Why the Batgirl movie will never be released even though it’s done

Things get a little weird in Gotham City. bat girlthe upcoming DC Comics film directed by bad boys for life Duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, is reportedly no longer coming to HBO Max and will not be released in any form.

According to reports from The New York Post and The Wrap, bat girl was effectively done. Filming wrapped in March, and the project was in test screenings with audiences. This, as the reports indicate, is where the film was doomed, having tested poorly at a time when new Warner Bros. leadership is attempting to rebuild DC’s theatrical brand.

It’s not particularly common for a completed franchise film to be so completely shelved, and it’s especially strange now that streaming platforms are hungry for content. However, new Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav has big plans to overhaul the entire company’s film production, and regime changes often mean many once-safe bets are thrown out in sometimes surprising ways.

bat girl has a long and troubled history of development. First announced in 2017, the film initially had avenger Director Joss Whedon was a director before leaving in 2018. The last film had assembled a strong cast in the heights Breakout star Leslie Grace stars, Brendan Fraser as villain Firefly and Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Polygon has reached out to Warner Bros. but has received no comment at the time of publication.