WONDER TWINS Movie Officially Scrapped As WB Shifts Focus Back To Theatrical Releases

WONDER TWINS Movie Officially Scrapped As WB Shifts Focus Back To Theatrical Releases

Confirming a recent rumor, Warner Bros. has now officially cancelled the planned Wonder Twins movie that was in development for the HBO Max streaming service. Find out why after the jump...

By MarkCassidy - May 18, 2022 05:05 PM EST
Filed Under: DC Studios

Wonder Twin powers... DEactivate!

Despite assigning Adam Sztykiel to write/direct and casting the lead roles, Warner Bros. has now confirmed that the plug has officially been pulled on the live-action Wonder Twins movie that was in the works for the HBO Max streaming service.

The DC Comics feature was actually scheduled to begin production in early July with Riverdale star KJ Apa and 1883 actress Isabel May on board to play Zan and Jayna, but THR reports that Warner Bros. Discovery (the new company combining Discovery and Warner Bros) CEO David Zaslav has implemented a mandate that all DC movies should now be made with a "theatrical-first" goal.

It's also been said that this take on the material was “too niche,” with the $75 million budget raising concerns.

In all honesty, it's a little baffling that anyone would think developing a $75 million movie about the Wonder Twins was a good idea in the first place, and based on what we can gather from the trade's report, this will not be the last DC-based streaming project to face the axe.

The Wonder Twins were a pair of shape-shifting alien siblings who debuted in animated form on Hanna-Barbera’s The All-New Super Friends Hour back in the late '70s before being introduced into the DC Comics Universe. The characters were never taken very seriously, but have developed a cult fan-base over the years, and have previously appeared on episodes of Teen Titans Go!, Smallville and The Flash.

THE BATMAN: DC Studios' James Gunn Responds To Rumors A MR. FREEZE Spin-Off Is In Development
Related:

THE BATMAN: DC Studios' James Gunn Responds To Rumors A MR. FREEZE Spin-Off Is In Development

DC Studios' Planned DEATHSTROKE & BANE Team-Up May Actually Be Part Of A Much Bigger DCU Movie
Recommended For You:

DC Studios' Planned DEATHSTROKE & BANE Team-Up May Actually Be Part Of A Much Bigger DCU Movie

DISCLAIMER: ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and... [MORE]

ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

1 2 3
MasterMix
MasterMix - 5/18/2022, 5:22 PM
That was fast.
BlackStar25
BlackStar25 - 5/18/2022, 5:25 PM
@MasterMix - Lol...Extra fast. They canceled this like last week I believe.
TheJester187
TheJester187 - 5/18/2022, 5:26 PM
Good! Stupid ass idea. Aqualad shit should be next! Give me Lobo, Deadman, Justice Leagues Dark and MoS 2.
dracula
dracula - 5/18/2022, 5:32 PM
Lets face it, we may have been open to it, but nobody was excited for it.
grif
grif - 5/18/2022, 5:32 PM
shrugs



itzayaboy
itzayaboy - 5/18/2022, 5:34 PM
Wow. Discovery must have heard the fans hated these “niche” movies. Hopefully DC goes back to just trying to make movies about the big JL members and not trying to copy Marvel with promoting heroes no one cares about. Marvel Studios has earned the trust of movie goers to do that. DC? Noooooooo way.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 5/18/2022, 6:06 PM
@itzayaboy - Some other "niche" comic book franchises before they were adapted to live action: Suicide Squad, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shazam, Ant-Man, Dr Strange, Thor, Blade, Black Panther...yup, not adapting "niche" comic books is a great idea!
GameOn
GameOn - 5/18/2022, 10:55 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - Suicide Squad sucked, Guardians, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther only got made and succeeded because they’re part of the biggest film franchise of all time, etc.

I notice you didn’t mention Elektra, Morbius, Spawn, Jonah Hex, Steel, and Howard the Duck.
SerKurtWagner
SerKurtWagner - 5/19/2022, 12:11 AM
@itzayaboy - That is the worst possible takeaway that Discovery could make.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 5/19/2022, 8:25 AM
@GameOn - Suicide Squad (2016) was a massive hit.
dracula
dracula - 5/18/2022, 5:34 PM
Good thing Blue Beetle is already being made

hopefully this doesn't hurt Static
VicSage
VicSage - 5/18/2022, 5:34 PM
Considering how much money they typically throw at these superhero projects, $75m seems fair. Maybe not for Wonder Twins, but most other projects, yes
Repian
Repian - 5/18/2022, 5:34 PM
Wonder Twins would be a good show. They would go to the guy who wrote Shazam to write a story with a fun and lighthearted tone.
dracula
dracula - 5/18/2022, 5:40 PM
@Repian - either Sandberg or Gunn would have been a good fit
Reginator
Reginator - 5/18/2022, 5:37 PM
Probably a good thing. I remember them from the super friends cartoons and as a kid found them annoying.
dracula
dracula - 5/18/2022, 5:37 PM
how about getting that Dc black label brand off the ground


That might be the most successful thing DC has made in it's entire history thanks to its buget and its billion dollar gross
Repian
Repian - 5/18/2022, 6:01 PM
@dracula - After Black Swan and The Wrestler, someone should call Darren Aronofsky and offer him...Clayface.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 5/18/2022, 6:08 PM
@dracula - $500M gross, dont forget Warner's brilliant idea of splitting the budget ($50M) and the gross with Village Roadshow because they didnt believe in this movie.
dracula
dracula - 5/18/2022, 6:09 PM
@Repian - that would be great. although first on the list needs to be
dracula
dracula - 5/18/2022, 6:11 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - Well thats how much they got, the movie itself still hit a billion

its their fault they didn't get all the profit the movie made.

hopefully they dont repeat that mistake with the sequel and other potential black label projects
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 5/18/2022, 6:21 PM
@dracula - They are apes, they probably blame the movie for their stupidity.
$50M is spare change for a studio the sizes of Warner, and they though a JOKER movie starring JOAQUIN PHOENIX wasnt going to make its money back.
Super12
Super12 - 5/18/2022, 5:39 PM
Good. Cancel Wonder Twins. Cancel Aqualad. Cancel most of the nonsense projects that have zero demand.

Make a decision on the DCEU. Scrap and reboot? Continue it post-Whedon or post-Snyder?

Build the future of DC around the heavy hitters. Superman. Green Lantern. Wonder Woman. Build out from there. Whether its through a reboot or a revamp they need to cut off the dead weight, pick a direction and go.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 5/18/2022, 6:35 PM
@Super12 - I'm kinda hoping they're gonna start building a new Justice League in the Batverse, and just slowly phase out the current DCEU.

Think with the existing (Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Shazam, Superman, Black Canary and Huntress) and the upcoming (Batgirl, Blue Beetle, Supergirl and Static) heroes they can get an endgame movie of the ground to wrap up its universe.
ElricReturns
ElricReturns - 5/18/2022, 5:40 PM
I'm a very firm believer that even stupid concepts can become gold with the perfect creative team behind it. That being said.... I'm not unsure a Wonder Twins movie couldn't actually be successful with a fun script and talent in front and behind the camera, but if this got canceled then obviously it didn't have a perfect creative team with a gold no brainer pitch that needed to be made or else this wouldn't have been canceled, they would have thrown more money at it and released it theatrically. So I'm then glad this got bagged.
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 5/18/2022, 5:42 PM
Space Ghost would have been better.
BritishMonkey
BritishMonkey - 5/18/2022, 5:47 PM
Did anyone think that would seriously go through anyway?
1 2 3
View Recorder