Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made the call to pull the plug on Batgirl, and at least one big name within the studio wasn't happy about it. The Hollywood Reporter reveals that former DC Films boss Walter Hamada came close to leaving the studio upon learning of plans to cancel the movie and has even consulted with counsel.
As of right now, he's agreed to remain in his current post until at least Black Adam's release on October 21. "He's pausing," one source tells the trade. "The decision has not been made to make this adversarial, yet."
That's a little foreboding, eh?
Apparently, Hamada was upset at not being consulted over the decision and was concerned about the impact it would have on those who were part of making Batgirl. The news was broken to him at a test screening for Black Adam, with the explanation being that, as part of Zaslav's strategy, the DC Comics movie wasn't strong enough for a theatrical release and too pricey for streaming.
Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy were tasked with overseeing the DCEU until new leadership is found earlier this year, so Hamada is likely on his way out of the studio, regardless.
He first took charge of DC Films in 2018 in the wake of Justice League's disastrous release. Since then, he's overseen everything from Joker to The Suicide Squad and The Batman, so his reign was far from a calamity. Zaslav wants to compete with Marvel Studios, though, and that requires finding a Kevin Feige.
The CEO clearly wants to see the DCEU turn a corner, an idea fans can definitely get on board with. However, ditching a movie they were looking forward to and hyping up The Flash, right after a fresh wave of allegations against Ezra Miller, is an odd way to go about it.
Right now, it's hard to see things getting any better for DC as there's clearly a lot of upheaval behind the scenes.