I would have thought that was decided very early on, no?
Before they even have a cast or anything. Changes sometimes mid-production but it's a disaster when it does.
The most famous example of that is the 90's Spawn movie.
They were promised an R rating and $80 million, then in the middle of filming, they got a call that it's PG-13 and $40 million.
That's why the effects are so bad, they only had half the money.
This shit feels strangely similar.
But I presume they also must have started work on Supergirl before Superman was actually released.
Started filming 2 months ago, apparently the filming wraps in May... which is fucking insane because the release date is June 26th so they will overwork some depressed VFX artists and it will look like crap.
So it couldn't be a response to the poor box office of the latter?
Oh, most definitely.
Gunn was promising WB a new era for years now.
A billion bucks during the theatrical run of Superman and he didn't even make Man of Steel money, not adjusted for inflation.
I'm not convinced we're ever getting that Clayface movie and that was the one damn project in this whole DCEU thing that I was looking for.
Supergirl, as far as my layman estimates go, will make Thunderbolts money at best, this shit will tank on the level of The Marvels, nobody wants this.
If the budget is really $225 million + marketing, Gunn will be responsible for one of the biggest bombs in WB history. He will be out of the big leagues. Sub $50 million movies for him from now on.
Trimming the budget to $100 million is the only way to save his ass and pretend that this made a minimal profit at around $300 million.
I wonder what will happen to the movie itself.
Did they rewrite it quickly, cut out some expensive scenes or replace them with cheaper options, or will the effects be the equivalent of the 90's Spawn movie?
Only time will tell but I hope it's the last option because that would be funny.
That's my take on this whole thing.
EDIT!!! I FUCKED UP!!!
The filming was January-May... 2025. This shit is long wrapped up.
So they don't have new footage to replace the old scenes with. Oh this will be glorious, I can't wait.