‘Batgirl’ Fans Rally for Filmmakers After ‘Bad Boys 4’ Trailer Drops: ‘No Way It Could Have Been Unreleasable’

Stephanie Kaloi
·3 min read
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“Bad Boys 4” dropped its highly anticipated trailer on Tuesday, and fans could not be more excited by the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence reteam led by directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

But the project, titled “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” looked so sleek and fun that the trailer also raised questions about just how “bad” the filmmaking duo’s “Batgirl,” which was scrapped by Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022, was.

As film critic Matthew Essary put it: “I’m more convinced than ever that there is no way the directors’ ‘Batgirl’ film could have been unreleasable. These guys got the sauce.”

Essary was far from alone in his enthusiasm for the canceled film. One fan replied to him and said, “Gentle reminder that the test screenings for ‘Batgirl’ got a 60% approval rating with no score and no finished VFX shots. If 60% approved of your unfinished movie especially without music, then you made a damn good movie.”

Writer Richard Newby put it simply, “I will never believe Batgirl was a bad movie. I don’t care who says it was.”

Eric Goldman, host of the “We Enjoy” podcast, chimed in, adding, “Seems like it would be fun to see a Batgirl movie from these directors.”

Stylist @FvshionsWarrior pointed out that the studio, led by an at-the-time newly instated David Zaslav, got a tax write-off for the project: “This looks so good! Also the directors shot a Batgirl movie for DC Comics and Warner Bros. that was cut just before filming wrapped and listed as a tax write-off. Another reason [why] DC/WB can never get a solid universe going.”

In August 2022, a Warner Bros. insider told TheWrap that despite protestations from the studio that indicated otherwise, a big reason “Batgirl” was shelved was that executives hoped to benefit from a tax break if the movie never came to light.

A studio spokesperson said in a statement, “The decision to not release ‘Batgirl’ reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max. Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance.”

“We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of ‘Batgirl’ and ‘Scoob! Holiday Haunt’ [which was also canceled] and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future.”

Studio insiders also insisted that a test screening of the film was less than successful and Warner Bros. decided it just wasn’t worth the effort to finish the movie.

The post ‘Batgirl’ Fans Rally for Filmmakers After ‘Bad Boys 4’ Trailer Drops: ‘No Way It Could Have Been Unreleasable’ appeared first on TheWrap.