Warner Bros. Reportedly Looking For New Batgirl Director

08/08/2019 09:37 pm EDT

A Batgirl movie is still on Warner Bros.' radar, and the studio is looking for a new filmmaker who could take over the project, according to a report at Heroic Hollywood. Characterizing the film as being a "top priority" at Warner Bros., it seems that the studio is expecting big hits from Wonder Woman 1984 and Birds of Prey (and The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), and sees Batgirl (and the rumored Supergirl, maybe) as an extension of the success of films like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. It also tracks with the litany of rumors that WB is developing projects like Nightwing and an ever-expanding view of Gotham City as Matt Reeves seeks to reinvent Batman again.

Around the time Justice League was ready to hit theaters, rumors started to percolate that Joss Whedon would follow up his work on that film with Batgirl, a youth-skewing take on the Gotham City heroine that would draw from the popular "Batgirl of Burnside" run in the comics. Shortly after, he left the project, saying that he simply had not found a take that worked.

"Batgirl is such an exciting project, and Warners/DC such collaborative and supportive partners, that it took me months to realize I really didn't have a story," Whedon said at the time. "I'm grateful to Geoff and Toby and everyone who was so welcoming when I arrived, and so understanding when I… uh, is there a sexier word for 'failed."

There have been a number of names floated to work on the film, and cult-favorite director Nicolas Winding Refn has expressed interest, but all signs point to Warner Bros. looking for a woman to helm the movie. Christina Hodson, the writer behind Bumblebee and Birds of Prey, has reportedly turned in a script and HH suggests that Warners is likely high on it, which is why the movie is taking such a priority slot in the development pipeline at the moment.

Joker is expected to debut in theaters on October 4, 2019. Upcoming DC films include Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, and Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020.

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