As the fallout from the Batgirl cancelation continues, that now includes the score for the film.
Speaking with Discussing Film, composer Natalie Holt discussed how far along she was on composing the music for Batgirl when she got the news.
“I had written about an hour and a half of music,” said Holt. “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.”
She went on to add, “I think it’s a massive shame. It’s been a pleasure to work with the people involved, but that’s all I can say.”
Since the posting of the original information, it has been revealed to have been done for a tax write-off. According to sources speaking with the outlet, it was deemed too expensive to expand the scope of the film to make it ready for a wide theater release – it was originally envisioned as being made directly for HBO Max – and to also spend $30 to $50 million to market it domestically. By the time was all said and done, the cost would have doubled to closer to $180 million for a global rollout when combined with the budget.
Not releasing the film in any fashion will allow the studio to take a tax write-down by counting the budget of the film as a total loss. In addition to Batgirl, the same fate was dealt to the animated Scoob! sequel, Scoob! Holiday Haunt.
Sources within Warner Bros. Discovery or saying that the cancellation of Batgirl was not reflective of the quality of the film, but merely a financial decision. The studio hopes to work with the directors again, as well as Grace.
