Batgirl Reportedly Gets Secret Screenings For Cast and Crew Amid Warner Bros. Cancellation

Warner Bros. made an unprecedented decision in the realm of superhero movies earlier this month, when the studio announced that it would be shelving its live-action Batgirl movie, instead of releasing it in theaters or on HBO Max. The move shocked many, especially because the film had already wrapped filming and was in the throes of post-production, meaning that its nearly-completed footage would not be able to see the light of day. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a select few are getting the opportunity to see Batgirl, with secret “funeral screenings” of the film being held on the Warner Bros. lot this week. The screenings are reportedly being held for cast and crew, as well as representatives and executives.

The circumstances surrounding Batgirl‘s cancellation have been debated about at length, especially after it was revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery seeks to take a tax write-down on the project. According to sources cited in THR’s reporting, the footage of Batgirl will possibly be locked away in a physical or digital vault to allow for the tax write-down to begin. If that were to be the case, there remains a possibility that Warners could ultimately release the film at a later date, only after paying back the government its tax liability. That being said, there is a chance that the studio could destroy the footage entirely in order to receive a full write-down immediately. 

Batgirl was directed by Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi, with a script written by Christina Hodson. The film would’ve starred Leslie 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.

“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.”

What do you think of the newest update surrounding DC’s Batgirl cancellation? Do you want to see Leslie Grace reprise her role in another film? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!