‘Batgirl’ Finds a Pair of Directors

Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah had the highest grossing film at the 2020 box office (a bit of an asterisk next to that one, but Bad Boys for Life still brought in over $200 million domestic and another $220 million internationally), and their stars are clearly on the rise. 

Currently in production on a family drama titled Rebel, the duo are already set as co-showrunners for the Disney+ MCU series Ms. Marvel, where the duo directed the premiere and finale episodes, and now they’ve got another superhero project in sight. 

THR has reported that El Arbi and Fallah have locked in a deal to direct a feature adaptation of Batgirl for Warner Bros. and DC, centering the story on James Gordon’s daughter Barbara Gordon. WB routine writer Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey, The Flash) wrote the script for the film which interestingly is going to be made for HBO Max. 

This is the second time that El Arbi and Fallah are coming in to hopefully make good on a movie that has stalled in development. They were the pair who finally managed to make a third Bad Boys film after years stuck in development hell. Similarly, Batgirl is a property that has been trying to get off the ground for many years, with Joss Whedon most recently attached before he had to bail because he couldn’t crack the story (his words). 

Warner Bros. clearly has faith in the duo, with producer Kristin Burr stating, “With Batgirl, we hope to take the audience on a fun ride and see a different side of Gotham. Christina’s script is crackling with spirit. Adil and Bilall have an excited and joyous energy, which is infectious, making them the perfect filmmakers for this Batproject. And I’m just psyched I get to be part of the DC universe, which is super cool.”