The Warner Bros. Thread | Will NOT merge with Paramount...capitalism is still terrible

[Noctis]

To be honest, Disney has had a genuinely negative effect on the film industry with its attempted monopolization. 

 

Warner Brothers was the only other film studio that used to rival Disney from 2000 up until 2015. But they have really fucking dropped the ball - the Fantastic Beasts series was supposed to be a trilogy of films around Newt traveling the world but WB allowed Rowling to essentially make it a Dumbledore/Grindelwald story instead of making that its own series. It was then announced the series would be 5 films and what happened? The Wizarding World series for the first time got mixed to negative reviews and the supposed-five film series will finish with 3 films due to its mixed reception. Two seperate series that could have each been enormous on their own were allowed to be meshed into one schizophrenic series.

 

The DCEU...whenever it tried to copy the MCU's strategy instead of allowing their films to be organic ended up in disaster. The idea that they would release BvS a year and a bit before the release of Wonder Woman is still a massive joke to me. 

 

The more they try to imitate Disney, the more they'll end up failing.

 

Disappointing for what used to be my favorite studio growing up. The success of Potter and The Dark Knight ended up being taken for granted.

[p a p i]

So. HBO Max will become a reality shows/unscripted content machine, in a hub inside Discovery Plus...

 

And scripted shows will keep going forward on HBO, the cable channel?? 

[WittyUsername]

3 hours ago, Jonwo said:

I agree, I think people on here are freaking out for no reason whatsoever and making frankly eye rolling remarks about someone who's frankly got more experience about the business than anyone on here. 

He has experience when it comes to reality television, which hasn’t been relevant in about a decade. He doesn’t seem to have any passion for film or television as an art form. 

[Napoleon]

10 hours ago, Rebeccas said:

Would be absolutely hilarious if they handed the DCEU back to Snyder only for it to tank yet again. 

I hope this is isn't considered trolling, it's my honest opinion, but I think they never should have taken it from him in the first place. Snyder clearly enjoys being controversial, and that's the main reason why I love his movies, but I agree that, for commercial purposes, he shouldn't be allowed to do stuff like Superman killing Zod at the end of Man Of Steel.

 

On the other hand, Snyder also makes movies that are easily marketed as epic events, and that's why, despite Man Of Steel being divisive, WB managed to build a cinematic universe out of it, with the next 3 movies in the franchise also breaking opening weekend records (Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman). That perfect track record of 4 movies having blockbuster openings back to back ended exactly when they took the franchise from him, and DC only achieved that event-level release again with 2 elseworlds films, Joker and The Batman, which were more in line with Snyder's dark tone than with the new colorful direction of the DCEU.

 

Ideally, Snyder should have been kept calling the shots of the DCEU, but with constraints, and there are two examples of why that would work. The first of them is Wonder Woman, a movie that he wrote the story for and was a hands-on producer, and that showed how well he would do acting as the Kevin Feige of DC in colaboration with other directors. The other example is the Snyder Cut, which was universally loved by audiences (it has a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes) and his best reviewed film since Dawn Of the Dead. Snyder has claimed that that cut of Justice League he shot was already a compromised version of what he initially intended to do. It was a movie that had already been toned down by the studio after the divisive reception of BVS. And look at that, it worked.

 

WB should have just molded the DCEU, keeping its strengths, but instead they went for a complete change of direction that simply isn't working. James Gunn made a fantastic Suicide Squad film and couldn't even have a big thursday night preview before HBO Max. The excellent first trailer for Shazam: Fury Of the Gods released at Comic Con had no one talking about it. For me it's pretty clear the DCEU needs that event feel the Snyderverse had, just with constraints. And it's okay if you guys disagree with me, please don't report me for my opinion. I feel sympathy for the fans who are enjoying the "Hamadaverse" and are now seeing Zaslav destroy it like was done to the "Snyderverse" before. Things shouldn't have ended like this. I think movies like Shazam, Batgirl, Blue Beetle, etc., could have easily been part of the Snyderverse (Shazam was already part of the plan in the early stages of the DCEU).

[Firepower]

17 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

The excellent first trailer for Shazam: Fury Of the Gods released at Comic Con

Well...

[filmlover]

5 hours ago, wildphantom said:

My initial reaction is the new regime seeing that projects like these aren’t gaining or losing subs, but giving away IP they should be making money from. No more, no less. 
 

Don’t cheapen your brands and instead use them to make films of real quality that carries a premium for the consumer. 
 

HBO Max will live or die based on its television shows ultimately. I’m sure it will be just fine. No point spending boatloads on films to debut on there for no financial reason whatsoever. 

If the rumors are true, HBO Max might not even exist (or will be barely alive) two years from now.

 

FWIW the shelving of projects is nothing new in the industry when stuff is scrapped in the early stages of development all the time (Disney in particular has abandoned animated features that weren't coming together as they should have over the decades, Gigantic being a recent example). At the rate they're going, most of the DC stuff that was in the pipeline from the previous regime (like that Green Lantern show with Finn Wittrock announced ages ago that I was actually looking forward to but oh well) is probably done for. That's just how the entertainment business works.

 

But throwing out a finished big-budget movie awaiting release? Unprecedented, to say the least. One can't blame the entire industry for being nervous right now about whether or not the stuff they have been working on will actually see the light of day.

[wildphantom]

The harsh reality of relying on streaming sub revenue long term is now starting to hit home.

 

Those that have the better mixture of revenue income from their product will be fine. Those that are all in on streaming - the clock is ticking unless they make some serious alterations.
 

I’m expecting a Netflix deal for their big movies with the theatrical chains by the end of the year. 
 

