Warner Bros. Shelves Plans For HBO Max Wonder Twins Movie

The Wonder Twins are no longer activating, as Warner Bros. has shut down plans for the HBO Max-scheduled DC movie. THR reports that Warner Bros. Discovery has shelves plans for the film, which was to star KJ Apa and Isabel May as the titular siblings and be directed by Adam Sztykiel, who also wrote the script.

According to the report, the decision to but the kibosh on the movie happened several weeks ago and happened as a consequence of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. New company CEO David Zaslav has decreed that DC films should be made with a “theatrical-first” goal in sight. At a $75 million production budget, Wonder Twins was considered “too niche” for such a plan.

Zaslav is apparently looking to keep HBO Max original movies at $35 million or below, and believes higher-budgeted movies don’t add enough value as originals for the service when more modest-cost films are doing the required lifting of attracting subscribers. One insider said that in regard to the closer attention that will be paid to a lot of Warner Bros’ divisions (including film), “A lot of things that were developed are going to go away.”