Most superhero film fans are confused, angry, and saddened by yesterday’s news that Warner Bros. Discovery has permanently canceled the release of “Batgirl,” a blockbuster film that was already shot and in the process of being finished. But the confusion, anger, and sadness felt by fans is nothing compared to the emotion felt by the filmmakers and cast involved in the superhero film, including directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.
In a new post on social media, the directing duo behind “Batgirl” opened up about the decision by WBD to cancel the film. The filmmakers mince no words and are obviously surprised by the announcement, as they had planned on continuing work on the film. Alas, they won’t ever get to finish their latest feature.
“We are saddened and shocked by the news. We still can’t believe it,” the statement stated. “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 insha’Allah.”
It continued, “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. In any case, as huge fans of Batman since we were little kids, it was a privilege and an honor to have been a part of the DCEU, even if it was for a brief moment. Batgirl For Life.”
Adding insult to injury, if you look at Adil El Arbi’s Instagram feed, you’ll notice that two days ago, just hours before the news of “Batgirl” was announced, he celebrated his wedding. Not the best wedding present, huh? It’s hard not to feel bad for these two guys, as they seemed to be really excited about directing the film and worked really hard to bring it to life. Now, their hard work will never be seen.
It’s unclear what the full fallout from what Warner Bros. Discovery is doing will be. Most reports say that the studio isn’t going to cancel other films. However, the idea of a $90 million blockbuster getting shelved permanently seemed like a completely ludicrous idea before yesterday, so who knows?
It’s probably a good idea to keep an eye on this week’s investors’ call where WBD will likely share some more information about the studio’s overall plan moving forward.