There is little doubt that people are alarmed about Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to pull the plug on numerous DC projects including Batgirl, Wonder Woman 3, and Man of Steel 2. So what's with all the cancellations? Warner Bros. Discovery's COO says that it has nothing to do with tax reasons despite previous reports.
Back when it was announced that Batgirl will no longer be airing on HBO Max, fans tried to find the truth behind the cancellation. This led to reports claiming that the DC film was cancelled because Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to trim a huge amount of debt from its budget following the recent merger.
So is it true that Warner Bros. Discovery is dropping DC projects to avoid paying taxes? Kathleen Finch, Chairman and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery's U.S. Networks Group, pointed out that this isn't the case during a keynote address in Austin (via Comicbook.com).
"Honestly, I wouldn't categorize it really as for tax reasons," Finch said. "The challenges when you bring two companies together, you assess what you have. Then you see if what you have fits with your ongoing strategy. So that had a lot to do with what we had to do."
"They were painful decisions," she continued. "I know what it what it must feel like to be a content creator, and then have your work [pulled]. None of this was taken lightly at all. These were really, really painful decisions and whenever possible, we're working really closely with the creators to finding homes for a lot of the content."
"I've had some long heart-to-hearts with people, explaining what happened, why it happened, all the decisions that went into it," Finch added. "I totally get why people would be nervous. I hope they won't be because that was a moment in time, that had nothing to do with how we intend to run this company."
"It's happening in the industry in other places. It's not how we do business, it's not a strategy," she stated. "I'm happy to talk personally with anybody who wants to have a conversation about it because it was really painful and not the way that we tend to move forward."
Warner Bros. Discovery has cancelled several DC projects as well as HBO shows including Westworld.
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