DC's Batgirl movie is that one film that was promptly judged before it even had the chance to prove itself. Warner Bros. spent an estimated $90 million on the HBO Max exclusive blockbuster until CEO David Zaslav pulled the plug and confirmed that it was never going to be released in any form. While the decision was put down to tax incentives and cost-cutting measures, word began to spread that Batgirl was "not releasable" to even have its time on the big screen and reach the fans.
In a new interview with Variety, actress Leslie Grace spoke for the first time since the film was shelved and debunked the claims that her movie was awful and that releasing it would be bad for DC Studios as well as the other people involved. The actress emphasized that the film had the potential to be a good film because she saw the cuts and they were incredible.
“I found out like the rest of you,” Grace answered as to how she found out that the film was axed. “And then my phone just started blowing up.”
“They weren’t really specific on anything creative in terms of what they felt about the film and how it would’ve hurt DC creatively. But I’m a human being, and people have perceptions and people read things. And when words are expressed very lightly about work that people dedicated a lot of time to — not just myself but the whole crew — I can understand how it could be frustrating.” she narrated.
Grace continued, “I got to see the film as far as it got to; the film wasn’t complete by the time it was tested. There were a bunch of scenes that weren’t even in there. They were at the beginning of the editing process, and they were cut off because of everything going on at the company. But the film that I got to see — the scenes that were there — was incredible. There was potential for a good film, in my opinion. Maybe we’ll get to see clips of it later on.”
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James Gunn and Peter Safran initially claimed that they were still not in the picture when the decision was made to shelve the featured film. Safran was the one to call the movie unreleasable, although he gave the assurance that Batgirl will eventually be part of the narrative they are building.
However, the actress was asked if the DC Studios co-heads had already reached out to her for upcoming projects. “No, I haven’t heard from them. But I wish them the best on all the plans that they’ve got rolling out. They’ve got a lot of projects to handle, and it’s not an easy job.” shared Grace.
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