Warner Bros. Considering Moving ‘Batgirl’ to Theatrical Release

With the change of ownership at Warner Bros. Discovery, it seems that Batgirl may end up in theaters after all.

According to a new report from Puck News, David Zaslav – CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery – is re-examining the company’s streaming strategy. There is reportedly a debate at the company as to what to do with Batgirl. The film cost somewhere around $70 million and was originally intended as an HBO Max original, but a couple of things have changed in the film industry in the past couple of weeks.

First and foremost, The Batman took in over $750 million theatrically with just a 45-day window, and then went on to put up “huge numbers” in the first few days on HBO Max. In light of this, Discovery seems to be under the impression that Batgirl can do comparable numbers in theaters before heading to the streaming service. Real DC Comics fans probably know better, and would wager it won’t manage to do half of of The Batman’s numbers. Even so, that’s enough to warrant a theatrical release. 

Others suggest Batgirl won’t crack $100 million, making it a loss for the studio.

Also worth considering is that Netflix stock took a massive hit last week following the announcement that it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter. The company also warned it was poised to lose millions more in the second quarter due to economic pressures and other outside factors. If Netflix, which has been viewed as the guiding star of the move to streaming, is starting to see pull back from consumers, it’s going to cause other companies to reconsider their plans.

Batgirl does not currently have a release date.

via Batman News