Not DC-related but I see that WB is also pulling the animated show Final Space from all streaming platforms for a tax write off. No further hard copies will be made of Ss 1 & 1 and S3 was never released in physical form. This shows the importance of physical media - it’ll be almost as if the show didn’t exist if people don’t keep the discs or recordings of the first two seasons. And shows also that the current management of WB simply don’t seem to have any interest in art or any sort of legacy. edit: I forgot to include the link. Here it is https://collider.com/final-space-pulled-from-streaming/
Stocks almost across the board have been taking a beating with the broader issues going on now, so unless someone posts specific information linking the cancellation of Batgirl to its stock issues, it reads as some wanting this to be a matter of causation. No studio's fate and/or fortunes hinges on one product.
Correct. Honestly, I'm enough of a physical media buff that it's almost as if shows and movies don't fully exist in my mind till I can hold 'em in my hands and put 'em on my shelves. Everything before that is just kind of an elaborate trailer as far as I'm concerned.
As a creator, I'm disturbed by the idea of any creative work being destroyed, certainly when it's against the wishes of its creators.
You're funny if you think that will stop it. All it will do is fuel the conspiracy theories around it and add to the belief that it was an excellent movie that the evil WB had to destroy...or something. Point is, it won't stop being talked about.
I get tired of that little unnecessary dig every time someone mentions it's a shame that the movie remains lost. It's funny that some who "don't care" need to try to paint everybody else with this brush stroke every time.
I'm amused people find it a "dig" when we have zero evidence one way or the other. WB concealing merely adds to the mythos.
Damn it, I've been wanting to watch that. I watched the first couple episodes and really enjoyed it, and I've been meaning to go and watch the rest of it once I get through some of the other stuff I've been watching.
Its simply property to be stored at this point. WB/D will not destroy property outright, and its existence does not necessarily mean it will ever see the light of day.
I know. There are probably multiple legal reasons they can’t destroy it. The same goes with WWE not allowed to destroy the uncut version of Over the Edge 1999
I honestly can't imagine this movie being anything that is going to blow me away. If it had been released, I would have watched it and hoped for something better than what we got with Batwoman--but now that it is gone, I'm not losing sleep over it.
It's the principle of the thing, though. Good or bad doesn't enter into it -- no creative work "deserves" to be destroyed or suppressed. The idea that some creations have more right to exist than others is the mentality of book-banners and book-burners. After all, it's not just Batgirl. The new WB owners have purged a ton of content from HBO Max, and there's no telling what might be next on their hit list.
Agreed. Some do not seem to understand that all film / TV content is--at the start of anything--controlled / produced by a company--as a form of merchandise. Whether or not said merchandise was greenlit means little, as it is not protected from being shelved or guaranteed to be distributed. There is no "suppression" here, or a borderline implication of an artistic "message" being muzzled, and while that has happened throughout entertainment history, there's no evidence of it in the case of the film in question. The relevant point is that the entire history of the film entertainment business had will continue to have innumerable films, TV pilots, presentation films, etc., never seeing the light of day. At present, Batgirl is just another in that long line of unfinished and/or unreleased productions, and with new scenes shot for both The Flash and Aquaman 2, its suggestive of the WB PTB being prepared to do what was necessary to streamline the narratives so the overall message of the films is united going forward, with no references to characters or scenes from the cancelled project. It happens, and you are so very correct--no one should lose sleep over Batgirl never being released.
There is a difference between Batgirl and the material purged from streaming though. Batgirl was an unfinished work that was cancelled before completion. I agree with your sentiments and opinion on the ethics of creative works, but movies are cancelled all the time at any stage of their production -- this just happens to have happened at a later stage than most.