Warner Bros. Discovery says it’s done with all that widespread canceling in 2023
New year, new WBD: the widespread restructuring effort that saw projects like Batgirl and Westworld getting axed is reportedly being left behind in 2022
Aux News Warner Bros
The Warner Bros. Discovery merger became one of the top entertainment stories of 2022 as news of layoffs and beloved shows and films getting axed for tax write-offs constantly rolled in for months. However, according to a report from Variety, that’s all being left in the last year as the company begins to find its way forward.
As far as “restructuring,” CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said at a conference today, per Variety, that “We took a little bit of time to make sure that we do it properly.” He continued, “For some of the titles, we’ve found new homes elsewhere. That’s why this took six or seven months. But I think we’ve come to great solutions and, most importantly, we’re done with that chapter.”
It seems that it’s new year, new Warner Bros. Discovery, as Wiedenfels added, “That was very important to all of us, to really use 2022 to leave the purchase accounting behind us, leave those initial strategy changes behind us, get it all out there in terms of our restructuring estimates and then be able to turn the page forward. I think the team has laid a great foundation and I’m really excited about the growth from here.”
“From my perspective, we really have command and control over the business now,” Wiedenfels also added. “There were some surprises in the first months of the combination, as you know, but we put out the guidance for this year at the end of the summer and I’ve been very, very pleased with all of our operating trends over the second half of the year… We’re really on track for a lot of asset value creation and free cashflow generation.”
Following the acquisition of WarnerMedia by Discovery, the new regime led by CEO David Zaslav sought to cut $3 billion in costs. The goal increased towards the end of 2022, and according to Variety, Warner Bros. Discovery could now be looking at “$3.5 billion of content impairment and development write-offs.”
Batgirl’s sudden cancellation back in August quickly became the focal point of the corporate bloodbath. The highly-anticipated DC movie would have starred Leslie Grace as the eponymous hero, contributed to Brendan Fraser’s career renaissance, and brought back Michael Keaton’s Batman and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.
Other HBO Max titles also took a hit, such as Made For Love, Raised By Wolves, Minx, and Love Life. Even Westworld, one of HBO’s flagship series, wasn’t safe and was marked for cancellation and removal from streaming. Across other brands, Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy was dropped from CNN, but, surprise surprise, Discovery+ content is set to take a more prominent spot as the streamer eventually combines with HBO Max.
“We’re coming from an irrational time of overspending with limited focus on return on investment,” Wiedenfels says, adding that 2023 is about “relaunching and building.”
28 Comments
So they sacked the people responsible for the sacking?
I give it three days.
And then The Savior will be resurrected?
Only if it’s Bugs Bunny.
Caffeine Spider Says He’s Done With Warner Bros. Discovery
Just bring back the goddamn cartoons you soulless monsters.
Goddamn, I fucking hate every shit-ass word of that corporate-speak horseshit. Anyone who utters words like, “We’re really on track for a lot of asset value creation and free cashflow generation,” and “we’re coming from an irrational time of overspending with limited focus on return on investment,” shouldn’t be allowed within a country mile of anything approaching anything remotely creative. Go buy and sell NFT’s you fucking hack.
But they have strategies for vertical brand integration!
And maximizing the revenue streams of their brand content!
And they can do it at enterprise scale!
Third quarter!
Those synergies won’t leverage themselves
Came here to say essentially the same thing, and you did it far better. I regret I have but one star to give.
You think the Chief Financial Officer shouldn’t be focused on the financial aspects of the business? This wasn’t a press release, he was speaking at a conference.
I really hope this means we will finally get that Venture Bros. movie
So… this only makes sense, right? They came in, killed all the stuff they did not like, and going forward stuff they make is stuff they wanted to make.
The Westworld piece of the puzzle is still the most baffling. Shelling that out to another company seems odd at best.
I’m sure that the 2022 tax break window closing has a lot of influence on the change of strategy.
Statement from David Zaslav:
In their defense, with everything cancelled, there was nothing left to cancel!
I don’t believe it. Salem’s Lot, for example, was supposed to come out last September, yet here we are, no release date, and not even a teaser, or even a photo has been released from this movie, which reportedly had a dreadful test screening. I’d wager it gets shitcanned for the writedown.
Oh, wow, I didn’t even know that was a thing. Even the IMDB listing doesn’t have a date associated with it.
I’m not super bothered by Discovery+ programming getting rolled in if the price point doesn’t jump, but the selling off HBO flagship shows for profit seems misguided given HBO Max existed in order to stop doing that.
“We’re coming from an irrational time of overspending with limited focus on return on investment,” Wiedenfels says, adding that 2023 is about “relaunching and building.”Translated from weasel into English this means “Standby for a lot of very cheap reality crap.”
“Also, the Looney Tunes can go fuck themselves. They know what they did.”
Right after watching THE MENU earlier this week I cancelled my HBO Max. No need to continue with that one. One of the best platforms around and it all fell apart. Fuck ‘em.
I cancelled when this all started going down. I’ll reconsider once everything shakes out, but if The New/Young Pope ain’t still around there will be issues.
So, that was a fucking lie.