discovery better make some money or this will be like a slow sinking titanic.

Then again, I'm not the core group he's trying to appeal to there. I'm not a stock holder, I don't have any monetary investments with them, soooo....

strongly disagree-cancelling batgirl with have little backlash in the long run, Same with the scooby doo and every GOT spinoff that wasnt fully made etc.

Do you remember when the tv show Jericho got cancelled? there was an actual movement as people were upset. they sent tons of "nuts" to abc. In the long run nobody stopped watching abc (well until streaming but thats a different argument)

Amazon has greenlit 3 seasons of wheel of time for big money . Season 1 wasnt very good. in the long run if they cancelled it i dont think there will be any backlash. the show makes very little buzz


Up until this point ive been happy with my hbo subscription. i added mine during covid and its provided me lots of entertainment . Netflix has problems because it made huge investments in television that nobody was watching . Most of the WB DC shows are pure garbage and barely make ratings. Batwoman was probably the dumbest show on television

 

[trappedslider]

so, we'll get the Flash movie at some point despite Ezra making 2007 Britney look sane but not a spin-off

Warner Bros. CEO tries to explain why The Flash is great but Batgirl had to die

Warner Bros. CEO tries to explain why The Flash is great but Batgirl had to die

www.avclub.com

Some more highlights from that earning call:

- In the “Look forward to the future” for HBO Max and Discovery+, HBO Max’s section was entirely filled with Magnolia Network reality shows.

- HBO Max and Discovery+ are merging, but will use Discovery+’s tech as the base.

- Zaslav wants WBD to be “The fifth broadcast network.”

- Content, content, content, content. Content content? Content!

- HBO Max is male skewing, appointment television, scripted, and home of “fandoms.” Discovery+ is female-skewing, unscripted, “lean back” comfort viewing, and home of “genredoms.” This despite more men watching Discovery+ than HBO Max and more women watch HBO Max than Discovery+.

- In a slide with review quotes for the two services, HBO Max had two very detailed sentences from Vulture and CNet. Discovery+ had “An insane amount of content” from an IGN review and a 5-Star rating from the Apple App Store.

- HBO Max is going to see a massive reduction in costs for new stuff. Will apparently rely more on licensing outside properties than developing new projects. Basically confirmed that CW, TNT, and TBS will not have any more scripted original programming going forward, and also implied that they’ll get whatever scraps HBO doesn’t want.

Warner Bros. Discovery Confirms Kids’ Content Cuts

Kids and animated content are set for a broad swath of cuts across Warner Bros. Discovery.

deadline.com

Scoob!: Holiday Haunt writer says test audiences “dug” it

Big "ruh-roh" on this one for Warner Bros. Discovery

www.avclub.com

 

[Parmandur]

Turns out a chunk of that vocal minority (myself included) was made up of bots

Exclusive: Fake Accounts Fueled the 'Snyder Cut' Online Army

A WarnerMedia report reveals that inauthentic users bolstered the fan-led campaign for director Zack Snyder’s 'Justice League' do-over.

www.rollingstone.com

I mean, if the Snyder cut didn't get good viewership by WB's standard, I can imagine that heads would roll.