“Bat Girl”
Secret cinema screening of the canceled blockbuster
“Batgirl”: Actress Leslie Grace would have starred as Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl.
© imago/Future Image
The canceled DC film “Batgirl” is getting some “funeral screenings” before the footage is placed under wraps.
It has been known since the beginning of August that “Batgirl” will not fly over the screens of HBO Max. A select group of insiders will still get to see the film during secret screenings on Warner Bros. premises. This reports “The Hollywood Reporter”.
As the industry magazine learned from unspecified sources, the screenings are intended for people who worked on the film – cast, crew and production. One of the informants is said to have called them “funeral screenings” that are held before the film is released into an unknown afterlife.
Stopped in the middle of post-production
On August 2, it was announced that the new CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav (62), had decided to sell the $90 million DC film for tax reasons. “Batgirl” was in post-production at the time, with the visual effects and soundtrack reportedly unfinished. Previously, there had already been a single test screening.
Leslie Grace, 27, played the lead role of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the film, which was one of several DC projects produced to bolster the streaming service. Zaslav, who took over the helm of the combined company in April, has reversed that strategy and is pushing Warners back toward theatrical focus.
While “Batgirl” drew the most attention, it wasn’t the only film to fall victim to Zaslav’s tax write-off strategy. “Scoob! Holiday Haunt,” another almost-completed film that was canceled on the same day as “Batgirl,” had its own “funeral screening” on Warner premises last week.