In 2021 Warner Bros, then run by Jason Kilar, was purchased by Discovery Communications though prior to the deal being finalized a Batgirl film was in development, and recently completed.

Originally the plan was that it was going to premiere on HBOMax, though executives were seemingly so impressed with what they were seeing that it gained a theatrical release.

Now that Killar has moved on and the studio is being run by David Zaslav, it isn’t going to be released at all, either via streaming or in theaters; which is odd because as I mentioned, it has already been completed and implies that it will just sit on the shelf.

It’s worth mentioning that Batgirl was a relatively cheap production at $90 million, which explains why it is that Warner Bros can with relative ease put it aside, though it doesn’t explain why it’s not going to appear on HBOMax – beyond Zaslav’s change of strategy, that is.

Though my question is that in these days of studios hungry for original content, how does it benefit Warner Bros to not release Batgirl at the very least via HBOMax?

No matter the current strategy, is it really better for new content to just sit on the shelf?

Unless Zaslav has found his ‘Kevin Feige’ and wants to give them a chance to lead DC Films with little in the way of disruptions (never mind how things are proceeding not exactly being what anyone would call a resounding sign of trust in Walter Hamada, the current head of DC Films) it’s difficult to make sense of this current move.