HBO cancels already finished ‘Batgirl’ by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah: ‘We are shocked’

Warner Bros had already invested no less than 88 million euros Batgirl stopped, and yet it decides not to release the finished film. ‘We still can’t believe it’, react the Belgian directors of the film, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

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After the success of the third Bad Boysfilm, which had grossed 418 million euros in 2020, film studio Warner Bros decided to take the helm of a new Batgirlfilm to directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. The recordings, with Leslie Grace (In the heights) in the role of the title character, were completed several months ago, and the film was now in post-production.

But still will Batgirl nowhere to be seen: not in theaters, and not on Warner’s streaming platform HBO Max. American trade journals such as Variety in Deadline. The film, which was originally budgeted at 73 million but whose production costs rose to 88 million euros due to the pandemic, among other things, is being written off.

‘Sad’

“We are saddened and shocked by this news, respond El Arbi and Fallah on Instagram. “As directors, it is vital to us that our work is shown to the general public, and even though the film was far from finished, we wish fans around the world had had the opportunity to see and see the finished film for themselves. embrace.’

The directors thank everyone who contributed to the film, including well-known actors such as Michael Keaton, JK Simmons and Brendan Fraser, and Batgirl Leslie Grace herself. “It was a privilege to be part of the Batman franchise, even if only for a short time. Batgirl for life‘ Fallah and El Arbi conclude.

Accountancy

According to Variety the decision has to do with a changed strategy at the top of Warner Bros Discovery. That studio had the light ahead Batgirl greened under former director Jason Kilar. That was part of a plan to mainly produce films for the streaming service HBO Max. In that respect, the controversial choice to immediately release all films scheduled for 2021 on that streaming service – afterwards it turned out that films such as Top Gun: Maverickwho waited for the halls to reopen, scored better as a result.

After the merger between Warner Bros and Discovery, David Zaslav took the helm, and he abandoned Kilar’s strategy: Warner wants to refocus on major theatrical releases. As a result, Batgirl, which was meant for HBO Max, to be in a sort of purgatory. With its budget of 88 million euros (compared to the 196 million of The Flashanother superhero film from the same studio), the film was too small for a theatrical release (which would cost another $29-49 million in marketing alone) and not big enough to make a difference in the competitive streaming world.

The decision to scrap a film entirely is exceptional in Hollywood, but it is the result of an exceptional context. By describing it as the result of a post-merger strategy change, Warner would Batgirl can be written off from an accounting point of view. The option to opt for this tax operation will expire in mid-August. The fact that the company should not include the loss in its accounts is a good thing, because the studio is still trying to get rid of 2.95 billion euros in debt.

no mistrust

In a press release, Warner also emphasizes the ‘strategic shift’ within the company. The studio also expresses its gratitude to the filmmakers and hopes to work with them in the future. Also the sources of Variety in Deadline report that the choice to Batgirl not a vote of no confidence in directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, or lead actress Leslie Grace.

Batgirl isn’t the only film on the hood block. Also Scoob!: Holiday Haunt was canceled by the studio. The production costs of that animation film would be around 39 million euros.

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