Everything to Know About the ‘Batgirl’ Movie Starring Leslie Grace, Brendan Fraser and More

Credit: Wattie Cheung/Shutterstock

Everything to Know About the 'Batgirl' Movie Starring Leslie Grace, Brendan Fraser and More

It's another dark night for Gotham City. One year after Leslie Grace was announced as Batgirl, the film has been scrapped by Warner Bros., multiple outlets report. In July 2022, Variety reported that the Batgirl film, which had already wrapped principal photography and was slated for release on HBO Max, had been canceled by the studio, along with the animated sequel, Scoob!: Holiday Haunt. The decision was reportedly due to a desire to shift the studio's focus back to blockbuster films, rather than streaming releases. It's unclear whether Warner Bros. will ever release the shelved movie. Batgirl was originally announced in March 2017 with Joss Whedon set to direct, write and produce the movie. One year later, though, the Avengers director pulled out of the project, saying that he "really didn't have a story" for the script. “The story kind of just crumbled in my hands," the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator told Variety in April 2018. "There were elements that I just hadn’t mastered that, after a long time, felt like I wasn’t going to. I told people that I didn’t have an idea, which isn’t an exact truth. I had an idea, but it didn’t fit in the space that was left for it. It was a little heartbreaking." DC didn't give up on the project, however, and hired Christina Hodson to replace Whedon as the screenwriter. The U.K. native is well versed in comic book lore, having written the 2020 film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) starring Margot Robbie. Hodson is also writing The Flash, due out in November 2022. Several women have used the Batgirl moniker throughout the long history of DC Comics, but the new movie will focus on Barbara Gordon, who is widely known as the most iconic version of the character. Barbara is the daughter of James Gordon, the police commissioner who appears in many Batman comics and films. [jwplayer QPTKFrVd-zhNYySv2] Like Batman, Batgirl doesn't have any supernatural powers, but she is a skilled martial artist who knows her way around high-tech weapons. In many depictions of the character, she's also a genius hacker. Despite her status as a fan favorite, Batgirl has only appeared in live-action Batman movies twice. Alicia Silverstone donned the cape in 1997's Batman & Robin, but her character was named Barbara Wilson. She was identified as the niece of Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth. The 2008 film The Dark Knight included a brief cameo from Hannah Gunn as the unnamed daughter of Commissioner Gordon, but she wasn't called Batgirl — the credits listed her only as "Gordon's daughter." In July 2021, news broke that Grace had landed the role of Batgirl in the new film. The project will be the singer's second movie ever after her debut big screen appearance in the 2021 film adaptation of In the Heights. "I can’t say much about what she is going to do, but Batgirl becomes her own hero," the New York City native told Elle in October 2021. "[Her origin story] is crazy dark, like a lot of other superheroes, but I like that she becomes Batgirl because she wants to make a difference in the world." Keep scrolling for everything to know about Batgirl: [podcast_block]

Credit: Wattie Cheung/Shutterstock

Everything to Know About the 'Batgirl' Movie Starring Leslie Grace, Brendan Fraser and More

It's another dark night for Gotham City. One year after Leslie Grace was announced as Batgirl, the film has been scrapped by Warner Bros., multiple outlets report. In July 2022, Variety reported that the Batgirl film, which had already wrapped principal photography and was slated for release on HBO Max, had been canceled by the studio, along with the animated sequel, Scoob!: Holiday Haunt. The decision was reportedly due to a desire to shift the studio's focus back to blockbuster films, rather than streaming releases. It's unclear whether Warner Bros. will ever release the shelved movie. Batgirl was originally announced in March 2017 with Joss Whedon set to direct, write and produce the movie. One year later, though, the Avengers director pulled out of the project, saying that he "really didn't have a story" for the script. “The story kind of just crumbled in my hands," the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator told Variety in April 2018. "There were elements that I just hadn’t mastered that, after a long time, felt like I wasn’t going to. I told people that I didn’t have an idea, which isn’t an exact truth. I had an idea, but it didn’t fit in the space that was left for it. It was a little heartbreaking." DC didn't give up on the project, however, and hired Christina Hodson to replace Whedon as the screenwriter. The U.K. native is well versed in comic book lore, having written the 2020 film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) starring Margot Robbie. Hodson is also writing The Flash, due out in November 2022. Several women have used the Batgirl moniker throughout the long history of DC Comics, but the new movie will focus on Barbara Gordon, who is widely known as the most iconic version of the character. Barbara is the daughter of James Gordon, the police commissioner who appears in many Batman comics and films. [jwplayer QPTKFrVd-zhNYySv2] Like Batman, Batgirl doesn't have any supernatural powers, but she is a skilled martial artist who knows her way around high-tech weapons. In many depictions of the character, she's also a genius hacker. Despite her status as a fan favorite, Batgirl has only appeared in live-action Batman movies twice. Alicia Silverstone donned the cape in 1997's Batman & Robin, but her character was named Barbara Wilson. She was identified as the niece of Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth. The 2008 film The Dark Knight included a brief cameo from Hannah Gunn as the unnamed daughter of Commissioner Gordon, but she wasn't called Batgirl — the credits listed her only as "Gordon's daughter." In July 2021, news broke that Grace had landed the role of Batgirl in the new film. The project will be the singer's second movie ever after her debut big screen appearance in the 2021 film adaptation of In the Heights. "I can’t say much about what she is going to do, but Batgirl becomes her own hero," the New York City native told Elle in October 2021. "[Her origin story] is crazy dark, like a lot of other superheroes, but I like that she becomes Batgirl because she wants to make a difference in the world." Keep scrolling for everything to know about Batgirl: [podcast_block]

