Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were met with blindsiding news in August that their dream debut into the DC Universe, Batgirl, would be cut short. It was scrapped in an attempt to mitigate costs under the new Warner Bros. Discovery merger by CEO and President David Zaslav. This jarring development rocked the film industry as the highly anticipated 90 million dollar movie had just wrapped up principal shooting and begun postproduction when the news broke.
As the co-directors prepare for the release of their upcoming feature, Rebel, the directing duo speaks out about the controversy surrounding Batgirl's untimely cancellation. According to Deadline's exclusive interview at the Red Sea International Film Festival, El Arbi states the cancellation was "unprecedented, like movie history, but in a crazy way." Fallah said the experience was "traumatic" for them both, further expressing that the pair ent through "all the emotions" when processing the unfortunate news.
Outpouring support for the completion and release of Batgirl came in full force from fans, executives, and established actors in Hollywood. Fallah told The Hollywood Reporter that James Gunn, Edgar Wright, Kevin Feige and even studio executives from Paramount and Sony reached out to them personally in support. The sustained energy behind the non-released feature speaks volumes of the appreciation that already went into making the film and viewers' eagerness for Batgirl's entry into the DCEU franchise.
“We got so much support from the whole industry from directors to screenwriters to studio people that really supported us through this really difficult time and that we felt that we were not alone, and that’s positive,” Fallah stated.
Future Warner Bros. Discovery Projects Are Not Off The Table
Although a private screening with the film's initial edits was held for executives, cast, and crew members, a completed version of this project may never come to fruition. August's secret viewing was the film's last chance of reaching an audience before Warner Bros. tabled the project, indefinitely. Money's the big determinant in why fans may never get the chance to see this project on the big screen since "a lot of work" still needed to be done to complete the film, including additional photography and visual effects. Despite having their dream feature pulled at the last minute, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are still open to directing future superhero projects for Warner Bros. Discovery.
“We’d love to work for a DC project in the future, but the one request is that the movie comes out. That’s the only request," they answered. The self-professed "fanboys" of the franchise would love the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of acclaimed DCEU directors, Christopher Nolan and Zack Synder. Their aspirations will have to remain on hold until they are tapped for future projects by the media conglomerate.
The Belgian-born Moroccan co-directors grew in prominence after their smash hit Bad Boys For Life starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in 2020. Batgirl's heart-wrenching cinematic demise only pushed the duo further into the spotlight these past few months as industry professionals and die-hard superhero fans continue their fight for the film's completion and subsequent release. The axe to the multi-million dollar superhero feature only solidified the pair's footprint in Hollywood's ever-growing "movie history," considering it's one of the most expensive cinematic products to find itself shelved with no release plan. The consistent buzz around El Arbi and Fallah has helped amass momentum ahead of their upcoming film, Rebel, a dark action thriller following two Muslim brothers who struggle with identity against the threat of ISIS radicalization.