Batgirl Director Says They Tried to Salvage Film From HBO Max

Over the past couple of weeks, projects have been shelved left and right at Warner Bros. Discovery as new CEO David Zaslav reorganizes the business after a massive corporate merger. One of the earliest casualties of the fusion was Batgirl, the Leslie Grace-starring feature set to bring Barbara Gordon to live-action. Even after it was cancelled, reportedly all because Zaslav and company are seeking out tax write-offs, filmmakers Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi tried to salvage what they could from the HBO Max servers, even if it meant filming clips stored on a computer with their cell phones.

"No, we have nothing. Adil called and told me, 'Go ahead! Shoot everything on your phone!' I went on the server... Everything was gone. We were [like]... 'F**ing shit!'... We did not [even] keep [the scenes] with Batman in it,'" Fallah said in a recent TikTok interview translated by The Direct.

"The guys from Warner Bros. told us it was not a talent problem on our part or the actress [Leslie Grace], or even the quality of the movie," he added. "We were right in the middle of editing. There was a lot of work to get done, so it was not like the movie was finished! Warner Bros. told us the cancellation was a strategic change, a shifting in management so they could save some bucks."

While Warner Bros. has remained relatively silent regarding the recent cancellations, the studio released a statement regarding Batgirl. According to the outfit, it was shelved because of a "strategic shift."

"The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership's strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max," said a Warner Bros. spokesperson in a statement. "Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future."

Batgirl was directed by Fallah and El Arbi, with a script written by Christina Hodson. The film would've starred Grace as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl, with JK Simmons reprising his role as Commissioner James Gordon, and Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne / Batman. Also joining the cast was Brendan Fraser as Firefly, Ivory Aquino as Alysia Yeoh, and Jacob Scipio, Rebecca Front, Corey Johnson, and Ethan Kai cast in currently-unknown roles.