Westworld (HBO/Sky Atlantic) [ Spoilers ]

BruteStock · 08-11-2022 12:39pm

'The sudden cancellation of Lovecraft Country has prompted a lot of speculation from the public, especially with HBO not making any formal announcement as to why. This was not a mutual decision between the creatives and the network, as showrunner Misha Green had been working on Season 2 as recently as February'

Spon Farmer · 08-11-2022 1:38pm

I didn’t know Raised By Wolves was cancelled. I’ve been looking forward to seeing it.

Wasn’t Watchmen only meant to be one season? Entertainment media always say cancelled even when the networks, etc make it clear that a show is ending.

Penn · 08-11-2022 2:19pm

Yeah I wouldn't say Watchmen was cancelled, more that it was always supposed to be one season, maybe with the option of doing more if the showrunners wanted.

pixelburp · 08-11-2022 2:34pm

Yup, Watchmen was a limited series aimed as a Years Later sequel; its ending was enough of an ellipsis you could have had a Season 2 but TBH never got the sense anyone was that interested in doing so; looking back it's something of a small miracle it even got made - and produced with the voice and tone it was.

BruteStock · 08-11-2022 3:44pm

'Watchmen was originally announced as an ongoing series, but once Lindelof dropped out as showrunner, any further plans were shelved, with HBO president Casey Bloys admitting that they have no intentions to produce additional installments.'

Lindelof dropping out was actually a good thing for the show going forward . Too bad it got axed, the damage was already done.

Sad Professor · 08-11-2022 6:44pm

I don't believe a word of what Lindelof has said about not wanting to do more Watchmen and expect he has an informal deal with HBO to return and do a second season in a few years time. I think longer gaps between seasons suits HBO especially for shows they know can't be milked too hard.

Agent Coulson · 13-12-2022 9:45am

HBO Max pulling all episodes from it's service.

Penn · 13-12-2022 10:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119990112#Comment_119990112

That's a strange move. They've already cancelled it, but surely the existing seasons are still just their own free content for HBO Max subscribers. What's the point in removing it?

Quin_Dub · 13-12-2022 10:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119990152#Comment_119990152

They are doing this with multiple cancelled shows.

Probably some kind of tax/accounting write-down available if they are no longer "revenue generating" or some such nonsense.

pixelburp · 13-12-2022 10:09am

Ah there you go; that's the brave new world of streaming - or at least the borderline dystopian aspect of it. It only exists while the studio decide it's worth streaming. Otherwise it's into the Memory Hole with you.

Famously at the BBC, whole decades worth of early TV programming was lost because as a cost-saving technique, newer shows were recorded over the original tapes; at least that was an accidental act of self-sabotage. This feels more ... well, I don't want to call it "sinister" but whatever a couple steps below that would be?

Quin_Dub · 13-12-2022 10:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119990182#Comment_119990182

It does seem very strange , but it seems to be a trend now. There was a movie recently that was fully complete but they have totally cancelled it and it will never see the light of day because they wrote down the costs to help balance the books.

I guess as long as an accountant can show that they can save money by simply deleting content , they'll keep doing it.

Who cares about the content or if fans want to be able to watch the stuff.

Agent Coulson · 13-12-2022 10:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119990152#Comment_119990152

Discovery have been gutting HBO since they took it over.

AlmightyCushion · 13-12-2022 11:13am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119990219#Comment_119990219

That's not really how it works. The loss just offsets profit elsewhere. E.g. project a makes a profit of 2m but project b makes a loss of 1m then you have made a total profit of 1m and you pay tax on only that. If project b broke even you would have a profit of 2m and would pay more tax but would also make more profit. It pretty much never makes sense to take no revenue from something just so it makes a loss.

They probably canned the film because it would have cost money to finish and market and that it was so bad it would hurt the brand or they changed the direction the want to movie universe to go in and the film no longer fits in. So it made more sense to just dump it.

No idea why they removed Westworld though. Maybe something to do with trying to save money on royalties and streaming residuals. It still seems odd though. Streaming services are desperate to have as much content as possible to keep people subscribed for as long as possible so ditching a load of shows like this is odd.

BruteStock · 13-12-2022 1:12pm

Hbo is on a huge cost cutting mission. By pulling Westworld the network can avoid paying residuals to the production team and cast via reruns.

Quin_Dub · 13-12-2022 1:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119990899#Comment_119990899

Makes sense , but would that be a greater cost than the revenue they might get in terms of holding on to subscribers that watch the show?

Probably harder to link subscription levels to a specific show , but you'd have thought that a marquee show like Westworld would be a draw for subscribers.

silverharp · 13-12-2022 2:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119991018#Comment_119991018

Im sure anyone that wanted to see it did and a common view was, good first series , went downhill after that so its not something that will have much demand now. Unless the streamers start selling ad space there is no marginal income with this, only additional costs if the residuals are correct.

yabadabado · 13-12-2022 9:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119990219#Comment_119990219

That film was Batgirl .

Same studio.

Some sources at the time were saying that writing off Batgirl for a tax break was the most financially sound method of recouping costs instead of ever releasing it.

silverharp · 14-12-2022 12:12am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119993518#Comment_119993518

those claims always sound like bs, a bit like when someone complains about some rich dude is giving to charity for the tax breaks, you cant make money out of losses or giving away money, it still costs.