The problem with Warner Bros making The Dark Knight 4 is chiefly that Christopher Nolan simply isn’t interested in making another sequel. As Christian Bale revealed, “Chris had always said to me that if we were fortunate to be able to make three we would stop. ‘Let’s walk away after that.'” The former Batman actor confirmed that Nolan wanted to avoid stretching too far and becoming overindulgent with a fourth movie. That sentiment would not be shared by those who believe that both John Blake and Bruce Wayne’s stories in that universe have further to go, but Nolan himself sees is differently. The handing of the torch to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Blake wasn’t meant to be the start of a chapter anyone would get to see, it was a symbolic end. Convincing Nolan to go back on that resolve would require a story that didn’t bloat the trilogy, that didn’t compromise the ending, and that offered enough creative freedom to make reservations a redundant.

Batgirl won’t be flying onto HBO Max screens, but a select group of insiders is getting to see the film during secret screenings on the Warner Bros. lot this week, multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. They are said to be for people who worked on the movie, both cast and crew, as well as representatives and executives.

One source described them as “funeral screenings,” held before the film is sent off to an undisclosed afterlife, with footage locked away in a vault, either physical or digital.

On Aug. 2, Batgirl became the most talked-about film in the world when news broke that new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had opted to scrap the $90 million DC film in order to take a tax write-down. (The CEO of the newly merged company is seeking $3 billion in cost savings.)

Batgirl was deep in postproduction when Warners canceled the project but was still far from complete, with temp visual effects and score. The film had previously held a single test screening, the only time members of the public saw a cut.

One question swirling around Batgirl is whether it could become the next Zack Snyder’s Justice League, an abandoned film that later sees the light of day. But Batgirl is different for multiple reasons, sources note. Justice League was not a tax write-down for the studio. It was released in theaters, and there was no legal reason an alternate version could not exist down the road. If the studio were to release Batgirl, it would run afoul of rules that allow Warner Bros. Discovery to claim a tax-write down.

What’s more, filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah say they do not personally have access to any footage, though sources say it’s possible some players connected to the project may have footage on personal drives. In contrast, when Snyder left Justice League in the spring of 2017, he departed the Warners lot with a laptop containing a rough, four-hour cut of the film, one he later would complete after a years-long campaign from fans demanding to see his version of the film.

Generally, a studio will not get the full tax write-down immediately on a money-losing project, but rather will get a certain percentage right away and the rest over a period of years. That’s because it’s unclear how much a project might make (or lose) over its lifetime as it hits cable and other platforms.

Several sources suggested that Warners might make the drastic move of actually destroying its Batgirl footage as a way to demonstrate to the IRS that there will never be any revenue from the project, and thus it should be entitled to the full write-down immediately. Other sources dispute that notion, noting that there are other projects that still have footage locked away that will never see the light of day, such as HBO’s first Game of Thrones spinoff pilot, Bloodmoon, an hour of television that not even author George R.R. Martin has seen. There is also the possibility that Warners could, down the road, decide Batgirl is worth releasing and pay back the government its tax liability.

Leslie Grace starred as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the film, which was supposed to be one of several modestly budgeted DC projects made directly for HBO Max as part of former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar’s push to juice the streaming service. Zaslav, who took the reins of the combined company in April, has reversed that strategy and is pushing Warners back to a focus on theatrical first.

While Batgirl has nabbed the most attention for being killed, it wasn’t the only film that fell victim to Zaslav’s tax write-down strategy.

Scoob! Holiday Haunt, another nearly completed film that was canceled the same day as Batgirl, quietly had its own funeral screening on the Warners lot last week.

Star Ivory Aquino posted a heartfelt plea on behalf of the movie.

A letter to #DavidZaslav @WBD

Dear Mr. Zaslav,

I just read an article @THR about supposed 'funeral screenings' of #Batgirl and the possibility afterwards that the film footage would be destroyed.. if this is the case, as one of many who poured our hearts into the making of this movie, I ask that this measure be reconsidered.

As much as 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. As much as Batgirl has been labeled a woke film, it simply came together that way because of writing that reflects the world we live in. For me, more than anything, it is a father-daughter story which hits close to home as my Dad passed a year ago, shortly before I booked this project, and I was hoping it would resonate with other children around the world, grown and not-so-grown, who hold their fathers in the highest esteem and who could see Batgirl as a story of that special bond.

I've found myself not being able to talk about this ordeal with anyone. I realized that no one, apart from those involved with the film, would truly understand what we're feeling. And talking about it with my castmates, I feel, might be akin to rubbing salt on a still-open wound. My heart goes out to @LeslieGraceand our beloved directors and entire crew & cast who spent months dedicating their all to this endeavor. Leslie checked in on me the day we found out of the shelving and only had words of comfort and support. I've dared not ask since if she's spent nights holding back tears like I have because she has had to be the face of our Batgirl family and has had to put on a brave face as a way of taking care of us the way she gracefully steered our film.

Tonight I finally got to talk with a dear friend here about these intense feelings who shared with me an anecdote which helped provide inspiration for this letter to you. They said the head of a company is like one large cog atop increasingly smaller cogs underneath. One seemingly small movement by this large cog may seem relatively tiny, but for those little cogs at the bottom, they can be spinning ten-fold and the effects can be seismic. I can only endeavor to understand how one feels when tasked with tending to the bottom line like you have. I can't even begin to imagine what one in your position goes through having such great responsibility to attend to. I do know and ask, with something like Batgirl that's a product of our hearts and souls, that the little cogs not simply be seen as widgets whose fates are determined by an equation to benefit the bottom line. More than widgets, we are fellow human beings and artists who, when given the chance, can outperform the equation and multiply the bottom line exponentially.

If a month ago, there wasn't a marketing budget for Batgirl, I'd venture to say that that has been taken care of by the turn of events these past few weeks. We've been fortunate to have such amazing supporters since the beginning, from Glasgow where we filmed and from all over the world. Now, more people know about our labor of love and are eager to see the movie. I do hope you get to read this letter. Consider releasing Batgirl. She's always been an underdog and has nowhere to go but up.