Batgirl cancelled

[JunkMonkey]

Not according to the discussion I watched on TV. It just didn't grab the attention of the preview screening watchers. Maybe this is the beginning of the tide turning for the Superhero movie? There have been rather a lot recently.

Fingers crossed....

 

[JunkMonkey]

There have been TV series that were made but some episodes were never shown. Firefly is the one that I know about, although it was released on DVD (the suggestion here being that the Batgirl film will never see the light of day.) Still, fan complaint letters do work on these occasions.

I think after the Morbius: the Living Vampire release, poor performance, 'fan' activity, re-release, poor performance fiasco this is less likely to happen in the near future - till the next tranche of short term attention span execs get their hands on the levers of power.

"Wmahahaha! Release the Kraken!"
"'Batgirl'?"
"Whatever!"

 

[Overread]

Thinking about the discussion between the fan and the critic reminds me of the rotten tomato ratings when the critics either give some thing a rating over 90% and the fans under 40, or vice versa where the fans love something but the professional critics hate it. Showing just how out of touch h people in the media are with the man on the street at times.

It can also happen because pro reviewers might end up coming from similar backgrounds and viewpoints. Those that rise to the top are likely those that share a viewpoint with a large enough subset of the population. So whilst there will be variety, they can all end up liking similar things.

When you open the field to the community you can have a niche group suddenly rise up. The reviewers already scared the majority away from the film so those that are left are perhaps the more keen for the genre and perhaps just a very vocal niche that grow and love the film.

IT can also happen when a film is made after a series that's a niche as well. Where fans of the series like the film for various reasons but the film might lack some key plot developments or elaborations for those new to it. So reviewers hate it but long term fans love it because they've brought all the relationships and character development and such from the series with them.

 

[JunkMonkey]

It can also happen because pro reviewers might end up coming from similar backgrounds and viewpoints. Those that rise to the top are likely those that share a viewpoint with a large enough subset of the population. So whilst there will be variety, they can all end up liking similar things.

When you open the field to the community you can have a niche group suddenly rise up. The reviewers already scared the majority away from the film so those that are left are perhaps the more keen for the genre and perhaps just a very vocal niche that grow and love the film.

IT can also happen when a film is made after a series that's a niche as well. Where fans of the series like the film for various reasons but the film might lack some key plot developments or elaborations for those new to it. So reviewers hate it but long term fans love it because they've brought all the relationships and character development and such from the series with them.

Or to put it more simply, 'no matter how sh*t something is some die hard fans will love it'.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

Imagine if this had happened to a truly game changing series like The Sopranos, Chernobyl or The Wire. Or, indeed, Star trek or Doctor Who when they were first filmed. It could happen. Just for money and 'corporate strategy'. The thought rather chills me.

But surely this is supposed to be part of a quality control process. The best thing to do with crap is not to make it in the first place. But if it can be identified and squashed before it is released then that is a good thing. Presumably the Sopranos passed the QC process with flying colors (as it should).

Anyway, my faith in preview viewers is now partially restored. I was beginning to believe that they were routinely lobotomized upon arrival at the screening venue.

 

[SilentRoamer]

It must really be trash. Not even straight to DVD worthy.

Lets hope the production studios can start making good movies again instead of tick box trash.

 

[JunkMonkey]

I am suddenly annoyed by the cancellation of this movie. I found out tonight my eldest daughter's boyfriend was in it. Great chunks of Glasgow city centre were used to double for Gotham and he got weeks of well-paid extra work as a miscellaneous thug / gang member. Apparently he's in the new season of Good Omens too after spending weeks dressed as Crowley being David Tennant's stand in and then doing background work.

 

[Phyrebrat]

think some cultural products have adherents that just love them, in the same illogical way that people love other people: they either can't see their faults, or even when they can they can't bear them to be attacked. I don't know if this was always the case. I actually quite envy it -- there's no book, film or TV thing I'd say I feel truly passionate about (apart from my own of course), and that's probably been the case since my twenties

This is my approach to Star Wars. I have many friends (and sworn enemies ) who want to discuss why I’m ‘wrong’ but my thoughts are that it brings me joy, and I don’t really care what other people think of the prequels or sequels etc etc etc as I’m the one watching it.

