‘We Still Can’t Believe it’: Batgirl Directors React to David Zaslav Killing Their $90 Million Movie in Post-Production
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The directors of Batgirl, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, expressed their shock on Wednesday after Warner Bros announced that made for-HBO Max film would be shelved permanently – despite an A-list cast $90 million budget. Michael Keaton even reprised the role of Batman for the film.
“We are saddened and shocked by the news. We still can’t believe it,” the directors said in a statement on Instagram.
The film, which was reportedly fully shot and in post-production, was axed in the latest spending-cutting move by Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who also killed CNN+ back in April amid a merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc.
CNN+ launched on March 29 after a $300 million investment and a major ad campaign and was shut on April 27, two days earlier than was initially announced to close.
Deadline reports the decision is further evidence of Zaslav rejecting former CEO rejecting of Jason Kilar’s “strategy to lean heavily into building streaming subscriptions for HBO Max.”
El Arbi and Fallah, best know for directing Bad Boys for Life and episodes of Ms. Marvel, were not the only victims of Zaslav’s cuts. Scoob! Holiday Haunt?, an animated Scooby-Doo film, was also cut from HBO Max.
“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,” the statement from the directors 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, JK 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,” the directors concluded.
Variety reported that the film’s fate may have also been sealed by a tax write-off:
Warner Bros. will almost certainly take a tax write-down, seen internally as the most financially sound way to recoup the costs (at least, on an accountant’s ledger). It could justify that by chalking it up to a post-merger change of strategy. Doing so, however, would mean that Warner Bros. cannot monetize either movie — no HBO Max debut, no sale to another studio.
View this post on Instagram
