According to lead singer Leslie Grace, "Batgirl" was cut at the wings before it could actually fly.
Warner Bros. Discovery will put the film on hold in August 2022 for tax breaks. The $90 million-plus film was co-directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, and starred Grace in the titular superhero role.
Grace told Variety about the HBO Max film's cancellation. "And then my phone just started blowing up..." On that day, I was very much just taking it all in, but also so sure of the magic that happened — in my experience and what I saw in my cast and in our team — that I was like, "This must be some weird thing that we have no control over."
Brendan Fraser, Grace's co-star, said he thought he was "getting jacked" by the news of "Batgirl" being given the ax. "But then we learned that it was in the interest of paying off some debt?"
Grace said she spoke with Warner Bros. Film Group CEOs Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca about the film's fate.
Grace said. “They explained to me on a more general level what they thought of the project, things that were out of their hands, plans and budgets that were created before they were even part of the team.”
"Batgirl" was hampered by poor test screenings, resulting in the film being postponed by Warner Bros. Discovery reducing its losses. New DC Studios co-head Peter Safran recently declared the film was "not releasable," and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was forced to make the "courageous decision" to defund it.
Grace admitted that there were "obstacles" during the film's production in Scotland.
„I'm not going to lie to you. Obstacles come with the territory, and our film was nothing short of that,” she said. "But at the end of the day, because of the incredible crew, nothing ever got in the way of us delivering what we promised to accomplish for this film. At least from what I was able to see.
Grace has yet to see the final cut of "Batgirl," but said the rough cut was "incredible."
"That's what I requested." She added that the film was not complete by the time it was tested. "But the film that I got to see — the scenes that were there — was incredible."
"We've had discussions about Batgirl's future and how Batgirl might make a comeback." "I'll just see where that takes us," she said. I can't say one way or the other if Batgirl's future is a reality at this time. The last thing that I would want to do is give people any inkling of something that I have little control over."
Grace concluded, "In these types of situations, I tend to be a very positive and optimistic person, and I just really leaned on the beauty of the idea that I got to have this experience in my life." Even though I'd've wanted to share it with the rest of the world, nothing can take that learning away from us.