Is anyone interested in some abandoned original movies?
Continuing its war against itself, Discovery Warner Bros. quietly removed six “Max Originals” from its service, including two starring Octavia Spencer: Robert Zemeckis’ The Witches and the Melissa McCarthy vehicle Superintelligence. However, before we start accusing Discovery of bias against movies starring Octavia Spencer (more likely, they don’t want to pay residuals on movies that the studio spent a fortune on as a result of WB’s straight-to-streaming gambit), we should note that some non-Spencer movies were also affected, such as the recently released moonshotwhich debuted on the streamer just three months ago. The news comes on the heels of the content massacre at Discovery Warner Bros., which claimed the nearly-completed Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt as victims.
Other casualties of the corporation’s latest slash and burn cost-saving measures include Doug Liman’s early quarantine heist movie Locked DownSeth Rogen’s time travel comedy An American Pickeland Angel Manuel Soto’s Charm City Kings. the House Party reboot produced by LeBron James also disappeared from the release calendar—it was supposed to drop on July 28. While streaming services remove things from streamers regularly, it’s rare for ones branded as exclusive to the service to receive such treatment.
This all seems in line with the decisions being made by Discovery Warner Bros. in recent months. Earlier this year, the billionaire brain trust at Discovery, presumably hoping to clear the way for more 90 Day Fiance spin-offs, laid waste to scripted television at the former Turner networks, TNT, TBS, and TruTV. The move culminated in the unceremonious canceling of chad on the day its second season was slated to premierewhich is the best way to profit on a finished product.
Now, things are not as dire as many may think. Ma-heads can still find Max Originals starring Octavia Spencer on various streaming services that aren’t HBO Max. At the very least, we can all agree that Octavia Spencer deserved better than The Witches and Superintelligenceand she deserves better than Discovery Warner Bros.
[via Variety]
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