Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: HBO Max

  • HBO Max to Merge With Discovery+ by Summer 2023

    HBO Max to Merge With Discovery+ by Summer 2023

    A major bit of news in the age of streaming has come to be during the Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call. JB Perrette, the CEO and President of Global Streaming and Interactive at Warner Bros. Discovery announced that HBO Max and Discovery+ are set to be combined into a singular streaming service in the US next summer. On the earnings call, Perrette discussed the plans for rolling out this new operation.

    Our primary focus for the rollout will be in the markets where HBO Max has already launched. We plan to launch the service sequentially starting in the U.S. next summer. Latin America will follow later in the year. European markets with HBO Max will follow in early ‘24, with additional launches and key Asia Pacific territories and some new European markets coming later in 2024. There’s much work to be done over the coming months. There’s lots to do, we’re determined to get it right, which will take a bit of time.

    JB Perrette

    JB Perrette also spent time discussing the rationale for this decision, with the more appointment viewing experience of HBO Max and the comfortable viewing experience of Discovery+ being more strongly served on a singular platform.

    These are two critical and powerful components of a strong and sustainable subscription business. Coupled with our world-class collection of globally recognized brands, franchises and characters, it is truly an unprecedented combination in an already crowded market.

    JB Perrette

    The news of this radical shift from Warner Bros. Discovery is coming off the heels of an already loud week from the company in terms of shuttering projects. This includes the cancelations of Batgirl and the sequel to Scoob, despite them being well into the post-production process. It remains to be seen how much more will be altered in this new status quo from David Zaslav’s newly minted regime at the Hollywood stalwart.

    Source: Deadline

  • Leslie Grace on ‘Batgirl’ Being Shelved: “I feel blessed.”

    Leslie Grace on ‘Batgirl’ Being Shelved: “I feel blessed.”

    Following the news that Warner Bros. Discovery has opted not to release Batgirl, the film’s leading lady, Leslie Grace, has finally spoken out. Grace took to her Instagram page late Wednesday evening to talk about the abrupt move.

    “Querida familia! On the heels of the recent news about our movie “Batgirl,” I am proud of the love, hard work and intention all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film over 7 months in Scotland,” she wrote. “I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process! To every Batgirl fan – THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, “my own damn hero!””

    Grace also included behind-the-scenes images from the film that fans will now never get to see come to life. In some of the images, Grace can be seen sporting Batgirl’s purple and yellow costume with plenty of dirt on her face, while in other clips the cast can be seen goofing around while waiting to film.

    Grace’s comments come after directors Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi released their own statement earlier in the day, revealing they were “saddened and shocked” by the news. “As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was not finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves.”

    While earlier reports suggested DC was keen to work with Grace and Fallah and Arbi again outside of Batgirl, it remains to be seen whether or not that does happen down the line. For now, it’s evident that all involved in the project are clearly passionate about Batgirl and are sad to see fans won’t get to see their hard work.

  • HBO Max May No Longer Produce Scripted Shows, 70% Layoffs Expected

    HBO Max May No Longer Produce Scripted Shows, 70% Layoffs Expected

    The news surrounding Warner Bros. Discovery continues to ramp up. Not only did they shelve two almost finished projects with a combined cost of $130M but also decided to just shelve around six films from HBO Max that were original productions. Now, more details are finding their way online on what exactly is happening and the future of the streaming service is starting to look quite grim.

    HBO Max was quite the promising streaming service in the market and had the potential to rival both Netflix and Disney+ in its growth. Now, it seems that the future plans are to combine HBO Max and Disccovery+ into a brand new service. As a result, they are removing shows and movies that didn’t perform well (questioning what standard that exactly is) as partial tax write-offs. Yes, more projects are likely going to silently vanish from the streaming service.

    The only way that taxable income can be written off is by removing it from distribution, which also means we won’t see a future digital release; similar to what happened to Batgirl. They also seem to want to streamline their service to not overwhelm audiences with choices, a common complaint surrounding Netflix, but it may come at the cost for original productions.

    The plan seems to be to roll scripted shows with HBO to reduce redundancies between the two offerings. 70% of their current staff may be cut which is a massive movement by CEO David Zaslav and likely leave a very bitter taste in the industry. It’s unclear when they might clarify what exactly their future plans will be, but right now it seems that scorched earth is their internal strategy.

    Source: IndieWire, The Wrap

  • HBO Max Removes 6 Original Warner Bros. Films

    HBO Max Removes 6 Original Warner Bros. Films

    It would appear Warner Bros. Discovery is not done cutting movies yet. Variety is reporting that the company has been quietly removing content from its popular streaming service HBO Max, including at least six films that had been released on the platform as exclusive “HBO Max Originals”.

