The Batgirl cast is making Batgirl sound like a huge loss
Brendan Fraser was especially disappointed about his sympathetic villain Firefly
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Brendan Fraser was especially disappointed about his sympathetic villain Firefly
During the press event where DC Studios rolled out its planned projects for the future of the DC Universe, new co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran outlined what to expect—and also what not to expect. The latter includes any chance of seeing Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s cancelled Batgirl movie.
2022 is behind us, but it seems like the mystery of just what the hell went down with Warner Bros.’ scrapping of the Batgirl movie will be with us for a while yet—especially while star Leslie Grace is still teasing tidbits of what the allegedly near-completed movie could’ve done for Barbara Gordon.
It’s been a rough month over at HBO Max with Warner Bros. Discovery removing a slew of Cartoon Network programs as well as original shows, as well as shelving an almost completed movie like Batgirl. At the time, it seemed strictly business, with Warner Bros. Discovery releasing a statement actually praising actress Leslie Grace.
“The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max,” reads the statement (via The Hollywood Reporter). “Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers… and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future.”
However, co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah revealed to the French media outlet Skript that studio actually blocked their access to footage and that’s how they found out it had been canceled. When asked if they had any of the footage, Fallah said they had nothing.
Films getting cancelled is nothing new in Hollywood.
But a movie being shelved after it’s already been made to the tune of $90 million? That’s not so common.
This appears to be the fate of Warner Bros. Batgirl movie, though, with the news that it won’t be released despite already being in post-production being broken by the New York Post before trades like Variety confirmed it — and now, Batgirl herself Leslie Grace has responded to the stories on Instagram.
“On the heels of the recent news about our movie Batgirl, I am proud of the love, hard work and intention all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film over seven months in Scotland,” she captioned her post.
“I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process! To every Batgirl fan — THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, ‘my own damn hero!'”
Grace also shared images of herself in costume, as well as a video of her getting ready while singing Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” and an entertaining clip of her and her co-stars singing Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous.”
Grace isn’t the only Batgirl star to have posted following the news, either. Ivory Aquino, who was set to play Alysia Yeoh in the movie, shared some behind-the-scenes clips of her and Grace doing karaoke with the caption “my #batgirl and karaoke fam for life.”
So what, does the cancellation mean for D.C.? Well, not a return to the Snyderverse, but likely more years of confusion over how best to handle the franchise.
UPDATE: Aug. 4, 2022, 2:53 p.m. GMT “Batgirl” directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah released the following statement on Instagram, saying they were “saddened and shocked” by the news.