Batgirl directors 'blocked from accessing footage' of Glasgow-shot film by Warner Bros Discovery

The directors of Batgirl have claimed that Warner Bros Discovery blocked them from accessing footage after the film was scrapped recently.

It was announced earlier this month that the movie, which was filmed entirely in Glasgow, had been shelved following poor test screening results.

However, directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have refuted this claim in a new interview with Skript, calling it a “strategic change” instead.

El Arbi said: “The guys from Warner Bros told us it was not a talent problem from our part or the actress, or even the quality of the movie.

“They told us it was a strategic change. There was new management, and they wanted to save some money.”

Filming of the blockbuster, which was set for a 2022 release on the HBO Max streaming service, saw parts of Glasgow closed off and transformed into Gotham City for the multi-million pound production.

The duo also claimed that Warner Bros Discovery blocked their access to the production servers and footage filmed for the movie as they discussed the possibility of releasing it themselves.

Fallah said: “We have nothing.

“Adil called me and said, ‘shoot everything on your phone’. I went on the server, and everything was blocked.”

El Arbi added: “We were like, ‘f****** s***! All the scenes with Batman in them! S***!’.”

The pair also said that even if they could get their hands on the footage, it “cannot be released in its current state”.

“Before it’s released one day, there would be a lot of work still to do,” said El Arbi.

“There’s no VFX, we still had to shoot some scenes … if [Warner Bros] wanted us to release the Batgirl movie they would need to give us the means to do it, to finish it properly with our vision.”

The film, which was set to star Michael Keaton, Brendan Fraser, JK Simmons and Leslie Grace, reportedly cost an estimated £57.6m.

Its cancellation came as Warner Bros bosses said they were considering a restructure of the DC superhero franchise and the implementation of a ten-year plan, to emulate the success of their competitors Marvel.

Chief executive David Zaslav said the company would focus on the “quality” of upcoming blockbusters in order to “protect the DC brand”.