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Who's In the 'Batgirl' Cast?

J.K. Simmons, who played Commissioner Gordon in 2017's Justice League, will reprise the role in Batgirl. In October 2021, Brendan Fraser joined the cast in an unnamed role. Though his character was kept a secret, fans quickly theorized that he could be playing the supervillain Firefly. Jacob Scipio also has an undisclosed role in the film.

According to a press release from Warner Bros, Michael Keaton was added to the cast list in December 2021.

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What's 'Batgirl' About?

Plot details are extremely under wraps, but it seems likely there will be a lot of action. The film will be codirected by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who helmed 2020's Bad Boys for Life.

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A Growing Batgirl

"I will say one of my favorite things about our script and the heart of our movie is that you get to see Babs and this alter-ego that she summons up, Batgirl, vacillate between the nuances of life and good and bad and black and white, and that there so much in between," Grace told E! News in April 2022. "At the end of the day, in Gotham, so there's always a case, right? It's kind of like an investigative story, it's a detective story, so she does have a case that drives her into these crazy situations."

Grace teased that Batgirl "gets herself into a lot of these sticky situations and has to discover a lot about parts of herself in order to get herself out of them." She added that her character matures over the course of the movie.

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When Does 'Batgirl' Premiere?

Batgirl doesn't yet have a release date, but it will head straight to streaming via HBO Max when it premieres. It is expected to drop sometime in 2022 or 2023. Filming started in early 2022 in Scotland.

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How Does 'Batgirl' Connect to Other DC Movies?

It's not yet known how Batgirl will fit into the DC Extended Universe, but the presence of Simmons as Gordon implies that there will be at least a little bit of continuity between it and some previous DC films.

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The Movie Has Been Shelved

According to multiple outlets, Warner Bros. scrapped Batgirl in July 2022 due to a desire to focus on blockbuster theatrical releases. Though the movie had already been filmed, the studio has no plans to release the action flick, which was slated to premiere on HBO Max in late 2022.

Credit: Courtesy Leslie Grace/Instagram

How Has Leslie Grace Responded?

“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,” Grace captioned an Instagram statement in August 2022. “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!”

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How Did Ivory Aquino React?

On August 24, hours after The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Warner Bros. would be locking away the footage of the film, Aquino — who portrayed Batgirl's best friend, Alysia Yeoh — took to Twitter with an open letter directed to David Zaslav, the president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery.

"Dear Mr. Zaslav, I just read an article @THR about supposed ‘funeral screenings’ of #Batgirl and the possibility afterwards that the film footage would be destroyed.. if this is the case, as one of many who poured our hearts into the making of this, I ask that this measure be reconsidered," she wrote. "As much as I’ve tried my best to be strong these past few weeks, I’d find myself crying, for lack of a better term, from grief, and tonight was one of those nights. ... My heart goes out to @LeslieGrace and our beloved directors and entire crew & cast who spent months dedicating their all to this endeavor."

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Leslie Grace Opens Up About Seeing Scrapped Cut of ‘Batgirl’

The In the Heights actress revealed to Variety in February 2023 that she asked to see the final footage of the incomplete film.

“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,” Grace admitted. “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.”