 

[Swank]

I was reminded of Batgirl today when I saw this article:

World's biggest cruise ship to be sold for scrap before setting sail

Global Dream II was constructed by German-Hong Kong shipbuilding film MV Werften and was nearly finished when the company went bankrupt at the start of the year.

www.dailymail.co.uk

No disrespect to fans, but Batgirl is a tagalong. Maybe not as bad as Superman's dog, but we are still talking about a regular woman, with all the funding being a policeman's daughter can bring, no special motivating incident, no opportunity for advanced training (other than library science). She's a little hard to take seriously - consider that the Barbara Gordon version came from the TV show. She's no Wonder Woman.

Maybe the film was bad because the basic concept is so absurd? The thing that happened that made superhero films really work was a serious approach to their existence. Which is likely why Robin hasn't really appeared in any loved DC film.

 

[Vladd67]

Maybe the film was bad because the basic concept is so absurd? The thing that happened that made superhero films really work was a serious approach to their existence. Which is likely why Robin hasn't really appeared in any loved DC film.

If you look at the original Robin origin story he was orphaned after his parents were killed in a trapeze accident, their rig being sabotaged by underworld figures they had fallen foul of. Batman obviously recognised a kindred spirit in a boy orphaned by criminals and being a millionaire could adopt him as his ward, and train him to focus his desire for revenge in a useful way. This story has the potential to be treated in a serious manner and be the basis of a film. Forget the camp hand punching holy bad writing Dick Grayson from the TV series Robin could have his own story of tragedy, revenge, retribution, and justice with the young orphan raised as the Batman's lieutenant. Which then could lead on to his growing into adulthood and becoming his own man as Nightwing.

 

[Foxbat]

I think there’s a lot if assumption being made in this thread.

Batgirl cancelled so it must be crap.

That is not necessarily the case. An example. The Goodfellas had a disastrous preview screening with 70 people walking out and yet went on to be nominated for six Oscars. Batgirl received a preview screening score somewhere in the sixties out of 100. This is not unusual and many movies, some of them going on to become box office hits, have survived this. What we need to be doing, in my opinion, is asking, why no reshoots? Why no attempt to fix what was wrong?

Of course, it may be that the movie is crap but we can’t be sure unless we see it for ourselves. So what is another reason for cancellation? Money, of course. The movie can be written off and become an asset to other movies being made by way of the taxation system. It may well be that cancelling the movie came about because it was simply more financially beneficial to the studio and its multiple projects overall than to fix whatever was wrong with it.

Cancelled doesn’t necessarily mean crap when millions of dollars or tax deductions are involved.

 

[Swank]

This story has the potential to be treated in a serious manner and be the basis of a film.

Maybe. If you can avoid the part where a small teen dressed as a lollipop is combat backup for a large ninja that hides in the shadows. It would be one thing if he was raised to become Nightwing, but what actually happened is a little silly. Even the goofy Chris O'Donnel movies avoid the child in bright colors phase.

The Goodfellas had a disastrous preview screening with 70 people walking out and yet went on to be nominated for six Oscars.

I'll bet the reasons people walked out of Goodfellas was very different than why they didn't care for a light entertainment like Batgirl.

 

[Foxbat]

Maybe. If you can avoid the part where a small teen dressed as a lollipop is combat backup for a large ninja that hides in the shadows. It would be one thing if he was raised to become Nightwing, but what actually happened is a little silly. Even the goofy Chris O'Donnel movies avoid the child in bright colors phase.



I'll bet the reasons people walked out of Goodfellas was very different than why they didn't care for a light entertainment like Batgirl.

That may well be true but, like I said, without seeing it for ourselves, none of us can truly know.

 

[CupofJoe]

Zack Snyder's Justice League was supposed to be such an unmitigated disaster with preview audiences that they got another director in to reshoot and retool the story. I've seen both version and while very different both have their merits.
But as has been said before I think it was a cold hard look at the possible profits [or lack there of] that sealed Batgirl's fate. In a post Covid world people aren't going to the cinema as much as they used to.
While Warner Bros do have HBO, they aren't [as of yet] as dedicated to streaming as Disney.

 

[JunkMonkey]

And let's not forget, in the weird world of film rights, financing, insurance and willy-waving egos, odd things happen. Roger Corman's Fantastic Four film was made to fill some contractual obligation and guarantee the rights to the characters stayed with the holders. The film was bought out and destroyed by Marvel who wanted to launch the characters themselves.

The Fantastic Four (unreleased film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org