DC Co-Chief Peter Safran says cancelled 'Batgirl' movie "was not releasable"
Feb 01, 2023
Washington [US], February 1 : As the new slate of DC studios projects was recently unveiled by DC Co-Chairmen and CEOs Peter Safran and James Gunn, the duo was also asked to dig into the cancellation of the Leslie Grace starrer 'Batgirl' film.
According to Deadline, a USA-based entertainment news outlet, speaking on the subject, Safran said, "I saw the movie... There are a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera in that film, but that was not releasable. It happens sometimes."
"I think [Warner Discovery CEO David] Zaslav and the team made a bold and courageous decision to cancel it, because it would have hurt DC and those people involved. I spoke to [Batgirl directors] Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah last week -- we'd love to be in business with all of them," he added.
"Christina Hodson wrote it, and we're already back in business with her," said the DC producer referring to the scribe who is part of Gunn's writers room for DC Universe Chapter One 'Gods and Monsters'.
The Leslie Grace-Michael Keaton-Brendan Fraser starring film, originally destined for HBO Max, cost around USD 70M. After one test screening the Zaslav-run Warner Discovery pulled the plug on the film despite the movie being fully shot and in post-production.
As per Deadline, sources say the release of 'Batgirl' would have potentially impacted the greater universe storyline that's being mapped out with 'The Flash', which also stars Keaton as Batman, and is expected to reboot the whole DC-verse.
"I think it was not an easy decision, but they made the right decision by shelving it," emphasized Safran, while also noting "Batgirl is inevitably a character we'll include in our story," reported the outlet.
