Credit: Batgirl
Perhaps one of the most shocking reports to come out of 2022 in Hollywood was the cancellation of Batgirl. Originally, the live-action DC film was scheduled for an HBO Max release; however, when WB Discovery CEO David Zaslav took over the company, he turned the streaming release into a theatrical run.
Unfortunately, the once anticipated live-action re-debut of the iconic character was canceled with Scoob! Holiday Haunt back in July. Zaslav himself cited that it simply didn’t meet the standards of what he was looking for in the DC film and opted to take the $90 million loss instead of taking a risk and releasing the feature that could’ve been a big success. Zaslav has never clearly stated the exact issues he had with Batgirl, though it was clear that he wasn’t satisfied with the final product.
“We’re not going to release any film before it’s ready,” he said. “We’re not going to release a film to make a quarter, we’re not going to release a film – the focus is going to be, how do we make each of these films, in general, as good as possible. But DC is something that we think we could make better, and we’re focused on it now.”
Credit: Batgirl
The Batgirl feature was set to see the return of J.K. Simmons, who was Commissioner Gordon in Justice League. Also, Michael Keaton was scheduled to make a grand return to the Batman world as well. Brendan Fraser was notably cast as the villain Firefly. It’s been a little over four months since the rare movie cancellation took place, and though the heat on Warner Bros. Discovery has died down somewhat, the reactions of the cast and crew have not been favorable across the board. Brendan Fraser is currently going through a renaissance in his career thanks to his latest film, Whale, which is about a 600-pound English teacher who attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter for one last chance at redemption.
During an interview with Variety, the actor discussed the cancellation of the DC film and called it “tragic,” “It doesn’t engender trust among filmmakers and the studio. Leslie Grace was fantastic. She’s a dynamo, just a spot-on performer,” Fraser continued. The veteran wasn’t the only one that has praised Grace’s performance, as the actress notably got eyes on her thanks to the Jon M. Chu musical, In The Heights. Zaslav made sure to point out how talented a performer the actress was in the film, which makes it a shame that Grace’s big opportunity will never be seen by the masses. Nevertheless, Fraser continues to praise the canned feature that he deemed was “exciting.”
Credit: @lesliegrace
“Everything that we shot was real and exciting and just the antithesis of doing a straightforward digital all-green screen thing,” he said. “They ran fire trucks around downtown Glasgow at 3 in the morning and they had flamethrowers. It was a big-budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials.”
The people that were hit the hardest were the filming duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who are notable for directing several episodes of Ms. Marvel and FX’s Snowfall. Their names have been damaged as it comes down to the directors at the end of the day; however, Fraser vouches for the filmmakers by saying that they crafted something strong,
“I don’t eat half-baked cake,” said Fraser. “Everything that Adil and Bilall shot felt real and exciting.” Hopefully, everyone’s career gets back on track following this blunder. Another Batgirl feature will be made someday. The question is, when? Given the new leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran, perhaps we’ll find out real soon.
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