Leslie Grace, 27, broke her silence following the news that her superhero movie Batgirl wouldn’t see the light of day in a recent cost-cutting move by Warner Bros. Discovery. The actress released a statement on Instagram, along with behind-the-scenes photos and video.
“Querida familia! On the heels of the recent news about our movie Batgirl, I am proud of the love, hard work and intention all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film over 7 months in Scotland,” Leslie’s statement began. “I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process! To every Batgirl fan – THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, ‘my own damn hero!’ #Batgirl for life!”
Leslie was set to star as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the movie, which had already wrapped filming. The cast also included J.K. Simmons as Detective James Gordon, Michael Keaton as Batman, and Brendan Fraser as the villain Firefly, while Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were the directors. But on August 2, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Batgirl wouldn’t be released theatrically or on HBO Max. In other words, it was canceled entirely due to cost-cutting measures. The same goes for the animated feature Scoob!: Holiday Haunt.
“The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson said in a statement. “Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future.”
Batgirl had a budget of $90 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and was one of the most highly-anticipated upcoming projects set in the DC Extended Universe. Leaders at Warner Bros. Discovery felt that the movie “simply didn’t work,” per The Wrap‘s insiders, who also claimed that CEO David Zaslav is focused on “making DC titles big theatrical event films, and Batgirl isn’t that.” Filming took place in Glasgow, Scotland from November 2021 to March 2022. Batgirl was in post-production when Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the plug on the film.
There’s still a lineup of DCEU films set to be released in the next year, including Black Adam starring Dwayne Johnson and the highly-anticipated sequels to Shazam! and Aquaman. The Flash is also still on track to come out in 2023, despite its lead star Ezra Miller making headlines for numerous legal troubles.