What began as a seemingly sketchy report nobody really believed at the time became a reality last night when the trades weighed in and confirmed that Warner Bros. Discovery had indeed decided not to release the Batgirl movie on HBO Max or in theaters.
Since the project was already in the late stages or post-production and very close to being completed, the news came as a surprise, to say the least, and the film's directors have now responded.
Taking to their Instagram page, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah released the following joint statement.
It's hard not to feel for the filmmakers and everyone involved with the project, but they do seem optimistic that Batgirl may see the light of day at some point. How likely is that? Well, Warner Bros. could have a change of heart down the line (they did release the "Snyder Cut" of Justice League, after all), but as of right now, it looks like Barbara Gordon's feature debut is to remain on the shelf.
El Arbi and Fallah actually found out about the cancellation while they were in Morocco for the former's wedding - although the same report did mention that the studio is said to be "discussing making different deals with the directors and Miss Bala star Grace, because this was not a reflection on their talent as much as the radical strategy shift."
From what we can gather, the studio's decision ultimately came down to them capitalizing on an opportunity to shelve the movie as a tax write-off, since this was deemed to be the most financially sound way to recoup the costs compared to a HBO Max or theatrical release.
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