Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to cancel the Batgirl movie sent shockwaves throughout Hollywood, but those of you hoping to mount a #ReleaseTheSnyderCut-style campaign are likely to be disappointed.
Zack Snyder managed to make headlines on a frequent basis by sharing black and white stills from his cut of Justice League. We've since learned that the filmmaker basically absconded with his version of the DC Comics adaptation, but Batgirl helmers Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi won't have the opportunity to do the same.
In the video below, Fallah confirms that they tried to retrieve footage from the movie, only to discover it was already gone!
"No, we have nothing. Adil called and told me, 'Go ahead! Shoot everything on your phone!' I went on the server...everything was gone," he reveals. "We were [like], 'F**ing shit!' We did not [even] keep [the scenes] with Batman in [them]."
Later, the Ms. Marvel directors confirmed that work was far from finished on Batgirl, explaining that they still had additional scenes to shoot. VFX was also absent, so even if they'd wanted to, there was no way to release (or leak) a completed cut of the movie starring Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton, Brendan Fraser, and J.K. Simmons.
"The guys from Warner Bros. told us it was not a talent problem on our part or the actress [Leslie Grace], or even the quality of the movie. We were right in the middle of editing. There was a lot of work to get done, so it was not like the movie was finished! Warner Bros. told us the cancellation was a strategic change, a shifting in management so they could save some bucks."
Like it or not, Batgirl is never going to see the light of day. As part of a series of cost-cutting measures, the $90 million movie has been shelved and while there may be a future for Grace as Barbara Gordon, this origin story will never be seen. It's tremendous shame, but something fans are powerless to change.
Check out the full interview with Fallah and El Arbi below: