Warner Bros. has made yet another misstep. Earlier this month, news broke that the $90 million film Batgirl was scrapped by the new CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav. This was reportedly done inter alia to get the benefit of a tax write-down and it comes in the wider context of the CEO aiming for 3 Billion dollars in planned cuts.
However, the scrapping of the film proved to be very unpopular among fans. The latest development in this story is the pushback from fans, who have launched the #ReleaseBatgirl campaign online. Clearly, fans want to see the film, however, for certain reasons discussed below, this might not happen.
Reasons Why Batgirl May Never Be Released
The film Batgirl had a fascinating premise. Fans everywhere were excited to watch the flick. Alas, CEO David Zaslav had other plans. Even though the film was in the post-production phase and wasn’t far from completion, it was scrapped, and this move got them a lucrative tax write-down. Soon, many began to wonder if the film could follow the fate of Zack Snyder’s Justice League which was eventually released.
However, this seems unlikely for a few reasons. First, If Warner Bros. Discovery does decide to release Batgirl they would have to forgo the lucrative tax write-down. The opportunity cost is too steep for the production house to give in to the fans’ demand. Second, the filmmakers reportedly don’t have access to any of the film footage.
Moreover, it has been suggested by some that WB might actually destroy the footage of the film so as to convince the IRS that the project would never make the production house any money. This would reportedly entitle them to a full tax write-down, all at once.
The #ReleaseBatgirl Campaign Goes Viral on the Internet
Fans on the other hand are determined to compel Warner Bros. Discovery to release the film. They launched a #ReleaseBatgirl Campaign on the internet. A few tweets have been reproduced below.
Would fan pressure override financial prudence? It might. After all, a PR debacle isn’t without its own costs. We’ll have to wait and watch.
Source: Twitter
