Fans and industry employees were shocked when Warner Bros did the unthinkable. They actually took their movie Batgirl, which had a reported budget of around $70-90 million, and completely shelved the project. This means the film will not be released in theaters, on HBO Max, or any other kind of distribution platform. Now it appears that this was just the beginning. HBO Max is being completely restructured – and that’s starting with an abundance of layoffs.
This was reported via The Wrap, and as they’ve stated, it looks like 70% of the HBO Max staff will suffer layoffs. That’s a massive number and an example for how Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav plans to cut costs.
With both HBO Max and Discovery Plus under his control, it’s expected that he’ll soon be announcing a complete restructuring of the platforms in the near future.
As noted by the outlet:
The move “will result in a gutting of HBO Max, significant layoffs for its executives and staff to minimize redundancies with HBO and a combined streaming service with Discovery+.”
Furthermore, content on the streaming services will be changed drastically as well. It appears that there will be less of an emphasis on scripted content with non-scripted content becoming much more of a focus. With the studio having completely cancelled any plans for projects like the aforementioned Batgirl alongside Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, it certainly seems that way.
It’s unclear how far Warner Bros Discovery is willing to overhaul their properties. With both films and actual streaming platforms being part of the restructure, it’s likely that we’ll be seeing a very different remnant of the company by the time all is said and done. As such, be sure to stay tuned to ScreenGeek for additional updates as we have them. It’s only a matter of time before some official statements and reveals are made. The company’s ultimate goal is to slash at least $3 billion worth of costs over the next few years. It’s clear now they’ll stop at nothing to get to that point.