The directors of the scrapped Batgirl movie say they are shocked by the news their work won’t make it to screens.
Key points:
- Leslie Grace says seven months of “hard work” went into filming
- Warner Brothers opted to shelve the $90m movie, which was planned for subscription service HBO Max
- The decision has sent shock waves through the industry with directors and cast taking to social media to express their disappointment
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah responded to the axing alongside star Leslie Grace who described the seven months of “hard work” that went into filming.
Warner Brothers opted to shelve the $90-million movie planned for subscription service HBO Max as the reorganized studio revamps its approach to streaming and DC Comic films.
The decision has sent shock waves through the industry with the directors and cast taking to social media to express their disappointment.
“We are saddened and shocked by the news. We still can’t believe it,” El Arbi and Fallah said in a statement posted online.
“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.
“Maybe one day they will.”
The duo, best known for Bad Boys for Life and episodes of Ms Marvel, thanked their “amazing cast and crew” including Grace, who said they portrayed Batgirl with passion, dedication and humanity.
Grace, who previously starred in In the Heights, posted to social media a “thank you” to every Batgirl fan for their belief and allowing her to become her “own damn hero.”
“On the heels of the recent news about our movie Batgirl, I am proud of the love, hard work and intention all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film over seven months in Scotland,” she said.
“I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process.”
The film’s production wrapped up in April but instead of making it to a streaming debut or cinemas, Warner Brothers decided to completely write off the film which was given the green light before the company’s merger with Discovery Inc.
Warner Brothers Discovery on Thursday reported its second-quarter 2022 earnings during a meeting in which a Deutsche Bank analyst asked CEO David Zaslav about the decision to kill the movie.
“This idea of expensive films going direct to screening, we can’t find an economic case for it,” Zaslav said.
“We can’t find an economic value for it so we’re making a strategic shift.”
Zaslav added Warner Brothers Discovery wasn’t going to put a movie out unless the company believed in it.
“We’re not going to release any film before it’s ready,” he said.
“We’re not going to release a film to make a quarter.”
An early cut of Batgirl had recently undergone one test screening.
While its scores weren’t good, poor test results aren’t rare for Warner Brothers.
The movie wasn’t as pricey as many superhero films, which typically cost $150-200 million to make, but it was a bigger budget movie for an HBO Max title.
ABC/AP
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