Batgirl won’t be gracing her appearance on silver screen nor getting online treatment on HBO Max, but a very selected group of people will have a chance to see the film during secret screenings on the Warner Bros. lot this week, the sources confirmed in The Hollywood Reporter. It said to be for people who worked on the movie, both cast and crew, as well as representatives and executives.
On Aug. 2, The film became one of the most talked-about DC films in recent years when news broke out that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had cancelled the $90 million DC film in order to take a tax write-down. (The CEO of the newly merged company is seeking $3 billion in cost savings.)
Leslie Grace’s starring film was one of the modest budgeted DC projects that suited for HBO Max as part of former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar’s push to elevate their service, but Zaslav, who took the reins of the combined company in April, his strategy is to push Warners back to a focus on theatrical first, besides his decision, killing Batgirl stemmed from various reasons: being upset with the early director’s cut and trying to maintain platinum prestige with the DC brand and so on.
Batgirl was deep in postproduction when Warners canceled the project but was still far from complete, with visual effects and score.
So the question is why now? Considering, the film has no VFX, no music soundtrack, some people are wondering, “What is there to watch? One source described them as “funeral screenings,” as it is likely the footage will be stored forever and never shown to the public.
More importantly, this decision continues to affect throughout the creative and artists community. Is it worth for reps to commit their clients to Warner Bros movies if they run the risk of getting killed during post?
This decision could face an uphill battle for the motion picture studio.
