Batgirl star Ivory Aquino posted an emotional public letter in which she pleads with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslov to revert the company’s decision to shelve the DC Extended Universe movie. Aquino published her letter on Twitter after learning about the funeral screenings being held on the Warner Bros. lot.
While Batgirl was already in post-production, Warner Bros. Discovery decided to shelve the project despite its reported $90 million cost. The movie would be the first DCEU feature to be produced directly for HBO Max, a release strategy that the company no longer supports. So, unfortunately, Warner Bros. Discovery decided to use the project as a tax write-OFF and invest their money in a 10-year plan for the DC Extended Universe focused on theatrical releases. The tragedy of the decision is that if they use Batgirl as a write-off the film’s footage can never be sold in any format afterward. And if Warner Bros. Discovery cannot profit from it, the most likely outcome is that Batgirl remains unfinished and never reaches its audience.
The unprecedented move by Warner Bros. Discovery took Hollywood by surprise, and in the past few weeks, cast and crew have spoken about their disbelief of seeing their hard work thrown away for greedy reasons. Now, it’s time for Aquino to open her heart and share her pain with fans while asking the company to revert their distasteful decision before it is too late. As Aquino says in her letter, “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.”
Aquino’s grief is understandable, as Batgirl is threatened with total oblivion. And as the star underlines, the film had a special meaning to her, as Batgirl “is a father-daughter story which hits close to home as my Dad passed a year ago, shortly before I booked this project.” However, Aquino doesn’t only appeal to the company’s empathy to make her case, as she underlines how the canceling decision might help Warner Bros. Discovery with marketing if they restore the film’s release. In her letter, Aquino says she understands Zaslov is in a challenging position while trying to cut costs. Still, the marketing budget for a Batgirl release would be lower since now “more people know about our labor of love and are eager to see the movie.”
Aquino was set to play Alysia Yeoh in Batgirl, a transgender bartender, aspiring chef, and best friend to the titular superhero. Aquino’s character was supposed to be the first transgender character to star in the DCEU, and with Batgirl’s cancelation, the whole cinematic universe becomes much less diverse. We hope Aquino’s letter doesn’t fall on deaf ears, but at this point, it seems unlikely Batgirl ever sees the light of day. You can read Aquino’s full letter below.