Brendan Fraser Slams Batgirl's Cancellation
It's been months since news broke that HBO Max's live-action "Batgirl" had been canceled, but the cuts still run deep for the movie's cast and crew. Set in the DC Extended Universe, the movie was to share continuity with the theatrical films and would have featured the origin of Leslie Grace's Batgirl as she faced off against Brendan Fraser's pyromaniac villain Firefly. With a sizable budget of $90 million already invested in the project (via Vanity Fair) and the majority of the filming completed (via Entertainment Weekly), Warner Bros. Discovery's cancellation of the movie proved to be an essentially unprecedented event in the film industry.
The move was met with ample backlash, especially from fans who felt that Warner Bros. Discovery's explanation for the "Batgirl" cancellation rang hollow. Additional criticism has come directly from the film's talent itself. Fraser, in particular, previously shared an ominous appraisal of the "Batgirl" cancellation. Now, amid press interviews for his wildly successful film "The Whale," the would-be "Batgirl" star has once again taken aim at the studio's decision.
Fraser thinks Batgirl would have been great
In an interview with Variety, Brendan Fraser condemned Warner Bros. Discovery's cancellation of "Batgirl." "It's tragic," the actor said. "It doesn't engender trust among filmmakers and the studio."
The "Doom Patrol" star went on to praise Leslie Grace's performance as Batgirl, describing her as a "dynamo." He also noted the movie primarily employed practical effects, including the use of real flamethrowers — a rarity in the modern days of CGI-soaked superheroes. "Everything we shot was real and exciting and just the antithesis of doing a straightforward digital all green screen thing," he said. "It was a big budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials."
Fraser isn't the first involved talent to mourn the movie. "Batgirl" directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah released a statement, reading: "As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves." Likewise, the "Batgirl" composer didn't hide her disappointment about the cancellation, revealing to DiscussingFilm that the score was mostly finished.
While it appears that "Batgirl" will not see the light of day, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the movie was getting internal "funeral screenings" on the Warner Bros. lot in August. Perhaps that footage could be made public one day and finally give audiences a better taste of what could have been.