Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels has claimed that the company's decision to shelve the DC film Batgirl has not damaged the studio's reputation.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the WBD executive recently spoke at a Bank of America conference, where he stated that the press had completely "blown out of proportion" the company's decision to cancel the film, which was in post-production at the time. "Clearly the course corrections, making changes quickly where we don’t agree with the track that WarnerMedia was on, that took a lot of courage and execution early," Weidenfels said. "I don’t think it is unusual, we are a creative industry and one of the elements of creativity is that there is judgment and views on what the potential of what a certain piece of IP might be."
Weidenfels also confirmed that the company’s reputation in the talent community and agency business had not taken a hit following the cancelation of Batgirl and the removal of several HBO Max animated series. "We have made some course corrections, but we are in business to create content and tell fascinating stories, and we will fund that," he added. Some of that content will come from The Batman director Matt Reeves and his 6th & Idaho production company, which recently signed a multi-year first-look film and television deal with Warner Bros.
Brendan Fraser Praises Leslie Grace's Batgirl Performance
Batgirl was set to star Leslie Grace in the titular role of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. The DC Extended Universe film was set to explore the character's early days as the Gotham City vigilante and would have shown the crimefighter going up against arsonist Ted Carson/Firefly, who was portrayed by beloved actor Brendan Fraser in the unreleased film. Fraser recently praised Grace's unseen performance in Batgirl and stated that he believed the actor had a long future in Hollywood ahead of her. "Leslie Grace is her namesake. She’s dynamic," the actor said in Sept. 2022. "She gave a great performance. She’s a stone cold professional. You’re going to see more from her. And I’m looking forward to it."
Warner Bros. is currently working on mapping out the next decade of DC content, which will include both standalone projects like The Batman 2 and Joker: Folie a Deux and future installments in the DCEU like Black Adam and The Flash. Black Adam, starring Dwayne Johnson as the titular DC antihero, has already been confirmed to expand the cinematic universe "in a fun way," which includes introducing the Justice Society of America into the DCEU.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter