10 Movies That Were Scrapped After Being Shot

Filmmaking is one hell of a precarious business, where even a great script and game cast aren't enough to ensure that a film gets the studio greenlight. There are innumerable calculations that go into getting a movie in front of cameras, and even then, that's no guarantee that the end product is ever going to see the light of day.

Films being cancelled during development is incredibly common, though it's decidedly rarer for a picture to be shelved after shooting - typically the most arduous and expensive stage of production - has taken place.

And yet, it does occasionally happen, for one of a multitude of reasons. Perhaps the shoot was so disastrous that the filmed footage is basically unreleasable, maybe it got tied up in legal limbo, or it's possible the soulless corporate overlords decided they'd rather get a tax rebate instead.

Whatever the reason, the following movies all had their planned releases scrapped after principal photography was complete, leaving film fans baffled that any studio would lock a shot project in a vault, never to be seen.

While it's technically possible that one or two of these movies are released one day, you'd be foolish to get your hopes up.

Let's kick this list off with by far the highest-profile scrapped movie in recent memory, if not ever. 

In March 2022, Warner Bros. wrapped principal photography on a Batgirl solo movie starring Leslie Grace and directed by Adil & Bilall (Bad Boys for Life).

Though initially intended to go direct to HBO Max, Warner Bros. considered upgrading the $90 million blockbuster to a theatrical release in 2022. However, that summer the shock announcement came that Batgirl's release had been cancelled outright, with the new executive regime at the recently merged Warner Bros. Discovery deciding to focus on theatrical blockbusters, in turn writing Batgirl off for a tax break.

Conflicting reports emerged about less-than-stellar test screenings for the film, which apparently still needed VFX work and additional photography, yet scrapping such a high-profile tentpole project was virtually unheard of. To make matters even worse, the cast and crew weren't given a heads-up about the news, only learning about Batgirl's cancellation as the rest of the world did.

Though some fans hope that Batgirl could be un-shelved one day, that seems unlikely given the tax break situation. Regardless of the film's rumoured quality, Warner Bros. was widely criticised by fans and filmmakers alike for the decision.