The planned “Wonder Twins” live-action movie at HBO Max is no longer going forward, Variety has learned.
The news comes just over a month after it was announced that KJ Apa and Isabel May had been cast in the lead roles in the DC film as the titular twins. It also arrives in the wake of the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger and Discovery boss David Zaslav’s pledge to cut approximately $3 billion in costs at the newly merged company. “Wonder Twins” reportedly carried a budget of $75 million.
To that end, Variety exclusively reported that Discovery is exploring a significant overhaul of the DC Entertainment operations, while also exclusively reporting that the WarnerMedia-owned cable networks TBS and TNT will no longer be developing scripted programming.
“Wonder Twins” was first reported as in the works in February of this year. Warner Bros had hired Adam Sztykiel, who worked on the upcoming “Black Adam,” starring Dwayne Johnson, to write and direct “Wonder Twins.” Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey were to produce the project. Production was supposed to begin this summer in Atlanta.
“Wonder Twins” follows a pair of alien siblings named Zan and Jayna who hail from the planet Exxor, and have a pet space monkey named Gleek.
First seen in Hanna-Barbera’s 1977 animated TV series “All-New Super Friends Hour,” Jayna has the ability to shape-shift into animals, while Zan can shape-shift into water constructs. The super-siblings’ powers are activated by touching rings as they use their catchphrase, “Wonder Twin power, activate!” Following the animated series, the Wonder Twins appeared in DC comics and were later introduced into the main universe, since appearing on episodes of “Teen Titans Go!,” “Smallville” and “The Flash.”
That Hashtag Show first reported the film was scrapped. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.