Suicide Squad video game loses $200 million after Warner Bros. Discovery hires DEI consulting group

Suicide Squad video game loses $200 million after Warner Bros. Discovery hires DEI consulting group



Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. announced on an earnings call that the game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League lost the company $200 million.

On the Q1 2024 earnings call, investors heard from President and CEO David Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels.

Zaslav broke the bad news first and stated that "unfortunately," the studio's Q1 financials were overshadowed by the tough sales in the games department "following the great performance of Hogwarts Legacy last year and the disappointing release of Suicide Squad in Q1 in our gaming group."

"On the advertising front," Zaslav continued, "total company ad sales were down 7% in the quarter."

Wiedenfels then spoke to the studio losing hundreds of millions of dollars year-over-year. He, too, explained that despite a great performance of the game Hogwarts Legacy, the studio still hemorrhaged from the Suicide Squad game.

"Starting with Studios, the $400 million plus year-over-year decline in Q1 was primarily due to the very tough comp [comparable sales] we faced in games against the success of Hogwarts Legacy last year in the first quarter, in conjunction with the disappointing Suicide Squad release this past quarter, which we impaired, leading to a $200 million impact to EBITDA [Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization] during the first quarter."

The actual figures of the losses were a reported $607 million in Q1 2023 down to just $184 million in Q1 2024; a 70% decrease.

Wiedenfels' shocking revelation accounted for the company's studio segment, which includes video games, television, and theatrical and home entertainment operations, Bounding into Comics reported.

"Game companies are starting to face the music for their poor decisions. Instead of listening to gamers, they decided to destroy beloved IPs with political messaging."

The game's budget was approximately $100 million, according to the Gamer, meaning the studio must have forked out at least the same in advertising, marketing, residuals, and other expenses.

The website also noted that Sony offered full refunds for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Getting a refund from Sony was likened to trying to get blood from a stone.

Outlets have also pointed to the minuscule amount of gamers actually playing the game still. At the time of this writing, there are just 94 people playing the title, with a 24-hour peak of 145.

"Game companies are starting to face the music for their poor decisions. Instead of listening to gamers, they decided to destroy beloved IPs with political messaging while delivering less quality gameplay, more bugs, and over monetization," game designer Mark Kern told Blaze News.

"A $200M loss cannot be ignored, and studio heads at Warner will be looking very closely at what their game developers are doing and will hopefully soon realize the mess that DEI/ESG has created," he added.

Kern pointed to fan outrage over the game's killing of Batman as one of the problem points, while characters like the purplish/red-haired child version of Poison Ivy caught the ire of gamers.

The latter is reportedly a creation of Sweet Baby Inc., a company known for providing diversity consulting and injecting DEI narratives into video games. Website DEI Detected pointed out the game is listed on Sweet Baby Inc.'s website.

Diversity-driven games have been at the center of a battleground of ideas in 2024, and this spectacular failure by Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is definitely a significant loss for the side that seeks to further include racial and gender politics in games.

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Joss Whedon mocks Israeli-born Gal Gadot after she claimed he threatened her career: 'English is not her first language' — but Gadot slaps back, 'I understood perfectly'



Famed director Joss Whedon hit out at Gal Gadot's claims that he "threatened" her career during the filming of "Justice League," saying that English is not the actress's native tongue, and that she likely didn't understand his remark.

Israeli-born Gadot, however, fired back with a thundering response: "I understood perfectly."

Whedon has been at the center of lurid entertainment industry allegations over the past several years, which have seen him accused of misogyny, racism, verbal abuses, sexual harassment, and more.

How did this all play out?

In May, Gadot said Whedon threatened her career during the filming for 2017's "Justice League."

"[He] said that if I do something, he will make sure my career is miserable, and I took care of it on the spot," she said at the time.

During a later interview, Gadot addressed the exchange again and said that she was "shocked" by Whedon's remarks.

During a recent interview with New York Magazine, Whedon addressed Gadot's claims and said, "I don't threaten people. Who does that? English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech."

Whedon clarified that the exchange he believes was at the crux of problem was a joke that Gadot would have to tie him to a railroad track and cut a scene from the film over his dead body. He added that she must have misinterpreted his response to being over her dead body rather than his own.

Gadot in response to Whedon's claims said, "I understood perfectly."

Anything else?

In 2020, actor Ray Fisher — who portrayed Cyborg in "Justice League" — accused Whedon of "gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable" behavior toward the cast and crew during filming of the movie.

At the time, he did not delve into the specifics of Whedon's purported behavior.

Fisher — who is black — later went on to complain that Whedon used color correction to lighten his complexion.

In the New York Magazine interview, Whedon insisted that he'd brightened the coloring of the entire movie.

"Whedon was stunned," the report said. "He had given the whole movie a lighter look, brightening everything in postproduction, including all the faces. He said the claim that he had disliked a character’s skin tone ... was false and unjust."

Whedon suggested that Fisher wasn't much more than a troublemaker, and that the Cyborg thespian was a "bad actor" in more than just one sense and a "malevolent force."

Fisher hit back at Whedon's defense and on Monday tweeted, "Looks like Joss Whedon got to direct an endgame after all... Rather than address all of the lies and buffoonery today—I will be celebrating the legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tomorrow the work continues."

Looks like Joss Whedon got to direct an endgame after all\u2026\n\nRather than address all of the lies and buffoonery today\u2014I will be celebrating the legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\n\nTomorrow the work continues.\n\n#MLKDay \n\nA>E
— Ray Fisher (@Ray Fisher) 1642446331

By Tuesday, Fisher added, "Before I get started today, I want to thank you all for lifting and supporting EVERYONE that has been negatively affected by Joss Whedon. I was not the first to speak out about him, but I hope to be one of the last that has to."

Before I get started today, I want to thank you all for lifting and supporting EVERYONE that has been negatively affected by Joss Whedon.\n\nI was not the first to speak out about him, but I hope to be one of the last that has to.\n\nA>E
— Ray Fisher (@Ray Fisher) 1642520832

He later continued, "I’m starting a team called 'The Malevolent Force.' Who wants in? *Joss Whedon’s need not apply*"

I\u2019m starting a team called \u201cThe Malevolent Force.\u201d\n\nWho wants in?\n\n*Joss Whedon\u2019s need not apply*
— Ray Fisher (@Ray Fisher) 1642532520

‘Justice League’ Is Zack Snyder’s Trimphant Return To Big Screens And Big Heroes

In a way, the fans were Zack Snyder’s own Justice League who brought him back like Superman to vanquish Joss Whedon’s evil spawn.