After the Warner Bros Discovery movie was canceled by David Zaslav, the HBO Max DC movie was rescinded.Batgirlwhich is in post production, the pic’s directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have responded with a statement.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,”In an Instagram post, the duo said it. You can find it below.
Both directors Deadline heard were in Morocco for El Arbi’s wedding when they first learned aboutBatgirl‘s bad news.
This movie caused a lot of upset for all involved.
“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,”According to the statement of the filmmakers,
They signed off the post, saying: “Batgirl for Life.”
Deadline reports that Warner Bros Discovery made use of the opportunity to acquire a “purchase accounting”Because the company was sold, the conglom had the ability to maneuver. WBD has the opportunity to expire in mid-August. This allows WBD not to have the losses on their books at a moment when they are trying to find cost savings synergies of $3 billion. This particular film was approximately $70M. Furthermore, making movies directly for HBO Max is just not part of Zaslav’s agenda; BatgirlThe Jason Kilar WarnerMedia regime was approved. It is shocking that the town saw a notable movie with a branded name so late in post production.
Warners also tossed for other reasonsBatgirlThe film could cause disruption to the DC multiverse continuum, which is being set up inFlashDue to be in theatres July 23, 2023.Batgirlwas to be dropped from the service beforeFlash.We heard the first round.Batgirlwasn’t that bad. However, both internal WB and non-WB sources (who are part of a testing group) have confirmed that the results were not bad. Flash,The truth is, it’s amazing, despite the Ezra Miller tabloid headlines. Maintaining and restoring the gloss of the DC brand for Zaslav is a priority as he’s on the look for a new czar to lead the comics division across film, TV and all ancillaries.
It was a huge casting callBatgirlwith Isabella Merced, Zoey Deutch , Leslie Grace and Haley Lu Richardson in the mix as Deadline first told you. Grace won the role, and has been a huge champion on social media. Optically it doesn’t look good for Warner Bros Discovery to kill a film with a Latina lead star at a time when the industry is in great need of diverse content. Below is her tweet.
Warners issued a statement last night trying to clean up the mess of cutting a Latina-led movie. “The decision to not release Batgirlreflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max. Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers ofBatgirlandScoob! Holiday Hauntand their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future.”
“I use their expectations against them. This will be their weakness. Not mine. Let them all underestimate me…
And when their guard is down, and their pride is rising, let me kick their butts.”
– Batgirl, Year One
🦇 pic.twitter.com/gbIA5EbcUK— Leslie Grace (@lesliegrace) January 15, 2022