Batgirl Will Be Screened By Warner Bros. After All, But None Of Us Get To See It
After spending some time in development limbo, a solo film centered on famed DC Comics character Barbara Gordon — aka Batgirl — picked up steam under the Warner Bros. banner. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah came on as directors, and the cast quickly filled out and became rather impressive. Leslie Grace would play the lead heroine, accompanied by J.K. Simmons as Gotham City Police Department commissioner Jim Gordon, Brendan Fraser as the villainous Firefly, Michael Keaton as Batman, and more. Slated to premiere on HBO Max, it looked like nothing could stop "Batgirl" from coming to fruition.
And then it all fell apart.
In August of 2022, the minds at the newly-established Warner Bros. Discovery elected to scrap "Batgirl" entirely — much to the confusion of fans and those involved alike. According to Variety, the push within the company to cease releasing blockbusters on HBO Max, coupled with the film's perceived lack of big-screen appeal, led to its downfall. Not to mention, its already bloated budget made giving up on it a no-brainer for those behind the choice to toss it in the bin. Worse yet, when the "Batgirl" directors attempted to access footage of their canceled film, the studio made it impossible to do so.
As it turns out, "Batgirl" isn't entirely lost, and those who worked on it will get the chance to see it before it's locked away for good.
Those who worked on Batgirl will get to attend 'funeral screenings'
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Batgirl" is getting its own "funeral screenings" on the Warner Bros. lot. The showings will be held this week for the cast and crew in addition to executives and representatives, sadly not for the general public. Once these screenings have concluded, "Batgirl" will end up vaulted in either a physical or digital format, seemingly snuffing out even the slightest glimmer of hope that the DC project could release down the road. Then again, it's not entirely out of the question.
THR notes that even if "Batgirl" ends up vaulted and used as a means for Warner Bros. Discovery to take a tax write-down on it, there's a slim chance it could still reach the public. Theoretically, down the road, if Warner Bros. Discovery wanted to release the film, it could do so as long as it repaid what it gained on the tax write-down. Of course, this is a highly unlikely scenario, so all anyone can do is hope that "Batgirl" at least sticks around and isn't destroyed once these "funeral screenings" conclude.
The tragic tale of "Batgirl" appears to come to an end here, with all of those who worked so hard on it getting to see their vision somewhat come to life. It's just too bad the whole world won't get to see what their film had in store.