The latest film from the Belgian-born Moroccan duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the much-anticipated Batgirl, will no longer see release, as Warner Bros. has decided to shelve the nearly-completed film.
The move has immediately prompted an outcry from fans across the world, mirroring the #releasethesnydercut movement of the last five years.
The $90 million film starring In the Heights-star Leslie Grace, the first Latina to play the role, and featuring the long-awaited return of Michael Keaton as Batman, was originally set for HBO Max release in the US, likely then headed to streaming in the Middle East as well with one of HBO’s traditional partners.
“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 to The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah on Batgirl
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah signed on to the film after Avengers director Joss Whedon left the project, the Arab filmmakers coming hot off one of the only hits of 2020, Bad Boys for Life, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
“#BATGIRL !!! It was such a great experience and we are thankful to the amazing crew and cast for making this movie next level !!! STAY TUNED Y’ALL !!! #alhamdulillah.” El Arbi wrote on Instagram earlier this year.
A poster for the film was released in January, with text reading: “I use their expectations against them. That will be their weakness. Not mine. Let them all underestimate me… And when their guard is down, and their pride is rising, let me kick their butts.”
Warner Bros. Discovery has been reviewing its strategy after merger, and sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the company no longer wants to make big budget films exclusively for streaming. The company has also decided to shift away from live-action family programming, cancelling the recent show The Gordita Chronicles after one season and cutting original programming from its US television stations TNT and TBS.
Speaking to me at the time of the release of Bad Boys for Life, Will Smith was hugely impressed by El Arbi and Fallah.
“When Adil and Bilall came in, that was something Jerry [Bruckheimer, the film’s producer] and I talked about early on,” Smith told me.
“The perspective shift – Belgium by way of Morocco. They were 9 or 10 years old when the first movies came out. It was such a beautiful breath of fresh air to see the franchise with different eyes. They were able to handle paying homage to the originals, but also come from a completely new, completely unique perspective. They don’t yell as much.”
“The pressure was unbelievable, we had stress from day one,” Fallah told me on the making of Bad Boys for Life.
“We’re just two punks from Belgium. We’re not the big stars like them. They made those movies. It was really a challenge, but at the same time, they chose us for a reason, and we bring something to the table,” says El Arbi.