After receiving news that Warner Bros. Discovery has canceled their film late in production, Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah found they had already lost complete access to the movie they’d worked on for so long. According to a new interview, Fallah attempted to record even a bit of the footage on their smartphone after being told that HBO Max would not be moving forward with the film. However, the directors discovered the servers containing the work they had done was already locked away — which means while Batgirl hasn’t been destroyed, all the people who worked on the movie have absolutely nothing to show for it.
Via SKRIPT: “Asked if they still had some footage of the film, Arbi and Fallah said no and that the studio had blocked their access to the production’s servers. ‘No, we have nothing! Adil called me and said, “go ahead shoot some things on your mobile phone.” I went on the server and everything was blocked,’ said Fallah.
El Arbi also said that they were told about the decision Batgirl‘s cancellation was done because of a shifting management strategy and was not because of the talent or the progress the movie was making. The directors admit that the movie still needed a lot of work — even if they had gotten the footage off the servers, there’s no way they would have been able to create a film in line with their original vision from what they’ve finished so far (not that Warner Bros. Discovery would ever allow such a release).
Fallah said that he couldn’t believe it was happening, and with good reason: This kind of cancellation is unprecedented. At $US90 ($125) million already spent on the film, canceling the remaining production to save some bucks on a small tax credit still feels amazingly short-sighted. Both directors still hope that one day the film will be finished and released… we just hope they get to see their work again.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TVand everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the US, but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.