Every Show and Movie HBO Max Canceled This Summer

By Daniel S. Levine - August 23, 2022 08:34 pm EDT

Nothing great lasts forever, especially in Hollywood, where executives love putting their own stamp on things, even to the detriment of the successful thing they now oversee. HBO Max was once one of the best streaming services, overcoming its technical glitches with an incredible variety of new and old content. Now, it's already starting to look like a husk of its former self as new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav removes things and cancels shows.

This summer was bound to be tough, as Zaslav made it clear he wanted to cut $3 billion in costs across the company after the merger was finalized in April. Still, it was shocking to see almost completed projects like Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt suddenly canceled. Other promising original projects from several iconic Warner Bros. IPs have been dropped, while the entire HBO Max reality television team is no more.

"Our strategy is to embrace and support and drive the incredible success that HBO Max is having," Zaslav said in an earnings call earlier this month, notes TVLine. "We want [the content] to be broader. We will, as one company, come behind that. We think [the combined HBO Max/Discovery+ service] is going to be superb. It's about curation. It's about quality. It's about how good." When that combined HBO Max-Discovery+ streaming service launches in the summer of 2023, none of the following projects will be there. Here's a look at the projects WBD has kicked to the curb, all as part of an effort to save a buck.

DC movies 'Wonder Twins' and 'Batgirl'

Before the merger, DC Films had plans to introduce minor DC Comics characters in low-budget movies released directly to HBO Max. The first of these was Batgirl, starring Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon and featuring the first appearance of Michael Keaton as Batman in 30 years. In early August, news surfaced that the film would not be released, even though principal photography was already complete. The budget reportedly reached $90 million, which was too much for a streaming-only movie but not enough for a blockbuster theatrically-released movie.

Warner Bros. Discovery also pulled the plug on Wonder Twins, starring KJ Apa and Isabel May as the title characters, in May. The film was reportedly set to cost $75 million, which was just too much for a movie about cult characters hardly known outside the DC Comics fandom.

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'Gordita Chronicles'

The family comedy Gordita Chronicles was canceled in late July since HBO Max is getting out of the live-action family programming business. "Live-action, kids and family programming will not be part of our programming focus in the immediate future, and as a result, we've had to make the very difficult decision to end Gordita Chronicles at HBO Max," a spokesperson for the streamer said. "The series earned critical acclaim and a loyal following, and we are proud to have worked with creator Claudia Forestieri and our two powerhouse executive producers, Eva Longoria (who also masterfully directed the pilot) and Zoe Saldaña, to bring Cucu's journey to the screen. We thank them and the talented cast and crew for creating such a heartfelt, groundbreaking show that connected deeply with a very important demographic."

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'Strange Adventures'

While some DC Comics shows like James Gunn's Peacemaker will survive, Strange Adventures has been canceled. This was a long-gestating anthology seires featuring obscure DC Comics characters that Greg Berlanti was working on with Kevin Smith. During an episode of his podcast, Smith revealed the show was dead.

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'Scoob! Holiday Haunt' and 'House Party'

Scoob! Holiday Haunt was a $40 million animated sequel to the 2020 Scoob! movie. It was scrapped on the same day Batgirl got the ax. Meanwhile, the LeBron James-produced House Party has disappeared. It was supposed to be released on HBO Max in July but never was.

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'Little Ellen' and 'Close Enough'

Ellen DeGeneres' HBO Max projects have completely disappeared. A fully-completed season of Little Ellen was ready to be released, but it never will be. HBO Max also canceled the animated Close Enough after three seasons.

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'Batman: Caped Crusader' and 'Looney Tunes' projects

The most recent HBO Max cuts came on Aug. 22 when six Warner Bros. Animation projects were canceled, although Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly plans to shop them to other outlets. This includes Batman: Caped Crusader, Merry Little Batman, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical, Did I Do That To The Holidays?: A Steve Urkel Story, and The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie.

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Reality shows

HBO Max is also getting out of the reality business. WBD saw the unscripted unit as expendable. Why make HBO Max reality shows when you have a whole stable of well-known IPs from Discovery? In fact, Magnolia Network shows will appear on HBO Max later this year. In the meantime, HBO Max reality shows like Craftopia and Baketopia have already been canceled. They've even been removed from the service.

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'Demimonde'

Demimonde was an HBO project J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias) worked on for years before Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the plug. The science fiction drama's budget reportedly ballooned to $200 million. Danielle Deadwyler was cast as the lead character, Olive Reed, who is torn from her husband and daughter after a scientific accident.

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TNT, TBS projects

In related Warner Bros. Discovery cuts, the future of the Turner networks like TBS and TNT is totally unknown, especially as it doesn't look like any new original scripted or reality projects will be made for them. Snowpiercer was the last remaining scripted TNT original, and it will end with its upcoming fourth season. Over at TNT, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, Chad, The Big D, and The Last O.G. have all been canceled.

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