It’s been two weeks since Warner Bros. announced it would not be releasing “Batgirl” in theaters or on HBO Max, instead opting to take a tax write-off on the $90 million comic book tentpole. In a new interview with Discussing Film, composer Natalie Holt called the studio’s decision to ax the film “a massive shame.” Holt, an Emmy nominee for her work on Marvel’s “Loki,” worked for a year on the “Batgirl” score and had 90 minutes of original music written when the news hit that the film was being shelved.
“I had written about an hour and a half of music,” Holt said. “I’ve been working on it for a year. So yeah, pretty sad what’s happened to it. I was on set last Christmas, [directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah] really loved ‘Loki’ and that’s why I got picked to do the score for ‘Batgirl.’ So it’s a shame that it’s not going to be out there in the world after all that time, like having spent a year working on it. Yeah, pretty disappointing.”
“I think it’s a massive shame,” added Holt, who also scored “Obi-Wan Kenobi” this year. “It’s been a pleasure to work with the people involved, but that’s all I can say.”
“Batgirl” was set to launch on HBO Max, but the new leadership at Warner Bros. is only interested in debuting comic book tentpoles in theaters. “Batgirl” lacked the big set pieces to warrant a theatrical release, so the studio decided to scrap the film entirely.
“We are saddened and shocked by the news. We still can’t believe it,” the directors wrote in a statement about the film’s cancellation. “As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves. Maybe one day they will insha’Allah.”
“Batgirl” star Leslie Grace shared her own statement in the aftermath of the film’s axing, writing, “I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process! To every Batgirl fan – thank you for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, ‘my own damn hero!’ Batgirl for life!”