[ SECRET POST #5689 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5689 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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[Our Flag Means Death]


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[Doctor Who]


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 16 secrets from Secret Submission Post #814.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

"Batgirl" / WB + Discovery merger

[(Anonymous)]

For those who haven't heard, yesterday Warner Bros. canned the "Batgirl" movie with Grace Leslie even though it was almost done filming/editing and would not release it to streaming. Today it came out that they did so because it costs less to write it off on their taxes than to pay for promotion/royalties.

"According to Deadline’s sources... the filmmakers have been told the reason was a 'purchase accounting' manoeuvre that is currently available to Warner Discovery after changing hands – a tax break which expires in mid-August. This means the company doesn’t have to carry losses on its books when dealing with $3 billion of debt."

Discovery (which bought out WB) also cancelled most of its original, scripted programming and there's rumors now that they're shutting down HBO Max to move everything Discovery+ or whatever their streaming service is called.

Honestly, as a life-long Barbara Gordon stan AND as someone who only uses HBO Max (not even Netflix anymore, seriously), I'm reeling. I know it's just entertainment, but it feels more than usual like everything is crashing in on itself. :/

Re: "Batgirl" / WB + Discovery merger

[philstar22]

Ugh. I'm glad the real reason has come out, though. I've seen so many comments saying that it was cancelled for being too woke.

Re: "Batgirl" / WB + Discovery merger

[(Anonymous)]

The tax break / Batgirl cancellation stuff is whatever, I guess. It's crappy but doing complicated tax avoidance things is the kind of thing Hollywood studios do, it happens.

Getting rid of the HBOMax brand identity is fine - folding all of their streaming offerings into one platform is a logical thing for them to do and there's no reason that the resulting platform has to use HBOMax branding. I would assume the long-term plan is to roll everything up into a new brand distinct from either HBO or Discovery.

The part that doesn't make sense to me is the reported layoffs at HBOMax scripted programming development and the apparent decision to move most or all scripted content production back under HBO rather than HBOMax. And the general attitude that seems to prioritize cost-cutting over content (I've seen a lot of indicators that Discovery might also want to cut down the HBOMax non-original streaming catalog).

That seems completely ass-backwards. Content is *the* differentiator between different streaming platforms and Discovery/HBOMax was incredibly well-positioned to be one of the strongest platforms in that regard with a strong combination of original scripted content, a strong archive of older content, and Discovery unscripted content. The HBOMax side of things has been really good at making original scripted content that people want to watch, that gets attention and that people talk about. And that's an incredibly valuable asset for a streaming company to just throw away in the name of cost-cutting. Yes, you already have HBO and Warner Bros as production studios, but you cannot have too much quality original content, it's impossible.

Just a weird, incomprehensible choice.

Re: "Batgirl" / WB + Discovery merger

[(Anonymous)]

There used to be a website called Has DC Done Something Stupid Today, and it had a counter on it for all the days that DC had not done something stupid. It never once reached triple figures. DC could barely go a month without doing something stupid, at times. If the site was still around, today would be a "Reset The Counter!" day. DC has gone 0 days without doing something stupid.

Re: "Batgirl" / WB + Discovery merger

[(Anonymous)]

Is there any chance of the unfinished film being leaked by someone on the production team?