Now Introducing HBO Max Classic

[Arachnerd]

Good moves. Shazam 2 is given a real chance to succeed now. Kind of wonder what this means for The Flash and Aquaman 2 though. I guess now we’re back to The Flash being before Aquaman 2, unless they delay The Flash again.

Not really. After burning bridges with so many creatives and pretty much flipping the middle finger to anyone who's worked in animation within the company, karma was bound to bite them eventually. This decision has nothing to do with any regard to the quality of these movies, it's because their stocks have plummeted so catastrophically low as well as losing 20 million which makes them literally unable to release more than two movies this year.

 

[Prison Mike]

Not really. After burning bridges with so many creatives and pretty much flipping the middle finger to anyone who's worked in animation within the company, karma was bound to bite them eventually. This decision has nothing to do with any regard to the quality of these movies, it's because their stocks have plummeted so catastrophically low as well as losing 20 million which makes them literally unable to release more than two movies this year.

Well it was stupid of them to put any DC movie up against Avatar 2 anyway. I actually liked the first Shazam so I’m glad it was moved. I think financially they’re making the right decisions for the long term. I guess we’ll just have to see.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[Arachnerd]

Well it was stupid of them to put any DC movie up against Avatar 2 anyway. I actually liked the first Shazam so I’m glad it was moved. I think financially they’re making the right decisions for the long term. I guess we’ll just have to see.

The rate WBD's going, here's hoping they haven't gone into bankruptcy by then.

Zaslav's gotta go regardless.

 

[Prison Mike]

The rate WBD's going, here's hoping they haven't gone into bankruptcy by then.

Zaslav's gotta go regardless.

He’s got a contract until 2027 I think. He ain’t going nowhere. People should be blaming the previous regime for all these drastic cuts.

 

[Arachnerd]

The previous regime had nothing do with disrespectfully shutting down animated projects, for one. Nor pointlessly scrapping a movie for tax write-offs. That's all on Zaslav. Let's not start handwaving away blame and dismissing this as nothing to be worried about when nearly every decision he's made so far has been detrimental to Warner Bros as a company.

He's not a victim in any of this. I understand sometimes you have to make tough choices, but this is on a whole other level and entirely mindboggingly stupid.

 

[Prison Mike]

I guess we’ll have to see how things shake out in the long run but the company was in massive debt. I feel like people ignore that part.

 

[Filmfreak]

He’s got a contract until 2027 I think. He ain’t going nowhere. People should be blaming the previous regime for all these drastic cuts.

Yeah it was the abysmal day-and-date decision that mostly led to the huge debt and the merger, but instead of building bridges and fixing things everything has gone to unprecedented levels of awful with this new regime, both in creative and business terms, in all the worst ways possible.

 

[Marvolo]

He’s got a contract until 2027 I think. He ain’t going nowhere. People should be blaming the previous regime for all these drastic cuts.

There are ways around that. He probably has a gold parachute in his contract so they could pay him off. They could work out a hostile take over behind his back. He can be removed as CEO probably as well if he does enough damage. Or they might be able to put him in a position where he can't do any damage, but would still be employed thus satisfying the contract. That was one of the rumored solutions Microsoft was considering for Bobby K when they bought Acti Blizz.

And there is always the scandal option. Find out some illegal **** Zaslav has done and leak it then fire him for breach of contract. He's a Hollywood exec so he has skeletons its just a question of whether WB will get desperate enough to expose him.

 

[Arachnerd]

Yeah it was the abysmal day-and-date decision that mostly led to the huge debt and the merger, but instead of building bridges and fixing things everything has gone to unprecedented levels of awful with this new regime, both in creative and business terms, in all the worst ways possible.

Yep, that's the biggest issue: out of the frying pan and into the damn volcano. He's making things worse.

 

[Filmfreak]

Yep, that's the biggest issue: out of the frying pan and into the damn volcano. He's making things worse.

I remember when the whole news of a possible merger first broke that I thought to myself "after AT&T there's no other way to go than up". Ah, good times.

 

[samsnee]

Warner Bros. Discovery Lost $20 Billion in Market Cap Trying to Cut $3 Billion in Costs

Wow. I didn’t realize Zas signed a deal to be paid for $250M.

 

[The Shape]

I’ve been disappointed and confused by some of the recent decisions of WB/Discovery with Batgirl, HBO Max, etc. But this news, while somewhat disappointing (delays), kind of makes sense to me and seem like smart business decisions. It’s clear now that Zaslav’s intention with theatrical is not only to “trim the fat” and save money where they can (which seems more focused on streaming), but also to put the theatrical output in the best position to succeed while also setting themselves up for the future. My takeaway is that much of today’s news seems logical.

Shazam moving away from Avatar while also gaining the benefit of IMAX screens that it basically wouldn’t have had at all? Makes total sense and is very smart. To open either Aquaman or Shazam against Avatar, or anywhere near Avatar, would been a disaster. Shazam now has a prime March release date it can benefit from (like The Batman did) with more premium screens and will clearly make more money. It’s also only a 3 month difference from its current date.

Pushing Aquaman to December 2023? Definitely disappointing for us, but also doesn’t seem like a very big deal and makes sense. The production needs more time for VFX and whatever else? Great, give it to them. I actually like that Zaslav is not rushing theatrical releases or forcing projects to be released before they’re ready, especially a film like Aquaman which probably has VFX in nearly every frame and we know VFX teams are struggling right now. Now Aquaman is back in the December release month in which the first film had great success and it is not up against Avatar like it would have been this year. They haven’t begun to market the film so haven’t wasted any money there. Better to delay Aquaman now to give them more time rather than to do so later on. All of this seems like it can only benefit the film.

We’ve yet to see what will happen with The Flash but I can’t fault WB there. They are between and rock and a hard place due to Miller. I hope it is released on time and in theaters but we’ll see.

Beyond all that, they bumped 2 movies from HBO Max to theatrical releases (Evil Dead!), added 2 other movies to its slate, furthering their commitment to theatrical (which I’ll always appreciate). So I’m cool with a lot of this and willing to see how it all plays out.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

WBD and their losing 20 billion dollars and Adolph Zaslav problems aside, TIL there was a House Party remake made and that it's being released in theaters.

If Kid N Play isn't involved with it, then who TF cares?

 

[MOVIELORD101]

I’ve been disappointed and confused by some of the recent decisions of WB/Discovery with Batgirl, HBO Max, etc. But this news, while somewhat disappointing (delays), kind of makes sense to me and seem like smart business decisions. It’s clear now that Zaslav’s intention with theatrical is not only to “trim the fat” and save money where they can (which seems more focused on streaming), but also to put the theatrical output in the best position to succeed while also setting themselves up for the future. My takeaway is that much of today’s news seems logical.

Shazam moving away from Avatar while also gaining the benefit of IMAX screens that it basically wouldn’t have had at all? Makes total sense and is very smart. To open either Aquaman or Shazam against Avatar, or anywhere near Avatar, would been a disaster. Shazam now has a prime March release date it can benefit from (like The Batman did) with more premium screens and will clearly make more money. It’s also only a 3 month difference from its current date.

Pushing Aquaman to December 2023? Definitely disappointing for us, but also doesn’t seem like a very big deal and makes sense. The production needs more time for VFX and whatever else? Great, give it to them. I actually like that Zaslav is not rushing theatrical releases or forcing projects to be released before they’re ready, especially a film like Aquaman which probably has VFX in nearly every frame and we know VFX teams are struggling right now. Now Aquaman is back in the December release month in which the first film had great success and it is not up against Avatar like it would have been this year. They haven’t begun to market the film so haven’t wasted any money there. Better to delay Aquaman now to give them more time rather than to do so later on. All of this seems like it can only benefit the film.

We’ve yet to see what will happen with The Flash but I can’t fault WB there. They are between and rock and a hard place due to Miller. I hope it is released on time and in theaters but we’ll see.

Beyond all that, they bumped 2 movies from HBO Max to theatrical releases (Evil Dead!), added 2 other movies to its slate, furthering their commitment to theatrical (which I’ll always appreciate). So I’m cool with a lot of this and willing to see how it all plays out.

I'd agree with Shazam, except now it's up against John Wick, Haunted Mansion, Scream and Dungeons and Dragons in a VERY cramped March. As for Aquaman, hopefully, this can give Wan time to boot Amber Heard and recast Mera for what few scenes she has.

I just hope with all this money being lost WB doesn't go bankrupt before any of that happens. And it MIGHT.

 

[Ninjablade]

The previous regime had nothing do with disrespectfully shutting down animated projects, for one. Nor pointlessly scrapping a movie for tax write-offs. That's all on Zaslav. Let's not start handwaving away blame and dismissing this as nothing to be worried about when nearly every decision he's made so far has been detrimental to Warner Bros as a company.

He's not a victim in any of this. I understand sometimes you have to make tough choices, but this is on a whole other level and entirely mindboggingly stupid.

Yeah, it's honestly crazy all the self sabotage that's going on right now. They're actively trying to kill an entire medium worth of content because the CEO believes it's childish and not worth it, all while devaluing their premier streaming service that has only continued to rise.

When your "money saving" moves are actually costing you huge, something is being done wrong.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Jason Press, head of global HBO Max development, resigns

HBO Max VP Nikki Reed Exits Amid Layoffs – Deadline

 

[Snow Queen]

 

[Marvolo]

Discovery is gonna run a "Weekend at Bernie's" scam with HBO Max's butchered carcass until they replace it with their mutant conjoined app. I'll give them 9 more weeks and then I'm ending my subscription. No point continuing to pay them for a service they are sabotaging.

 

[Arachnerd]

Jason Press, head of global HBO Max development, resigns

HBO Max VP Nikki Reed Exits Amid Layoffs – Deadline

Knew this would happen eventually.

 

[Still Wynning]

In regards to this whole debacle, I would say that Zaslav has the right idea in rescheduling stuff. The problem lies in how he is scheduling everything. And his needing to cancel and remove a bunch of projects in order to get out of debt. He’s going way too far.

It’s like he’s trying to throw out the baby with the bathwater, while also trying to replace it with a new baby and bathwater, but the new baby has health issues and less of a chance to live and the bathwater is cheaper and not as good. Also, the baby is drowning.*

Sorry for the very vivid image, but you get the idea.

*Still love babies. Adored my nieces and nephew when they were tiny little things, and I still love them.

 

[Marvolo]

Laid-Off HBO Max Execs: They’re Killing Off Diversity and Courting ‘Middle America’

 

[Primal Slayer]

Wow. I didn’t realize Zas signed a deal to be paid for $250M.

Im not surprised. He could've saved the money more than Batgirl by taking a $50mill pay cut but....we all know he needs as much money as possible that he'll never be able to spend in his lifetime

 

[Iceman]

Laid-Off HBO Max Execs: They’re Killing Off Diversity and Courting ‘Middle America’

Let it burn.

 

[Closerframe]

Laid-Off HBO Max Execs: They’re Killing Off Diversity and Courting ‘Middle America’