Russo Brothers Speak Out on Batgirl Movie Being "Murdered" by Warner Bros. Discovery

DC fans are still reeling over the decision by Warner Bros. Discovery to scrap the studio's Batgirl film entirely, with seminal Marvel Studios filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo reflecting on that decision, addressing the decision as being "corporate sociopathy." Sadly, the Russo brothers are only the latest to show their support for the Leslie Grace-starring film, with virtually everyone involved in the project or involved in any corner of the movie-making industry supporting the artistic efforts of the film, while it has only been executives at Warner Bros. Discovery who have attempted to justify the financial motivation of Batgirl's cancellation.

"It's rare that I can think of something that high profile, that expensive, that was murdered in such a way," Joe Russo shared with The Hollywood Reporter about the cancellation of Batgirl. "It's sad, but we're at a time in the business where corporate sociopathy is going to rear its head because people are scared."

News of the film's cancellation came as a shock to fans for a number of reasons, which include the support from the fandom for Batgirl to earn a live-action feature film, the fact that filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah had entered the post-production phase following the completion of a majority of principal photography, and the confirmation that Michael Keaton was reprising his role of Batman for the project.

Reports claim that footage from the film will be locked away in some capacity, potentially even being definitively destroyed. The outlook doesn't seem good for the project, becoming just another casualty of a studio prioritizing finances over creative decisions, though the recent announcement that James Gunn and Peter Safran would oversee the DC Studios slate of films has ignited some hope that Batgirl could somehow be salvaged.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav revealed the cancellation back in August.

"We've looked hard at the direct-to-streaming business," Zaslav explained in a call to investors. "We've seen, luckily, by having access now to all the data, how direct-to-streaming movies perform, and our conclusion is that expensive, direct-to-streaming movies, in terms of how people are consuming them on the platform, how often people go there or buy it, or buy a service for it, and how it gets nourished over time. It's no comparison to what happens when you launch a film in the theaters. So this idea of expensive films going directly to streaming, we cannot find an economic case for it. We can't find an economic value for it. And so we're making a strategic shift, as part of that."

Stay tuned for updates on the possible future of Batgirl.

What do you think about the future of the film? Let us know in the comments!