TheQuartering [8/3/2022]
The day after the David Zaslav-run Warner Bros Discovery completely shelved the HBO Max DC movie Batgirl which is in post production, the pic’s directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have responded with a statement.
“We are saddened and shocked by the news. We still can’t believe it. As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves,” said the duo in an Instagram post which you can read below.
Both directors Deadline were in Morocco for El Arbi’s wedding when they first learned about Batgirl‘s bad news.
“Our amazing cast and crew did a tremendous job and worked so hard to bring Batgirl to life. We are forever grateful to have been part of that team. It was a dream to work with such fantastic actors like Michael Keaton, J.K. Simmons, Brendan Fraser, Jacob Scipio, Corey Johnson, Rebecca Front and especially the great Leslie Grace, who portrayed Batgirl with so much passion, dedication and humanity,” said the filmmakers in their statement.
They signed off on the post saying, “Batgirl for Life.”
As Deadline told you yesterday, Warner Bros Discovery took advantage of a “purchase accounting” maneuver available to the conglom because the company changed hands. That opportunity expires in mid-August, and allows WBD to not have to carry the losses on its books at a time when the studio is trying to find $3 billion in cost saving synergies; this particular film costing around $70M. It’s interesting that the scrapping of Batgirl gets announced before Warner Bros Discovery’s big quarterly earnings call tomorrow.