Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav's decision to shelve the HBO Max Batgirl movie when it was already so deep into post-production came as a massive surprise to everyone, including co-directors Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi.
Though the filmmakers were understandably very upset with this development after already putting so much work into the project, Arbi appears to have moved on and is now putting a more positive spin on the movie's cancellation.
"This is something that never happened before," he said during an interview with THR. "So we've kind of become part of movie history without even trying!"
The studio did hold a "secret screening" of Batgirl for cast and crew, but the directors were unable to attend. Apparently, the version that was shown wasn't actually their latest edit, but a cut "somewhere in the middle."
“We still needed additional photography, there were a lot of scenes missing and the VFX was not there,” Arbi revealed. “I don’t know if [Warner Bros.] are really gonna go for that, but we’ll see, sometimes we think it’s f*cked, but sometime it’s like.. maybe!”
Is there a chance WBD will eventually relent and allow the directors to complete the movie? It sounds like Arbi hasn't completely given up hope, and with the newly-formed DC Studios now under new management, who knows what could happen down the line?
As for Fallah, he admits that they went through a "traumatic" experience with Warner Bros., but it wouldn't put them off working with the studio again. “We’d love to work for a DC project in the future but the one request is that the movie comes out. That’s the only request.”
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.