Following recent comments made in a number of interviews, Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have released an emotional video statement on Instagram addressing the movie's cancellation.
Revealing where they were upon being told of Warner Bros. Discovery's plans to scrap their DC Comics adaptation, El Arbi admits he wasn't aware such a decision "was a possibility." Both filmmakers acted fast to try and retrieve footage they had shot (even just to have some mementoes of their time working on the project), but found that it was no longer possible.
Fallah says, "I went on the server, and everything was blocked," while El Arbi adds, "To see that the movie was gone and that we didn't have any access to the footage or weren't able to see it for ourselves again. That was pretty harsh."
The studio was clearly looking to avoid another #ReleaseTheSnyderCut scenario. Zack Snyder allegedly stole his cut of Justice League and proceeded to release screenshots online to fuel the movement. However, in this instance, the Batgirl directors acknowledge that their film wasn't close to being ready as there was no VFX and reshoots needed to take place.
Sharing their gratitude with the cast and crew, the filmmakers went on to say that, if fans want to support them, they can do so by watching their upcoming movie Rebel. As El Arbi notes, we can then "imagine what Batgirl could have been."
Batgirl's cancellation feels like an injustice, and with rumours swirling that the movie could be forever deleted, we're sure this experience is one many directors will take note of when considering working with Warner Bros. (a studio that has just delayed many of its 2022 titles because it can't afford to promote them).
Watch El Arbi and Fallah's full statement on Batgirl's cancellation below:
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