Warner Bros. Reportedly Holding ‘Funeral Screenings’ For Cancelled Batgirl Film

Fans won’t be seeing Warner Bros.’ Batgirl film, but insiders at the studio will thanks to “funeral screenings” on the studio lot. THR reports that there are select screenings for insiders behind held on the Warners lot this week of the film, which was cancelled following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger despite being basically finished.

A source described the screenings as a “funeral screenings” that will be held before the film is locked away in the vault. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav decided to cancel the film, which cost $90 million, so the company could take a tax write-down on the cost.

The film was heavy into the post-production phase and was originally set for an HBO Max release. The studio will be unable to ever release the film, even in a Zack Snyder’s Justice League way, due to the tax laws that they’re using.

Ivory Aquino who was playing Alysia Yeoh in the movie, took to Twitter on Thuesday to respond to reports of the screenings and asked Zaslav to reconsider. She noted that the film was important to her as she saw it as about a father-daughter releationship and that it “hit close” to her as she lost her own father a year ago. She wrote:

Dear Mr. Zaslav,

I just read an article @THR about supposed ‘funeral screenings’ of #Batgirl and the possibility afterwards that the film footage would be destroyed.. if this is the case, as one of many who poured our hearts into the making of this movie, I ask that this measure be reconsidered.

As much as I’ve tried my best to be strong these past few weeks, I’d find myself crying, for lack of a better term, from grief, and tonight was one of those nights. As much as Batgirl has been labeled a woke film, it simply came together that way because of writing that reflects the world we live in. For me, more than anything, it is a father-daughter story which hits close to home as my Dad passed a year ago, shortly before I booked this project, and I was hoping it would resonate with other children around the world, grown and not-so-grown, who hold their fathers in the highest esteem and who could see Batgirl as a story of that special bond.

I’ve found myself not being able to talk about this ordeal with anyone. I realized that no one, apart from those involved with the film, would truly understand what we’re feeling. And talking about it with my castmates, I feel, might be akin to rubbing salt on a still-open wound. My heart goes out to @LeslieGrace and our beloved directors and entire crew & cast who spent months dedicating their all to this endeavor. Leslie checked in on me the day we found out of the shelving and only had words of comfort and support. I’ve dared not ask since if she’s spent nights holding back tears like I have because she has had to be the face of our Batgirl family and has had to put on a brave face as a way of taking care of us the way she gracefully steered our film.

Tonight I finally got to talk with a dear friend here about these intense feelings who shared with me an anecdote which helped provide inspiration for this letter to you. They said the head of a company is like one large cog atop increasingly smaller cogs underneath. One seemingly small movement by this large cog may seem relatively tiny, but for those little cogs at the bottom, they can be spinning ten-fold and the effects can be seismic.

I can only endeavor to understand how one feels when tasked with tending to the bottom line like you have. I can’t even begin to imagine what one in your position goes through having such great responsibility to attend to. I do know and ask, with something like Batgirl that’s a product of our hearts and souls, that the little cogs not simply be seen as widgets whose fates are determined by an equation to benefit the bottom line. More than widgets, we are fellow human beings and artists who, when given the chance, can outperform the equation and multiply the bottom line exponentially.

If a month ago, there wasn’t a marketing budget for Batgirl, I’d venture to say that that has been taken care of by the turn of events these past few weeks. We’ve been fortunate to have such amazing supporters since the beginning, from Glasgow where we filmed and from all over the world. Now, more people know about our labor of love and are eager to see the movie. I do hope you get to read this letter. Consider releasing Batgirl. She’s always been an underdog and has nowhere to go but up.