# Batgirl movie put into the vault. Not to be released **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 2, 2022, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991 "2022-08-02T22:31:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/41 "2022-08-04T14:13:42Z")
A money saving move. A big tax write-off, no more spending on it, and reports are it sucked so bad test audiences went blind for several days following. It’s also a sign that HBOMax and other streaming channels aren’t getting there money’s worth from the investment in original programming. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/42 "2022-08-04T16:21:52Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > So you release it in theaters. It nets $20M and you cut some taxes off $70 million instead of $90M. I don’t think it was ever supposed to get a theater release. It was supposed to go directly to streaming. There aren’t ticket sales for streaming, the only thing that matters is, “Are people going to sign up for the service/retain their subscription because of this movie?” A bad movie might actually convince people who were wavering about maintaining a subscription to cancel. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/43 "2022-08-04T16:29:51Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Apparently, the entire slate of HBO Max scripted shows is on the chopping block, which would include _Peacemaker, Harley Quinn, Doom Patrol, Titans, Our Flag Means Death_ and others. However, it does look like Gunn got some sort of assurance about _Peacemaker,_ > > [https://screenrant.com/hbo-max-scripted-shows-development-cancelled/](https://screenrant.com/hbo-max-scripted-shows-development-cancelled/) A less doom-saying reading of that would be that they’re moving scripted TV show development into a single division, rather than having one “all scripted” unit and a “mixed scripted + reality” unit. I would assume that they could still air the scripted shows on HBO Max, it just wouldn’t have been produced by HBO Max. (But, yeah, they’ll probably axe everything that’s less than a tentpole winner…) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/44 "2022-08-04T16:41:26Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > You would think they’d release in some format just to recoup some of their losses. But I guess they’re worried doing so do so much damage to the francise that it’s not worth the attempt. I really don’t understand this. No matter how bad the film is it’s not going to do lasting damage to the franchise. the Bat-verse has already seen some epically terrible productions; “Batman and Robin” and “Catwoman” are legendary disasters. It didn’t slow down the popularity of Batman and DC stuff at all. Batman v Superman was awful. Aquaman was atrocious. They made millions and things just trucked right along. Does anyone really think “Morbius” is going to harm FUTURE comic book films? Nah. The bad ones come and go and the fans still flock to the theatres to see the next one. If Cervaise is right and an exec is just doing this to make himself look like Mr Tough Guy, he deserves to lose his job. He is setting fire to money. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/45 "2022-08-04T16:43:13Z")
Batgirl?! With how dark **The Batman** was, and if they’re going to bring back Keaton, I think **Batman Beyond** would have been the better play. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/46 "2022-08-04T16:44:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Aquaman was atrocious. I thought it was a decently fun superhero movie. Not atrocious at all. It was fairly well received, along with Shazam, Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey, and The Suicide Squad (2). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/47 "2022-08-04T16:46:04Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Batgirl?! With how dark **The Batman** was, and if they’re going to bring back Keaton, I think **Batman Beyond** would have been the better play. There’s no reason that they have to match in tone. Teen Titans Go, Harley Quinn, … they all have their own niches. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/48 "2022-08-04T17:14:32Z")
I actually think that Batman Beyond has potential. Sure, I’m sure they’ll never make one, but it could be good. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/49 "2022-08-04T17:15:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If Cervaise is right and an exec is just doing this to make himself look like Mr Tough Guy, he deserves to lose his job. There’s also the fact that he, himself, doesn’t actually like movies or scripted television. He’s very open about preferring unscripted “reality” TV. Click through for the interview excerpt. > > > Tiffany Vazquez 🇵🇷 @filmiliarface As I said above, I’d be surprised if he still has this job in five years. (The above is why HBO and HBO Max are stripping out their movies and scripted series, even the long-established archive stuff, and replacing it with wall-to-wall reruns of _Fixer Upper._) (Edit to add PS: _Aquaman_ is terrific. It’s silly and stupid and _knows_ it and _embraces_ it. I mean, come on, it’s freakin Aquaman, of _course_ it’s stupid.) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/50 "2022-08-04T17:17:22Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I actually think that Batman Beyond has potential. I think it could be amazing, if done right. We have the technology to make it look real. They could easily do a convincing Inque. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/51 "2022-08-04T18:37:20Z")
Looking at a box office [ranking](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/brand/bn3664968194/) of DC movies (which unfortunately only lists domestic) the one that comes closest in terms of recency, etc. is the aforementioned _Catwoman_. $40M domestic, a little more than that overseas when the overseas market was much smaller than now. I say throw it into some theaters and it should easily beat _Jonah Hex_. (People should keep in mind that both _Aquaman_ and _Batman v Superman_ made $300M domestic. Sure bigger budgets, promotion and all that. But with little effort if HBO made $30M in theaters, etc. then that’s a good thing.) ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/52 "2022-08-04T18:42:09Z")
