Batgirl star Leslie Grace recently posted two "battle damaged" photos of the canceled DC Extended Universe blockbuster's titular superhero.
Grace shared the behind-the-scene snaps on Instagram. Both show her with fake blood spattered on her face, indicating Barbara Gordon's crime-fighting adventures were set to get a little rough in the now-abandoned movie. The actor wears a different costume in each image, sporting her comics-accurate purple-and-gold, bat-emblazoned outfit in the first photo and an unadorned, all-black get-up in the second.
The news first broke that Warner Bros. Discovery was pulling the plug on Batgirl on Aug. 2, 2022. There have been conflicting reports since then regarding why the $90 million production was shelved, with initial reports citing negative test screening feedback as the reason why Batgirl was axed. Other sources dispute these claims, however, insisting that the movie was canceled solely because its more modest scale didn't fit with Warner Bros.' revised vision for DCEU projects moving forward.
Why Did Warner Bros. Cancel Batgirl?
Yet another reason put forward for Batgirl's cancelation is that Warner Bros. plans to use the film as a tax write-off. Several unnamed insiders recently alleged that studio executives have decided the best way to make their money back on the production is to take a tax write-down on it. Should this prove to be the case, it would mean that Warner Bros. couldn't screen the film in theaters or make it available on streaming platforms in the future. It would rule out the possibility of selling the film to another studio, as well.
Warner Bros. has since issued a statement setting out its official position on why it scrapped both Batgirl and another movie, Scoob! Holiday Haunt. The statement read: "The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max. 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."
Even so, rumors still persist that Batgirl's allegedly disastrous test screenings strongly influenced Warner Bros.' decision-making process. One of the key criticisms reportedly leveled against the movie was that it resembled "a bad episode of TV." At the same time, audiences apparently "embraced" Grace's portrayal of both Barbara Gordon and her costumed alter-ego, and described Batgirl as "a low-stakes superhero origin story with style and strong performances."
Source: Instagram