Rahul Thokchom
Brendan Fraser’s highly anticipated entry into the DCU was shattered when Warner Bros. canceled Batgirl claiming that it did not fit their vision of the universe they wanted to create. Other members of the team including lead actress Leslie Grace and the directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were left disappointed. Even though they acknowledged their understanding of the reason behind its cancellation, their heartbreak and frustration after such hard work put into the film were evident. They addressed the cancellation without creating any drama and have moved on since.
As James Gunn is about to start implementing his vision of his DCU starting with Superman: Legacy in 2025, fans are clamoring for the directors to be given a second chance in helming a DC project, if not Batgirl. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have now commented on their hopes and desires to work on a DC project in the future under Gunn.
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah Are Willing to Work For Warner Bros Again
Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were left heartbroken when they heard about the cancellation of their passion project Batgirl, which would have starred Leslie Grace in the titular role along with Brendan Fraser, Michael Keaton, and J.K Simmons. It was a hard pill to swallow for both and they have addressed how proud they are of the project while accepting the sad truth.
When recently asked about if they were willing to work with Warner Bros again, they told The Hollywood Reporter,
“Yeah, we’d still work with them. But on the condition that the movie comes out. I mean, if Warner says, ‘Do you want to do the next Batman or Superman?’ of course we’ll say yes. Just so long as the movie comes out!”
The comments made by the directors are just a basic demand of any filmmaker. They just want their films to be put out to be witnessed by the public and be appreciated for their efforts. It remains to be seen whether James Gunn hires them to helm a special DC project under him and give them a second chance to be able to show their skill set as directors.
Brendan Fraser called Batgirl Cancellation a Tragic Loss
As news about Batgirl‘s cancellation spread among fans including the cast, everyone expressed their disappointment in the studio and their failure to realize its potential. While promoting The Whale, Brendan Fraser who was supposed to play Firefly in the film, expressed his sadness and the tragedy behind the cancellation. He told Variety,
“It’s tragic. It doesn’t engender trust among filmmakers and the studio. Leslie Grace was fantastic. She’s a dynamo, just a spot-on performer. Everything that we shot was real and exciting and just the antithesis of doing a straightforward digital all green screen thing. They ran firetrucks around downtown Glasgow at 3 in the morning and they had flamethrowers. It was a big-budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials. Everything that Adil and Bilall shot felt real and exciting”
One expects such disappointing studio interferences to not happen in the future. It can tarnish and destroy a filmmaker’s hopes and desires and also lead the studio to have a bad reputation. Even though the studio has its own reasons in this case, there should be fair compensation and discussions with the filmmakers involved in the project before taking such a drastic step.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety
