Well if things are moving forward then the DCU service isn't struggling because I think it would've been canned by now. The question now is if Warner is going to incorporate this service with their main one.
Apparently the tax credit thing was debunked here
https://www.starnewsonline.com/news/...ng-one-episode
Well, someone is obviously lying.
Either the people making the show lied about the funding to DCUniverse or Warner, making them think that half of the $80 million would be reimbursed.
Or NC Department of Commerce lied and is now releasing the info that it was always $13 million all along.
As $40 million is a lot of money (Uncle Frank was being given a $1 million reimbursement), I'm going to have to say that the likely person to blame is going to be whoever was in charge of production.
It looks like they led DC/Warner to believe the funding was coming so they could push on with production.
Then when the truth reached the top brass, production was halted.
And while the show will not reach a season 2, I'm sure part of the reason is because it would be hard to match that quality with a small budget. And another part would be the lack of trust the company would have in the people responsible for what happened.
The people responsible caused DC/Warner to lose a lot of money under the pretense it was being reimbursed and they've hurt the credibility of their streaming service.
"There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.
DC Universe shouldn't have been promoted as a "streaming service" because it's way more than that. It should have been a complete overhaul of DC's presence on the internet and basically their official website. DC's focus on interacting with the community and listening to feedback from their own fans is understated; Marvel's own boards are still shut down and have been shut down for over five years; back in the day that site was a great "comics hub" community (even though it was all run by moderators and not anyone at Marvel) . DC should have promoted it as the prime online source for anything DC and not just a streaming service with original shows. Honestly calling it a streaming service might have doomed it. We'll see
Once again Time/Warner shoots themselves in the foot when dealing with their comics franchises. I thought Titans was really good, Doom Patrol was fantastic, and I'm really looking forward to Swamp Thing, but something always seems to happen to mess thing up with both their movies and tv series.
I've seen everybody pointing fingers at WB, DC, AT&T and North Carolina.
Who I blame is James Wan and his crew. I think they went into it wanting to make something like Aquaman or Star Trek: Discovery. The amount they ended up spending for Season One of Swamp Thing was equal to an average season of Star Trek: Discovery.
North Carolina obviously couldn't reimburse $40 million.
I suspect someone fudged the numbers between the production crew in North Carolina and the people in Burbank to allow the show to be made.
Then when Burbank found out NC was only reimbursing $12 million, the crew had already spent $85 million... with three more episodes at what was roughly costing WB $8.5 million per episode with no way to recoup that...
Star Trek: Discovery has much more brand recognition than Swamp Thing. It can afford a high budget because of DVD sales.
Swamp Thing likely wouldn't sell half as much in DVD as Discovery.
"There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.
Anytime the DC Universe farts cue the AT&T reevaluating DC Universe click bait.
More reading...
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man (1978) #4
This issue was packed.
It opened with a scene of seal hunters that debunks the idea that '70s comics were just for kids, we meet Doreen's sister Summer, a mob boss's name is dropped which may be setting up a future Kingpin-type foe, Ronnie's dad is hiding a secret, and we get a new Firestorm Rogue.
Oh, and in an ingenious twist, Professor Stein hires a private investigator to follow him and find out what he's up to during these blackouts.
I felt the scene with the investigator had a D.O.A. feel to it ('I want to report a murder... Mine!')
Something else I noticed this issue, that neither Ronnie nor Stein noticed as of yet... that Firestorm has been materializing where Stein was at but this time he formed where Ronnie was.
I really expected them to form and then Firestorm would fly through the elevator and walls, still leaving the elevator empty when it opened.
It's a shame this series was one of the titles to get the axe with the implosion but at the time Firestorm was still an unknown character.
"There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.
No offence but I find that questionable. From what I know Star Trek: Discovery is almost universally reviled and it's DVD sales are really low. Swamp Thing would sell far more DVDs because Swamp Thing is actually good and Star Trek: Discovery is... not.
Anyway, is there any chance, any at all, of Swamp Thing becoming available on Netflix? Surely DC know they have fans outside of America?
https://comicbook.com/dc/2019/06/08/...rumors-demise/
For what it's worth, DC Universe seems to believe they're continuing on.
Yeah, I read Applejack's post in the Watchtower.
I'm not one of the people carrying 'End is Nigh' signs, and I've been telling others that there is room for DC Universe even with WarnerMedia's upcoming service.
But I think what everyone really wants to hear is something new, that hasn't already been announced.
If they either announce Season 2 of Doom Patrol or mention something new for 2020, that would give people something to use to quiet the doomsayers.
"There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.
"There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.
I think it helps that the WarnerMedia service seems to be aiming for all-ages, family-friendly, content while DCU hasn't really emphasized that, especially when it comes to their original content.
Like, Titans, Doom Patrol, or the DC Animated Features definitely wouldn't fit there, so I think there's a purpose still being served by DCU (on-top of the comics component).
WarnerMedia would just (ideally) be the home to stuff more like the older DCAU or Legion of Superheroes cartoons since stuff like that doesn't have a home on Cartoon Network or cable anymore.