Warner Bros. Discovery is getting rid of $2 billion worth of movies and shows
Topics: Warner Bros, Film and TV
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: James Kirkikis / Alamy Stock Photo/ Warner Bros
Topics: Warner Bros, Film and TV
The cancellation of Batgirl seems like it was just the beginning when it came to Warner Bros's cost-cutting this year.
Earlier this year, WarnerMedia merged with Discovery, in what was one of the biggest changes in the media landscape for some years.
The deal took place just a few years after AT&T spent millions to acquire Warner but decided to leave the entertainment business and relinquish its ownership, suggesting it wasn't a massive fan of the industry.
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Since losing AT&T, Warner Bros. Discovery's CEO David Zaslav has been trying to reduce the amount of money the company is spending, and cuts look set to go even further.
The company recently made a SEC filing, which detailed it was looking at writing off between $2 billion and $2.5 billion worth of content, including film and TV shows.
WBD's accountants called it content 'impairment and development write-offs' are part of greater 'pre-tax restructuring charges'.
In the file, the company added: "While the Company’s restructuring efforts are ongoing, including the strategic analysis of content programming which could result in additional impairments above the estimate provided above, the restructuring initiatives are expected to be substantially completed by the end of 2024."
The estimated cash expenditures from organisation reconstruction, facility consolidation activities, and other contract termination costs, is estimated to cost $1 billion to $1.5 billion, the company said.
The cost-cutting moves are part of the wider strategy by WBD to cut down the $3 billion in debt it has incurred since WarnerMedia's merger with Discovery.
The cancellation of the HBO Max movie Batgirl was not a popular one amongst fans, but it did save the company around $80 million.
After its cancellation, the directors of the movie spoke on the shock they had as a result of its cancellation.
Taking to Instagram in August, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, said: "As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves. Maybe one day they will insha’Allah
The filmmakers went on to thank the cast who were involved with the ultimately canned project.
They concluded: "“In any case, as huge fans of Batman since we were little kids, it was a privilege and an honour to have been a part of the DCEU, even if it was for a brief moment. Batgirl For Life.”