"We always wanted to be part of the history of cinema, but not like that, you see?"
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have already told the cancellation of Batgirl < /em>this summer in an interview, explaining in particular:“Everything disappeared. On the server, everything was blocked. There was no way to access the film!” Today they come back in more detail on this shock decision by David Zaslav, the new boss of Discovery and Warner Bros, who preferred to cancel the broadcast of this superhero blockbuster budgeted at $ 90 million rather than release it. in the cinema or on a platform, as it was planned. Thus, there is no need to finance post-production, possible reshoots, nor the promotion of Batgirl: it will never be released.
The directors still manage to keep the smile. After designing Bad Boys For Life and the first season of Miss Marvel, in Hollywood, they are now releasing Rebel, a drama about Daesh. Invited by Yann Barthès in the show Quotidien, on TMC, here is what they say about the shock of the cancellation of Batgirl. Their interview can be viewed on video here.
The boss of Warner Bros. explains the cancellation of Batgirl and justifies itself
About the large budget and the cancellation
“Actually, it was 82 million, but it It's still too much money! It was quite special, we never thought it was possible in the history of cinema. We always wanted to be part of the history of cinema, but not like that, you see? (laughs)”
When and how did they learn of the cancellation?
“- Me, it was two days after my wedding in Morocco”, replies Adil El Arbi.
“- And I was at the cemetery, I was going to see my grandparents in Tangier. I was already in a very emotional zone when I received this phone call: ' Batgirl is done'.“
“When the producer called, we were already seeing messages, people were already saying on Twitter that the movie was cancelled. We were told: 'There's new management, new bosses at Warner and they thought it was cheaper not to release the movie.' If it comes out, we'll have to do reshoots… the movie was far from over. Even releasing it on a platform would have cost more than not releasing it, because then they can recoup a big chunk of the money. The film wasn't finished, we were just at the start of editing. There was just a 'screen test'. Bad Boys for Lifehad 11 screen tests: we edit the film, we modify it, we rewatch it, we redo a few scenes… It's crazy.”
“- C' is a new regime, there is a new boss. They don't want to release movies on HBO Max anymore. David Zaslav, we've never met him. It's his decision. He should give us another job now! (laughs) When we found out, I called the editor to see if he had a copy, and I asked Bilall to film it with his smartphone.”
“- But when I went to the server, everything was blocked. We don't have the rushes, nothing at all.”
Batgirl directors backed by Kevin Feige, James Gunn and Edgar Wright
A Difficult Waking Dream
“Ç hurt my heart, especially for the team. The actors… It's as if we were in a dream, in fact. We were there making a movie in Gotham with Batgirl, Brendan Fraser as the villain, J.K. Simmons and Michael Keaton, Tim Burton's Batman! And all of a sudden, it's like we woke up and it wasn't reality. (…) It's a shame, all these actors are icons. Finally, they were all paid. So are we, until he's arrested.”
Attack Warner?
“If we want a future Hollywood is better not to. We got a lot of support. It was a shock wave in Hollywood, unheard of. There are directors like James Gunn, who made Guardians of the Galaxy, or Edgar Wright, who sent us messages of support. Many actors, directors… Before, we could be afraid that our film would only be released in streaming, on a platform. Now the directors, they're going to be afraid to make a whole movie and the movie won't come out.”
“No, it wasn't too radical. It was a normal superhero movie.”
Warner Bros. to Host 'Batgirl's Funeral': Special Screenings for Canceled Film Crew
