Everybody was up in arms (or batwings) last year when it was announced that DC was canceling the already in-progress Batgirl film that was expected to be released on HBO Max. Amid restructuring and various schedule changes, the movie was yanked from the release schedule in August, and some people responded almost as if there was an actual crime committed.
Now that the dust has settled, the new heads of DC, James Gunn and Peter Safran, are doubling down on the choice to axe the movie. “I saw the movie, there were a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera on that film. But that film was not releasable,” Safran explained at this week’s DC presentation. “It happens sometimes. That film was not releasable.”
Batgirl, starring Leslie Grace, J.K. Simmons, Michael Keaton, and Brendan Fraser, was shown to test audiences last summer, who reportedly called it “irredeemable.” This sparked a lot of anger from both diehard fans and people who weren’t really involved but still wanted to get in on it anyway.
Safran insisted that canceling the movie was still the best move. “I actually think that [David] Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it, because it would’ve hurt DC, it would’ve hurt those people involved. I think they really stood up to support DC, the characters, the story, the quality and all that.” While there has been no announcement of any other Batgirl project in the works, DC has a pretty hefty schedule over the next few years.
Did the media blow the whole thing out of proportion? Maybe! Would fans rather watch a bad movie flop instead of getting no movie at all? Many fans are used to that! We will never know what the movie would have been like, but one thing is for sure: Brendan Fraser alone would have made it worth watching, no matter how polarizing it might have been. That’s what happened with The Whale, anyway.
Source: https://uproxx.com/movies/batgirl-peter-safran-not-releaseable/