After Shelving The Nearly Finished Movie, WB CFO Says Batgirl Situation Was Blown Out Of Proportion

A month after Warner Bros. Discovery abruptly shelved Batgirl in August, which was deep into post-production and nearing release, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels says the resulting media coverage was “blown out of proportion.” According to Deadline, Wiedenfels made a number of remarks regarding the decision at the Bank of America Media, Communications, and Entertainment Conference.

“Media likes to talk about media, I guess,” Wiedenfels reportedly said when asked whether the company’s reputation in the talent community and agency business had taken a hit in the aftermath of the Batgirl decision and a number of other HBO Max show cancellations.

The media was not alone in responding to and taking notice of the admittedly ugly decision. Understandably, actor Ivory Aquino, who was cast as Barbara Gordon’s roommate Alysia Yeoh in Batgirl, started a Twitter thread publicly reaching out to David Zaslav–president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery–on what the movie means to her and everyone else involved in its production. It also later came out that the studio held “funeral screenings” for Batgirl and other movies that were casualties of the new leadership.

At the conference, Wiedenfels noted “in passing,” according to Deadline, that Zaslav “is looking” for a new chief to preside over productions involving DC. Wiedenfels also acknowledged that bringing together all of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets is a “more complex undertaking than it initially appeared,” though he feels that broadly the combined company is “continuing to make progress.”

In addition to Batgirl, Warner Bros. canceled Scoob! Holiday Haunt, which was also nearly completed. Check out our running tally on all TV shows canceled in 2022 (so far). According to the NY Post closer to WB’s decision, Batgirl was performing so poorly in early test screenings that it led the company to cut its losses, with a source calling the film “irredeemable.”