Posted in: Batgirl, Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: batgirl, dc studios, hbo max, Leslie Grace, Warner Bros, warner bros discovery

Leslie Grace Defends Batgirl And Calls The Scenes She Saw "Incredible"

Leslie Grace defends Batgirl, calls the scenes that she got to see "incredible," and says that it had the potential to be a good film.

The drama surrounding Batgirl is neverending, but this is something that we knew was going to come out. When the movie got shelved back in August, we were told it was because of tax purposes, but last month, Peter Safran made it sound like quality issues with the film itself also played into why it isn't getting released. The word "unreleasable" was thrown around, which is a very strong word, and he also said it could "hurt" the overall DC brand. When someone comes out with fighting words like that, it was only a matter of time before someone clapped back, and that someone is star, Leslie Grace. Grace has been vocal about how much this film meant to her from the moment it was announced and hasn't stopped talking about it since it was shelved. She recently spoke to Variety, and when asked if she saw a screening of the film, Grace confirmed that she did and that she believed that there was potential for the movie to be good.

"I got to see the film as far as it got to; the film wasn't complete by the time that it was tested," Grace explained. "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 definitely potential for a good film, in my opinion. Maybe we'll get to see clips of it later on."

We probably won't see clips later because of the tax break issues, but Variety also asked if the issues came from behind-the-scenes drama. Grace was asked if there was ever a moment when they were filming that she thought this wouldn't come together. She was honest and didn't sugarcoat it by saying it was an easy shoot, but she believed in the incredible crew.

"I'm not going to lie to you," she replied. "In every film, there are obstacles, and our film was nothing short of that. Half of the shoot was night shoots in Scotland, where it never stops raining. So there were obstacles, but at the end of the day, because of the incredible crew, nothing that ever got in the way of us delivering what we knew we wanted to deliver for this film. At least from what I was able to see."

In terms of the quality thing, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. The film was likely not as bad as Safran made it sound, and we even said when we were reporting on it that he was likely falling on the sword a little for a decision that he had nothing to do with. The film was also likely not as incredible as Grace is making it sound either because if it were, we wouldn't be sitting here, having this discussion. Batgirl was probably going to be a C-tier movie that could have gained cult status over a couple of years. However, with the timing of the mergers and everything, no one at DC or Warner Bros. has the time to wait for a film to gain a following. What they needed was the immediate capital, and something that was probably "just fine" will always be the first kidling thrown on that fire.

The Long Dead End Road To Making a Batgirl Film

The Batgirl movie had a hard time getting to the big screen, which is saying something considering some of the DC projects that have struggled over the years. It was going to be brought to the big screen by Joss Whedon before it was widely reported that he was a terrible person and promptly left the project. The movie picked up some new directors in 2021 in the form of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, and it was supposed to be the first DC project to make its debut on HBO Max.

Back in July 2021, it was announced that Leslie Grace of In The Heights fame had snagged the coveted role of Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl. We got some minor plot details for Batgirl during DC FanDome and a piece of concept art. Jacob Scipio, who was one of the stars of the much better than it had any right to be Bad Boys For Life, joined the cast in an unknown role. J.K. Simmons is also set to return as Commissioner Gordon. We learned that Brandon Fraser would play the villain at the end of October 2021. Though we don't know the exact villain, the rumors said it might be Firefly. Production on the movie started at the end of  2021, and Batgirl was supposed to release at some point in 2022.

In August 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery canceled several big projects for tax purposes, and Batgirl was one of them. Many cast members tried to save the film and see if there was some way to prevent it from being thrown in the vault, never to be seen again, but it wasn't meant to be. There were "funeral screenings," and now the film is locked away, never to be seen again. Batgirl is not a SnyderCut situation because of the tax write-off. Warner Bros. Discovery cannot make any money on this or any of the projects used in the write-off, or they would have to pay back that money. So Batgirl appears to be well and truly locked away, never to be seen again.

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