Now Introducing HBO Max Classic

[Lily Adler]

So how much you wanna bet Superman & Lois and Stargirl are on their last seasons?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

They are going to jack up the price of Discovery+, end up with 50m overall subscribers, and then blame WB.

 

[Lily Adler]

They are going to jack up the price of Discovery+, end up with 50m overall subscribers, and then blame WB.

Sell it to someone else down the road, probably.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

‘We Want To Win Back Your Trust’: New CNN Boss Chris Licht [under Warner Bros Discovery] Makes Groveling ‘Apology Tour’ To GOP Lawmakers On Capitol Hill

Bloomberg News - Warner Bros. Discovery Leadership Team Draws Ire Over Diversity
Despite being under pressure from lawmakers to diversify its staff, the new media giant has a notable amount of homogeneity at the top

As David Zaslav prepared to take over Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., one of the largest media companies in the world, he told friends in Hollywood that he would hire the best people he could find. Gender and racial diversity, while a factor, would not be his top priority, he said, according to multiple people he told.

His methods have resulted in a notable amount of homogeneity at the top of the new media giant. Given six seats on the new company’s board, Zaslav and Discovery appointed a roster of all White male directors. The majority of the chief executive officer’s 13 direct reports, many of whom were recent hires, are White men. Meanwhile, Zaslav in April fired Warner Bros. chief Ann Sarnoff, one of the highest-ranking women in Hollywood — without filling her role — and replaced WarnerMedia’s heads of communications and finance with White men from Discovery.

Warner Bros. signs AI startup that claims to predict film success (2020 pre-Discovery acquisition)

 

[Weather Witch]

Yikes. This just keeps getting better.

 

[Prison Mike]

He loves data and is pro-algorithm but hates Netflix?

 

[Prison Mike]

After thinking about it some more, I’m fine if he guts the max originals and leaves HBO proper alone as the maker of original content. But I hope he doesn’t remove the older movies from the Warner Brothers catalog or all the content from TCM. Their library of movies is the most valuable thing for me (more so than the Max content or the cartoons)

 

[samsnee]

Not to get too political but conservatives should not be in charge of anything creative because they don’t get it. Look at Chapek with Disney.

 

[MadVillainy]

Ehh this is kinda a silly statement because plenty of liberal people eff up creative stuff too.

Everyone's favorite exec Tom Rothman (the infamous FOX chairman) is liberal. Amy Pascal is too. In terms of filmmakers Joss Whedon is "liberal". And that's before getting into not just the bad business people or creative types but the POSes like Weinstein and Scott Rudin. In addition, let's not pretend like Iger was a squeaky clean good business man without controversy or even just bad business practices like screwing over Disney theme park workers to name just one example

I'm liberal, not conservative at all, and yes conservatives f*** up a whole of a lot. And I'm not trying to defend Zaslav at all. But conservatives don't have a monopoly on being bad business people or greed. Nor do they have a higher rate of being bad business people than liberal. Even when just talking about just creative related businesses. That's just silly.

But I'm not trying to turn this thread into the cesspool that is the political section so I'll just leave it at that.

 

[samsnee]

Fair enough

 

[MadVillainy]

I wonder how long until they start removing not just the MAX Originals but the HBO originals that underperform on the service.

Stuff like The Wire, Sopranos, Sex and the City, Entourage, Game of Thrones are safe. But I'm thinking about some of HBO's less popular properties like How to Make it in America (ahead of its time), Vice Principals, maybe even Rome that aren't being rewatched that that much. Are they gonna get removed eventually too in order for WB to not pay residuals. Time to stock up

 

[J.Drangal]

‘We Want To Win Back Your Trust’: New CNN Boss Chris Licht [under Warner Bros Discovery] Makes Groveling ‘Apology Tour’ To GOP Lawmakers On Capitol Hill

Bloomberg News - Warner Bros. Discovery Leadership Team Draws Ire Over Diversity
Despite being under pressure from lawmakers to diversify its staff, the new media giant has a notable amount of homogeneity at the top




Warner Bros. signs AI startup that claims to predict film success (2020 pre-Discovery acquisition)

I'm very confused... So this Zaslav is actually a cartoon villain?
I thought I saw a picture of him, but now I can only see him as a shark wearing a suit and a big gold watch.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

So this is how it's going to be from now on.

 

[Prison Mike]

So this is how it's going to be from now on.

I haven’t seen Barry yet but that was pretty funny

 

[Lily Adler]

I know The Batman did well and we're getting a sequel, but damn don't think I'm nervous of what shenanigans he'll pull there.

 

[MadVillainy]

Batman didn't flop or anything like that and I personally enjoy the movie and bought the 4k. But I've been skeptical of how much of a "success" it was. And the rumors that some people at WB see it as a disappointment. If Avatar and Black Panther are even moderate successes (BP is a safe bet) there's a chance The Batman won't even be in the top 5 highest grossing movies domestically or worldwide.
Which isn't terrible or bad at all...But this Batman. WB's ace in the hole. Their premier franchise after Harry Potter One of the biggest IPs/media franchises around (top 15 according to this). The last Batman solos grossed over $995 million WW. And The Batman had the China release.

I can see WB not being very happy with that result

 

[Iceman]

Whether he makes the company profitable or not we lose out as we are after scripted material. Some characters just aren’t suited to mega blockbusters and if he’s not a fan of films that are too small or scripted shows then that leaves only the big guns.

 

[-Arya-]

WB has to acknowledge that they screwed up royally with DC properties, and so they should take any box office success they can get. WW 84, The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey all massively underperformed. If Discovery can’t see how much better The Batman did and be happy with its performance, and proceeds to cancel future installments, DC (not DCEU) as a franchise is dead. Full stop no more DC movies for perhaps a decade or more.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Batman didn't flop or anything like that and I personally enjoy the movie and bought the 4k. But I've been skeptical of how much of a "success" it was. And the rumors that some people at WB see it as a disappointment. If Avatar and Black Panther are even moderate successes (BP is a safe bet) there's a chance The Batman won't even be in the top 5 highest grossing movies domestically or worldwide.
Which isn't terrible or bad at all...But this Batman. WB's ace in the hole. Their premier franchise after Harry Potter One of the biggest IPs/media franchises around (top 15 according to this). The last Batman solos grossed over $995 million WW. And The Batman had the China release.

I can see WB not being very happy with that result

China was locked down when The Batman was released there so no one really saw it. Hard to say how Batman plays there.

The Batman did well but didn't set the world on fire. For Batman not to make a billion is suspect but maybe time will tell about why. Part of it could be we're in a BB situation with this. Was a critical success coming after bad Batman content but had solid legs from WOM. It's a movie I expect some waited for streaming. Like TDK, if Reeves plays his cards right the sequel could be in the billion dollar club.

 

[Prison Mike]

The Batman is still my top movie of 2022 (and that includes Top Gun Maverick and EEAAO).

 

[Kane52630]

This is what he said back in 2015.

David Zaslav: The Cable Boss

He really his the opposite of John Landgraf.

 

[Boom]

And that man now runs a movie studio that is literally structured to produce scripted material.

Neato.

 

[samsnee]

He and Chapek are racing to see who can alienate the talent quicker.

 

[Iceman]

He and Chapek are racing to see who can alienate the talent quicker.

My money’s on Zaslav. He’s achieved a lot in 24 hours!

 

[Boom]

"Warner Bros. Discovery. We'll cripple you with limited resources and vault your project at the last second for the tax write-off. Join us."