Batgirl’s early test reactions revealed in more detail

Hollywood Insider Matthew Belloni reveals more details about the poor reactions to DC’s canceled Batgirl movie from someone who saw a test screening.

Hollywood insider Matthew Belloni reveals more about the poor reactions to DC’s cancellation Batgirl film by someone who attended a test screening. Warner Bros. Discovery sent shockwaves through Hollywood when they made the unprecedented decision to completely cancel the launch of HBO Max. Batgirlwhich had a reported budget of $90 million and had already finished shooting and was in post-production. Batgirl would have starred In the Heights The breakout Leslie Grace as the titular heroine, Oscar winner JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Brendan Fraser as the villain Firefly and Michael Keaton returning as Batman.

In the days since the news broke, speculation has mounted as to why the studio would cancel a nearly finished film. Warner Bros. released a statement saying the decision was motivated by a “strategic change” under new management, CEO David Zaslav, and it had nothing to do with Grace’s performance in the film or the skills of the proper management behind the film, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Other reports claimed the decision to remove Batgirl it was due to a refocus on theatrical releases, cost-cutting measures, and poor ratings from test audiences.

Related: Batgirl Spell Cancellation Issues for The Flash Movie

On his podcast The cityHollywood expert Belloni revealed more details Batgirlthe poor screenings of the tests. Belloni detailed a discussion he had with someone who attended a test screening months ago. After the screening, audiences overwhelmingly agreed that the film was not “big“enough to receive a theatrical release, since instead”he played like a tv pilot” with low stakes. The test assistant Belloni spoke with also compared Batgirl at the box office pump dark phoenix. Read what Belloni shared below:

This is someone who was at the test screening a couple of months ago where he was trying to figure out what to do with this movie and I called him and we chatted and he told me that after the screening, DC executives Walter Hamada and some of the others there ask the audience, “Did you think it was big?” and they were clearly trying to figure out if it looked like it deserved a theatrical release and the consensus was absolutely not. He said he played like a TV pilot, the stakes were very low… He said it felt a bit like Dark Phoenix.

Despite reports to the contrary, it appears that Warner Bros. considered a theatrical release Batgirl if what Belloni says is true. The studio did numerous screenings in order to determine if it was worthy of a theatrical release, but it seems the consensus was that it was not. The comparison to a TV pilot also makes sense, since Batgirl The film was produced for the HBO Max streaming service. The comparison with dark phoenix nor does it reflect kindly Batgirl. In 2019 X Men The film also tested poorly with audiences, resulting in the entire third act being reshot, though that didn’t stop it from becoming one of the biggest box office bombs of all time .

After determining Batgirl Warner Bros. Discovery decided it wasn’t a good fit for HBO Max either because its $90 million price tag was too expensive to stream under Zaslav’s new standards. Thus, the study was cancelled Batgirl in order to receive tax deductions to help recover costs. It’s certainly a devastating decision for everyone involved in the film and for anyone looking forward to seeing it.

Next: Why Warner Bros. Canceled DC’s Batgirl Movie

Source: The People

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