'Irredeemable' Batgirl movie unexpectedly cancelled despite being in final stages
Also: ‘Batgirl’ and ‘Scoob!: Holiday Haunt’ Scrapped at Warner Bros. Amid Cost-Savings Push (Hollywood Reporter)
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Source: The Guardian
‘Irredeemable’ Batgirl movie unexpectedly cancelled despite being in final stages
Warner Bros confirms film starring Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon, Michael Keaton, JK Simmons and Brendan Fraser won’t ever be released
Sian Cain
@siancain
Wed 3 Aug 2022 02.02 BST
Last modified on Wed 3 Aug 2022 02.25 BST
The previously announced Batgirl film starring In the Heights actor Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser will not be released at all, Warner Bros Discovery has unexpectedly announced, despite shooting already being completed and the film being in post-production.
Directed by Ms Marvel directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the film was initially greenlit in 2021 as part of a wider move at Warner Bros to create feature films specifically for the streaming service HBO Max. But the studio confirmed on Tuesday that the film would never get any release, either theatrically or on HBO Max.
It declined to provide further comment.
Batgirl was to have Keaton reprise his role as Batman, alongside Grace as the titular hero Barbara Gordon, JK Simmons as Barbara’s father, Commissioner Gordon, and Fraser as the villain Firefly.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/aug/03/irredeemable-batgirl-movie-unexpectedly-cancelled-despite-being-in-final-stages
Link to tweet
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Source: Hollywood Reporter
‘Batgirl’ and ‘Scoob!: Holiday Haunt’ Scrapped at Warner Bros. Amid Cost-Savings Push
The DC feature was budgeted at around $80 million, with costs rising to nearly $90 million due to COVID-19 protocols.
BY AARON COUCH
AUGUST 2, 2022 1:58PM
In a surprising development, Warner Bros. will no longer be releasing Batgirl, the DC film that already completed shooting and was expected to arrive on HBO Max this year. The unusual move comes after a change in leadership at Warners, with newly installed Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav prioritizing cost-cutting measures and refocusing Warners on creating theatrical films rather than projects for streaming, as had been a priority for former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar.
Batgirl was budgeted at around $80 million, with costs rising to nearly $90 million due to COVID-19 protocols. It’s a hefty sum, but significantly lower than DC theatrical releases, thus the film is said not to have the spectacle that audiences have come to expect from DC fare. (The Batman, released in March, had a budget of $185 million, before marketing costs.) Warners has also decided to shelve animated feature Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, which had a budget in the $40 million range.
Batgirl stars In the Heights breakout Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl — the first Latina to play the role — and hails from Bad Boys for Life filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Its cast also includes Michael Keaton, back as Batman, J.K. Simmons as Barbara’s father, Commissioner James Gordon, and Brendan Fraser as the villain Firefly. The New York Post first reported Batgirl would be scrapped.
Insiders say that big-budget films made directly for streaming no longer make financial sense under the company’s new strategy. In June, Zaslav tapped MGM’s Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy to run Warners, replacing Toby Emmerich.
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Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/batgirl-shelved-at-warner-bros-hbo-max-1235191371/
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