[grim22]

1 hour ago, Napoleon said:

I hope this is isn't considered trolling, it's my honest opinion, but I think they never should have taken it from him in the first place. Snyder clearly enjoys being controversial, and that's the main reason why I love his movies, but I agree that, for commercial purposes, he shouldn't be allowed to do stuff like Superman killing Zod at the end of Man Of Steel.

 

On the other hand, Snyder also makes movies that are easily marketed as epic events, and that's why, despite Man Of Steel being divisive, WB managed to build a cinematic universe out of it, with the next 3 movies in the franchise also breaking opening weekend records (Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman). That perfect track record of 4 movies having blockbuster openings back to back ended exactly when they took the franchise from him, and DC only achieved that event-level release again with 2 elseworlds films, Joker and The Batman, which were more in line with Snyder's dark tone than with the new colorful direction of the DCEU.

 

Ideally, Snyder should have been kept calling the shots of the DCEU, but with constraints, and there are two examples of why that would work. The first of them is Wonder Woman, a movie that he wrote the story for and was a hands-on producer, and that showed how well he would do acting as the Kevin Feige of DC in colaboration with other directors. The other example is the Snyder Cut, which was universally loved by audiences (it has a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes) and his best reviewed film since Dawn Of the Dead. Snyder has claimed that that cut of Justice League he shot was already a compromised version of what he initially intended to do. It was a movie that had already been toned down by the studio after the divisive reception of BVS. And look at that, it worked.

 

WB should have just molded the DCEU, keeping its strengths, but instead they went for a complete change of direction that simply isn't working. James Gunn made a fantastic Suicide Squad film and couldn't even have a big thursday night preview before HBO Max. The excellent first trailer for Shazam: Fury Of the Gods released at Comic Con had no one talking about it. For me it's pretty clear the DCEU needs that event feel the Snyderverse had, just with constraints. And it's okay if you guys disagree with me, please don't report me for my opinion. I feel sympathy for the fans who are enjoying the "Hamadaverse" and are now seeing Zaslav destroy it like was done to the "Snyderverse" before. Things shouldn't have ended like this. I think movies like Shazam, Batgirl, Blue Beetle, etc., could have easily been part of the Snyderverse (Shazam was already part of the plan in the early stages of the DCEU).

 

No one is destroying anything. The Snydercult seems to think that but the reason the movies have had an uphill battle is because that idiot Snyder made an awful trilogy. I love MoS but Snyder should have never been allowed to make Justice League. Keep him far far away and this new approach is great

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by grim22

[Rebeccas]

I think it’s fine to have a more niche take like Snyder does but then as a studio you need to accept that you’re not going to make Avengers money cause a good chunk of the audience is going to be turned off by Snyder’s obnoxious style. BvS is probably the ceiling on what you can expect. On the other hand, scrambling around trying to play catch up to Marvel has only led to an even messier universe and a total disaster in terms of branding. 

[AJG]

Didn’t Father of The Bride outstream the Snyder Cut?

[BruiseCruise]

Zaslav saw the Rocks tweet about a "Black Adam-Verse" and "SuperPets-Verse" and decided its time to tear it all down

[abracadabra1998]

Honestly everyone losing their shit over this (me too kinda lol) but I am equally as sad for Leslie Grace, she was incredible in In The Heights and I was really looking forward to see her career continue to shine. Hopefully she gets offered more roles

[filmlover]

Shared this in the HBO Max thread but sharing it here too.

 

 

HBO Max Quietly Removed Six Warner Bros. Streaming-Exclusive Films https://t.co/qfWlMDGKXp

— Variety (@Variety) August 3, 2022

 

It really is starting to feel like the beginning of the end for the streaming service.

[John Marston]

2 hours ago, grim22 said:

 

No one is destroying anything. The Snydercult seems to think that but the reason the movies have had an uphill battle is because that idiot Snyder made an awful trilogy. I love MoS but Snyder should have never been allowed to make Justice League. Keep him far far away and this new approach is great

 

 

 

 

while I agree this whole “Snyder is coming back stuff” is nonsense  exactly what “approach” is WB doing? 

[Cappoedameron]

I'd be curious to know what talent is gonna wanna work for a company that can refuse to nix your stuff all together after months of hard work.

 

Especially with nixing 6 original HBO Max films off the service which I'm sure will infuriate all the actors/actresses and talent behind the scenes.

 

Zaslav is messing with Hollywood in a way it's never been messed with and it can end very badly for him and WBD.

 

I refuse to get Discovery + so I'll just go back to HBO streaming service rather then give Discovery + any of my money for cheap stupid reality TV garbage.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Cappoedameron

[filmlover]

11 minutes ago, Cappoedameron said:

Especially with nixing 6 original HBO Max films off the service which I'm sure will infuriate all the actors/actresses and talent behind the scenes.

To be fair, a number of these were WB films (some of which were originally supposed to come to theaters like Superintelligence and The Witches were before COVID), not true HBO Max originals. They can still be rented for a few dollars from third party streaming services like Amazon and YouTube.

Edited August 3, 2022 by filmlover

[Rebeccas]

Absolute madness over there but I truly have never been so excited for a quarterly earnings meeting lmao

[Eric Prime]

 

[BruiseCruise]

DC never had a plan and they still don't. Maybe try hiring one dude to steer the whole universe first and then go from there

[filmlover]

I’m very sorry to share this sad news. I LOVED working on this, and just did another session as Young Shaggy last week and the film looked just about complete. It was such a joy and so many people worked so hard. 😢 https://t.co/HToGPVAR9Q

— Iain Armitage (@IainLoveTheatre) August 3, 2022

 

Throwing this away makes even less sense than Batgirl since the budget was "only" $40M and Scooby-Doo has always been a license to print money. I can't imagine why anyone would now want to work for a studio that has revealed they have no problem tossing away completed projects just for tax reasons unless absolutely no one else would hire them.