DC Studios' New Heads Say the Canceled Batgirl Film 'Was Not Releasable'

During the press event where DC Studios rolled out its planned projects for the future of the DC Universe, new co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran outlined what to expect—and also what not to expect. The latter includes any chance of seeing Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s cancelled Batgirl movie.

“Batgirl’s a character that inevitably we will include in our story,” Variety quoted Peter Safran as saying at the presentation. “On the Batgirl front, it’s not about late in the process of the film getting canceled. I saw the movie, and there are a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera on that film. But that film was not releasable, and it happens sometimes. That film was not releasable. I actually think that [president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery David] Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it because it would have hurt DC. It would have hurt those people involved.”

The film was pulled during the formation of Warner Bros. Discovery, much to the disappointment of fans looking to support the Leslie Grace-led film. Safran clarified that he and Gunn are still open to working with the talent behind the film. “I think that they really stood up to support DC. The characters, the story, the quality of all of that. I spoke to Adil [El Arbi] and Bilall [Fallah]—the directors—last week, we were chatting. We’d love to be in business with all those folks. Christina Hodson wrote it. Some people are already back in business with us. As I said, a lot of talented people were involved, but the film just was not releasable. It would not have been able to compete in the theatrical marketplace; it was built for the small screen. So, again, I think it was not an easy decision, but they made the right decision by shelving it.”

So that’s it on the Batgirl front. It’s dead dead.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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