    The culled projects consist of Moonshot, a sci-fi rom-com starring Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse that dropped only a few months ago; Superintelligence, a dystopian rom-com from Melissa McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone; An American Pickle, a Seth Rogan comedy that stars the actor in a duel-role; The Witches, a 2020 remake of the Roald Dahl classic, directed by Robert Zemeckis with an all-star cast of Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Rock; Locked Down, a Doug Liman heist film with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Hathaway; and finally, Charm City Kings, a drama from Angel Manuel Soto.

    The removals appear to have been made in an effort to cut costs, and were first discovered by users of Reddit after Warner Bros.’ controversial cancellations of Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt on Tuesday. Also noted, the reboot of cult classic comedy House Party, which was set to be produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter‘s SpringHill, has been scrubbed from HBO Max’s release calendar. It was previously expected to drop on July 28th. As mentioned by Variety, it’s not an unusual practice for streaming services to take films on and off of their catalog.

    However, it is strange that the company would remove films produced specifically for distribution on HBO Max, including Moonshot, which has only been out in the wild for about three months, and that the changes would be made without any sort of announcement. It remains to be seen if these now-unwatchable projects ever see the light of day again.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Scoob!’ Christmas Special Secretly Scrapped Alongside ‘Batgirl’ to Cut Costs

    ‘Scoob!’ Christmas Special Secretly Scrapped Alongside ‘Batgirl’ to Cut Costs

    The rather shocking news dropped recently that Batgirl was shelved. While reasonings were uncertain, a new report by The Hollywood Reporter hints that the reasoning is part of the new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, David Zaslav, and his strategy on cost-cutting measures. He wants to focus more on creating theatrical films rather than streaming but it seems that it’s coming at a rather heavy toll.

    Not only did they scrap the $90M budgeted and finished Batgirl, but they also decided to shelve their animation project, Scoob! Holiday Haunt. The animated holiday special was already in some form of production and seemingly had invested $40M. Supposedly, the reasoning is due to their strategy of avoiding big-budget projects for HBO Max and focusing on a theatrical release.

    What doesn’t make sense is the concept of filming an entire project only to scrap it. It also raises questions if other productions that are already in some form of development could be on the chopping block next. The idea to never bank on $130M worth of productions and not even just using a minimal marketing strategy to wrap up productions at a decent cost efficiency to draw out any benefit is quite surprising.

    Zaslav never was going to be the one to save the production company, and its uncertainty if the recent announcement of adding Alan Horn, former Disney creative officer, will make any changes if they are swiftly taking down projects. Our best case scenario would be if they pivot their productions and create a stronger focus, but it could also potentially go down a much darker route with uncertainty hanging over future productions.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Batgirl’ Has Been Shelved and is Not Being Released

    ‘Batgirl’ Has Been Shelved and is Not Being Released

    Earlier today, a report surfaced from the New York Post stating that DC and Warner Bros. Discovery had opted not to release its previously announced Batgirl film. Now, The Wrap has come out to confirm that the movie is not being released. The reasoning behind the decision is that, despite reshoots and an increased budgets, Batgirl just wasn’t able to come together well enough to please the studio. Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly said to want to make big theatrical event films, and Batgirl just didn’t feel like an event film.

    Batgirl was one of the few films put into development prior to the merger and was to be an HBO Max original. Production on the title kicked off last November and wrapped back in March, when director duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah shared the first look at leading lady Leslie Gace in costume as Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl. While the nearly completed $90 million film will be shelved, the studio is said to be keen to work with film’s directors and star and wants to work with them again soon.

    The decision to not release Batgirl comes after the studio canceled the Wonder Twins film shortly after casting its lead roles. Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to tighten its grip on its DC properties, taking time to re-evaluate the projects that were in development before David Zaslav took over. Unlike the Wonder Twins, however, Batgirl was nearly complete and had been announced as receiving a theatrical release earlier this year. The decision to shelve a $90 million film as the studio takes a closer look at its budgets is sure to ignite a conversation among fans online. One can only hope Grace gets another chance to don the cowl sooner rather than later.

    Source: The Wrap.

  • ‘The Batman’s Director Won’t Direct Episodes of the HBO Max Penguin Spinoff

    ‘The Batman’s Director Won’t Direct Episodes of the HBO Max Penguin Spinoff

    It wasn’t long around the time that The Batman sequel was announced that we got the confirmation we’ll also be getting an HBO Max spinoff based on Colin Farrell‘s Penguin. While we still don’t know where it’ll take place in the story or if it’ll fill the blank between sequels, but in an interview with Entertainment Today, Farrell offered some insight into how involved Matt Reeves is with the project.

    In the interview, the actor reveals that while Reeves is heavily involved with the upcoming spinoff, he is not going to direct any of its episodes. Farrell does say that he’s “all over” the upcoming Penguin spinoff, which he hints may be simply titled The Penguin but it’s great to know that Matt Reeves still is supervising the franchise even with the current shifts over at Warner Bros. Discovery.

    He’s so obsessive about what he does, but he’s all over [HBO Max’s] The Penguin [series] as well. I mean, he’s not gonna direct it but he’s all over the structure of the scripts and who’s gonna direct them. And so, it’s exciting.

    Colin Farrell

    It’s definitely interesting that he won#t take any directing duties, but if he’s eyeing starting production on the sequel in the near future, he’ll be quite busy sooner rather than later anyway. Plus, there’s also the other HBO Max spinoff he hinted at that’ll focus on Arkham Asylum that hasn’t had an update in a while. So, we’ll see if perhaps he plans to direct some episodes of that project.

    Source: Entertainment Today

  • SDCC: ‘House of the Dragon’ Screenwriter Teases the Dragons

    SDCC: ‘House of the Dragon’ Screenwriter Teases the Dragons

    Continuing our coverage of San Diego Comic-Con, Hall H continues with a panel on the upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff with the House of the Dragon. The first spin-off from the wildly popular adaptation of A Song Of Fire & Ice brings us to a time when the Lannisters were not in power, but rather explore the Targaryen empire. We heard these stories throughout Game of Thrones, but now we are going to see them play out on the small screen. One question that has popped up a ton as we are ready for the August premiere of House of the Dragon: how many dragons will we see?

    During the panel, screenwriter Ryan Condal was asked whether how dominant we’d see the symbol of the Targaryen and their rise to power. Given that Daenerys birthed three dragons in the original series, and we saw the skulls of dragons under Kings Landing, it does bode the question of how many would appear. He reveals that seventeen dragons are present throughout the HBO Max’s series runtime.

    Now, keep in mind that in Game of Thrones lore only a select few Targaryens can ride dragons. So, it is going to be interesting to see if there is this competitive nature between the various family members that can ride and the ones who can’t. Still, seventeen dragons are nothing to scoff at and would go a long way towards explaining the expensive budget the show is working with.

  • Season 3 of ‘Harley Quinn’ Confirmed for July Debut

    Season 3 of ‘Harley Quinn’ Confirmed for July Debut

    The third season of Harley Quinn is confirmed to debut this summer.

    On Thursday, HBO Max confirmed that Season 3 of Harley Quinn will premiere on the streaming service this July. While the streaming service didn’t announce a specific date release date for the series, it is the first official confirmation that the season is premiering sooner rather than later. For fans of the series, it has been a long wait as Season 2 debuted in 2020.

    The third season of Harley Quinn looks to have plenty of surprises in store for fans. James Gunn is confirmed to cameo in the upcoming season, while What We Do in the Shadow‘s Harvey Guillén joins the series as Nightwing. Recording on Season 3 began in February 2021, and showrunner Patrick Schumacker confirmed in March of this year that they’d just finished the first audio mix of the season.

    During the long gap between seasons, a six-issue tie-in comic was released titled Harley Quinn: The Animated Series – The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour. The comic was written by Tee Franklin and drawn by Max Sarin. The comic followed Harley and Poison Ivy following Season 2’s finale as they engaged on a Thelma-and-Louise journey of their own filled with plenty of mishaps.

    The first two season of Harley Quinn: The Animated Series are now streaming on HBO Max.

    Source: Comicbook.

  • James Gunn Will Tackle ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 After Wrapping Up ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

    James Gunn Will Tackle ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 After Wrapping Up ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

    We’ve all wondered when James Gunn may tackle the next season of Peacemaker. The director has been quite busy not only working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 but also has the Holiday Special heading to Disney+ on the horizon. He’s also been teasing quite a few other DC properties that he is currently developing. So, it’s no joke when one says that the director is quite busy.

    In an interview with Deadline, the director not only teased the upcoming Disney+ special based around the Guardians of the Galaxy but also confirmed that once he’s wrapped up work on these projects, he’ll tackle the second season of Peacemaker. He doesn’t offer a specific timeframe but it does seem like he may tackle the project once he’s wrapped up most of the work on the franchise, which is eyeing a May release next year.

    Yes, the Holiday Special is very light and bubbly and fun and just absolutely ridiculous, so I think that’s great. And then we’re going on to do Peacemaker Season 2.

    James Gunn

    With a character like Peacemaker, Gunn has all the freedom he needs to create a story that can go in any direction. After saving the world, the former villain may be riding high and has no idea that a new assignment is just on the horizon. He’s haunted by the ghost of his past actions and who knows how that may play into his story moving forward. So, we’ll see what the future has in store for the character once cameras start rolling on the project.

    Source: Deadline