Leslie Grace has elaborated on Warner Bros. Discovery's decision six months after saying just a few words about Batgirl being postponed, as well as the recent suggestion that the standalone superhero film was "not releasable" to a degree that it would have "hurt" those involved in the film.
Batgirl, which was reported last summer, was done filming but is still waiting for visual effects. Instead, the DC film ended up with no showcase of any kind when Warner Bros. Discovery switched away from straight-to-HBO Max movie releases and locked into a theaters-only strategy. As such, WBD decided to "disappear" the $90 million film and use it as a tax write-off as the company strives to pay off billions in debt.
Peter Safran, who is the new director of DC Studios (fka DC Films), has very recently commented on WBD CEO David Zaslav's decision to postpone Batgirl, saying, "I saw the film, and there are a lot of incredible talented individuals in front of and behind the camera." It would have been impossible for the film to compete in the theatrical marketplace because it was built for the small screen.
Grace said in an interview with Variety, her sister site, she thought she was being punked, but it checked out. Then came hysterical remorse, like, 'You have to be kidding me?'
Grace said she expected "exceeding XYZ" in funding to expand scenes — to shoot pickup scenes and such a thing — so to learn that the film would be left to die on the vine "in the interest of paying off some debt... really stung."
Grace said she only saw the incomplete film that was put forward for testing — "There were a lot of scenes that weren't even there." "But the film that I got to see, with the scenes that were there, was incredible."
Grace said to Variety that she hasn't heard from new DC Studios CEOs Safran and Gunn. "But I wish them all the best on all of the plans that they've got."
If any of these proposals calls for Batgirl's services...? (As Safran himself stated last month, "Batgirl is a character that we will include in our narrative.")
Grace said she can't say too much about Batgirl's future or guarantee anything. "The last thing that I'd want to do is give people any sort of inkling of something that I've not much control over," she said.
Grace shared. "It's sad. I know how wonderful she was." And I understand what this would mean to so many people.