Even though it happened months ago, people still can’t get enough of the story regarding Warner Bros. Discovery’s shelving of “Batgirl” while the film was deep into post-production. Sure, films have been canceled and shelved before. But the idea of a nearly-$100 million superhero film getting locked away in a vault with so much fanfare is just so ridiculous to imagine. Yet, it is the reality that filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are living through right now. And surprisingly, the duo isn’t soured on the idea of working with WBD again in the future.
Speaking to THR, while at the Red Sea Film Festival, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah talked about their lives months after the news that “Batgirl” was shelved. It’s clear the filmmaking duo is still shocked by the news, especially given their enthusiasm for the superhero film genre and the legacy that comes with working in the world of Batman.
“You’ve got to imagine, we’re two fanboys and for one second we were in the ‘Batman’ universe, following in the footsteps of Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan, and then it was just like we woke up and it was a dream!” explained El Arbi.
He added, “This is something that never happened before, so we’ve kind of become part of movie history without even trying!”
It would be perfectly reasonable for El Arbi and Fallah to have second thoughts about working with Warner Bros. Discovery in the future. Who would want to work for a studio that recently, basically, said that your film wasn’t good enough to be released and no one in the world will ever see it? Well, the filmmakers aren’t here to hold a grudge, as long as WBD would make one promise in the future.
“Yeah, we’d still work with them,” said Fallah. “But on the condition that the movie comes out. I mean, if Warner says, ‘Do you want to do the next Batman or Superman?’ Of course, we’ll say yes. Just so long as the movie comes out!”
Even if WBD doesn’t come calling, it appears El Arbi and Fallah have plenty of positive momentum in their career right now. 2022 has seen the release of their first Marvel work with the TV series, “Ms. Marvel.” In addition, the duo just screened their new film, “Rebel,” at the aforementioned Red Sea Film Festival. We’ll just have to wait and see if there are more superhero projects in their future.