It’s been about four months until Warner Bros. shocked DC Comics fans by canceling their already-mostly-shot live-action Batgirl movie, starring Leslie Grace as the title character, and co-starring Brendan Fraser, J.K. Simmons, and Michael Keaton as Batman. (Can you imagine going back in time 10 years and telling someone not only will Michael Keaton appear in another movie as Batman but the studio will have so little faith in it they will shelve it indefinitely? 2022 is wild.)
The film’s directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, have since moved on with their lives and careers. They say it’s “unbelievable how much support” they got in the wake of the film’s cancellation, and generally seem at peace with the whole affair. They even say they would still work with Warner Bros. and DC Comics — “on the condition that the movie comes out” this time.
That’s what they told The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview. And while the previous regime at DC might have decided to shelve Batgirl, that doesn’t mean things can’t change now that James Gunn and Peter Safran are the new co-CEOs of DC Studios. In fact, while they haven’t met with Gunn yet, Arbi told THR that meetings with the new DC bosses “are in the books.”
Even with new guys in charge, it seems pretty unlikely that Batgirl will see the light of day. But perhaps Adil & Bilall will get another shot at something else in the DC universe. There’s certainly no end to the number of DC characters who might get movies or HBO Max shows in the years ahead.
The next DC movie, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, is scheduled to open in theaters on March 17, 2023.