Beyond a few snippets on social media, one person who hasn’t talked much about the situation regarding the cancelled “Batgirl” film release is its star Leslie Grace.
It has been just over six months since the $90 million project was abruptly scrapped by Warner Bros. Pictures who permanently shelved the film as a way of saving money and getting a tax write-down. That’s about the same length of time Grace spent shooting the film in Glasgow.
Though it was cancelled by the previous Warners & DC regime, recently we all heard from newly appointed DC Studios co-chief Peter Safran that the film wouldn’t be released under them as he deemed the project “unreleasable” and damaging to the DC brand should it open in cinemas as intended.
Grace has now responded to that claim. Speaking to Variety, the actress says she found out about the project’s shelving around the same time as the general public. However she remains proud of the work done and hates the term “unreleasable” was used as it implies the film is terrible:
“I had my own meetings with Warner Bros. Film Group CEOs Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca, and they explained to me, on a granular level, what they felt about the project, things that were out of their hands, plans and budgets that were set in place before they were even part of the team.
There are a lot of things that I learned through the experience about moviemaking, that as an actress you have no control over. They weren’t really specific on anything creative in terms of what they felt about the film and how it would’ve hurt DC creatively.
But I’m a human being, and people have perceptions and people read things. And when words are expressed very lightly about work that people really dedicated a lot of time to – not just myself but the whole crew – I can understand how it could be frustrating.”
Whilst the public will likely never see “Batgirl,” Grace asked for the opportunity to see the current cut of the film and Warners acquiesced:
“That’s the one thing I asked for. I got to see the film as far as it got to; the film wasn’t complete by the time that it was tested. There were a bunch of scenes that weren’t even in there. They were at the beginning of the editing process, and they were cut off because of everything going on at the company.
But the film that I got to see – the scenes that were there – was incredible. There was definitely potential for a good film, in my opinion. Maybe we’ll get to see clips of it later on.”
As for her future as Batgirl, Gunn and Safran’s DCU plans essentially have put a stop to any such idea. Grace says she would be interested in reclaiming the role, but doesn’t expect it will happen:
“We’ve definitely had conversations about Batgirl’s future and how Batgirl can make a resurgence. I think fans are looking forward to seeing that. We’ll just see where that takes us; I can’t say one way or the other if that is a reality at this point. I can’t speak too much about a future for Batgirl or guarantee anything. The last thing that I would want to do is give folks any kind of inkling of something that I have not much control over – as we’ve learned.”
Gunn is building out the Batman family in the DCU with “The Brave and the Bold” film which likely won’t hit for years yet, in the meantime we’re getting plenty more Batman on screen with Michael Keaton reprising the role in this year’s “The Flash” and Robert Pattinson returning for “The Batman” sequel.