To be frank, this is a good thing. It was always dissonant to have “HBO shows” that weren’t available on the traditional cable channels and instead getting stuck with a bunch of old movies that were never popular and have a dismal sub-15% Rotten Tomatoes rating repeating on the various extended HBO channels every month. I have no idea what Warner/HBO/Discovery are going to do with their streaming service…hopefully they consolidate it under a new brand instead of somehow keeping 2+ separate subscription services floating around out there. I’m also interested to see if they take a similarly firm stance on the Discovery+ only shows. Whatever the final form, I’m hoping that those of us who still have a traditional cable subscription don’t get stuck paying for both cable and a separate subscription service to watch HBO and Discovery content. I make a lot of use of my included HBO Max subscription but would never want anything in a Discovery service. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/53 "2022-08-04T18:45:18Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > A big tax write-off, no more spending on it, and reports are it sucked so bad test audiences went blind for several days following. This is different than what I’ve heard on a couple different podcasts. Supposedly test screenings were okay…probably good enough for a made-for-streaming movie but not good enough for a big screen release. This is likely the biggest reason why it was dropped and The Flash is still likely to be released. Supposedly audiences were asked if Batgirl was “felt big” and the answer was a resounding no…sounds like it basically felt like a Netflix Marvel show in scale, not a Batman movie which makes sense since it was never intended to be that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/54 "2022-08-04T18:55:15Z")
If the New Guy keeps Snyder from ever even being _allowed_ in a movie theater, much less involved in making a movie I’m willing to nominate him for sainthood. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/55 "2022-08-04T20:38:35Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Looking at a box office [ranking](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/brand/bn3664968194/) of DC movies (which unfortunately only lists domestic) the one that comes closest in terms of recency, etc. is the aforementioned _Catwoman_. $40M domestic, a little more than that overseas when the overseas market was much smaller than now. > > I say throw it into some theaters and it should easily beat _Jonah Hex_. Rolling out a movie is expensive. P&A (Prints and Advertising, though mostly it’s A in the digital era) is as much as $150M for the extravaganza movies, but rarely lower than $10M-20M for a domestic-only, small-film rollout. International rollout? Much bigger. Sometimes the production and distribution companies will share P&A costs, but in this case, they’re the same folks. Given Warner’s would only keep a little more than half of whatever’s earned at the box office, it’s a bit of a large hill to climb to think about actually releasing it. And I’m sure someone at Warner’s has done all this math with actual knowledge of costs and how much they’re willing to invest in advertising, and very possibly arrived at a breakeven+ box office # that doesn’t look realistic. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/56 "2022-08-04T20:47:09Z")
Keep in mind that Batgirl was scheduled to a be a streaming-only release, so no box office. I don’t quite get how the streaming services justify the really big budget movies. _The Gray Man_ on Netflix had a $200 million production budget. How do they recover that cost? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/57 "2022-08-04T21:01:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Keep in mind that Batgirl was scheduled to a be a streaming-only release, so no box office. Ah, didn’t know that, but I was responding to ftg’s suggestion that they just run it through the theaters to make a few bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/58 "2022-08-04T21:22:57Z")
I was on a pair of airline flights that only offered WB movies and TV shows. They uniformly sucked, except for Aquaman, which was mediocre. I couldn’t even finish Wonder Woman 1984. As far as I’m concerned, they’re in a hole, and maybe it’s a good idea to stop digging. Not watching their products anyway, none of my business what they do next. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/59 "2022-08-04T21:40:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I really don’t understand this. No matter how bad the film is it’s not going to do lasting damage to the franchise. the Bat-verse has already seen some epically terrible productions; “Batman and Robin” and “Catwoman” are legendary disasters. It didn’t slow down the popularity of Batman and DC stuff at all. Batman v Superman was awful. Aquaman was atrocious. They made millions and things just trucked right along. Catwoman was 18 years ago and Batman & Robin was 25 years ago. That might not be a long time to the old people who frequent the Straight Dope, but it’s long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away for the bulk of today’s movie audience. But I get your point, I don’t know if it would hurt them that much in the long term. I’d probably just release the movie in the hopes of mitigating some of my loss. > [@RickJay](#): > > Does anyone really think “Morbius” is going to harm FUTURE comic book films? Nah. The bad ones come and go and the fans still flock to the theatres to see the next one. No, but what if they release another Morbius? Supposedly the latest Mummy movie was supposed to kick off a new franchise but it did so poorly they scrapped those plans. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991/60 "2022-08-04T21:46:56Z")
The lack of success of Warner with the DC Comics movies is a little weird, given that they own some of the biggest and most important comic book characters, like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc. It should be possible to make successful movies with those properties. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/batgirl-movie-put-into-the-vault-not-to-be-released/968991.md?page=4)