Hours after deciding to pull the plug on Batgirl and the sequel to Scoob!, even though both films were deep in post-production, Warner Brothers has issued a statement saying the decision was strictly business-related. In the brief statement obtained by THR, a spokesperson for the studio said they’d like to work with the talent behind the films, despite cancelling feature films they had already worked with them on.
“The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max,” said a Warner Bros. spokesperson in a statement. “Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future.”
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Breakout Hollywood star Leslie Grace was set to appear as Barbara Gordon in the picture, which will now never see release — neither in theaters or on HBO Max.
“She definitely exceeds what I thought,” Grace revealed in an interview earlier this year. “I had to summon up some things in me that I didn’t even know were there. It was an incredible learning experience to be on set with also action veterans like Brendan Fraser, and soak up it all up. It was so hard because he’s our villain and I’m not supposed to like but he’s such a huge teddy bear. He is one of the nicest people that I’ve ever met. In our fight sequences the way he would just hit marks, it came from all of his experience. You can’t improvise that kind of experience. There’s some crazy stuff that happens. There’s lots of fire because as everyone knows by now, he plays Firefly. There’s crazy fire. There’s crazy stunts, crazy drops. She’s a biker chick, so you’re going to see her do a bunch of badassery.”
Batgirl was directed by Fallah and El Arbi, with a script written by Christina Hodson. The film would’ve starred Grace as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl, with JK Simmons reprising his role as Commissioner James Gordon, and Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne / Batman. Also joining the cast was Brendan Fraser as Firefly, Ivory Aquino as Alysia Yeoh, and Jacob Scipio, Rebecca Front, Corey Johnson, and Ethan Kai cast in currently-unknown roles.
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