Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gives Wild Response To Batgirl Cancelation
Warner Bros. Discovery CFO, Gunnar Wiedenfels, says the movie being canceled was "blown out of proportion."
Despite the urge and push from many fans, there was just no saving the highly anticipated Batgirl. Following the recent merger of Warner Bros and Discovery, the studios were forced to make some cutting room floor decisions, slashing the already-completed film. With the media and some of the film’s stars, slamming the choice, Warner Bros. Discovery CFO, Gunnar Wiedenfels came forward to make a statement. Stepping up to give his comments at the Bank of America Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference, Wiedenfels said that the resolution was “blown out of proportion” by the media, adding that there were no hard feelings with “the talent” behind the would-be DCEU flick.
The company has been facing a slew of pushback centered around their decision to drop the feature from their upcoming slate of content, with many pointing out how strange it was that they would shelve a superhero flick starring a Latina actress (Leslie Grace) who would have appeared the titular Batgirl. Keeping things corporate, Wiedenfels didn’t offer up any information surrounding that possibly problematic bit during his statement.
As for Batgirl’s star, Grace has kept her head held high after all the madness, sharing images and a video with her fans after the news broke. In her caption, the actress said that she was “proud of the love, hard work, and intention” that each member of the cast and crew put forth in creating the movie. Adding that she felt “blessed” by the experience, she rounded out the post by thanking every one of her fans for giving her the opportunity “to take on the cape.”
Following the cancellation, our sources reported that Grace was once again approached to play the role of Barbara Gordon, but in a smaller facet. Instead of her own feature, which was set for a release to HBO Max, Grace had the opportunity to appear as Batgirl in future DCEU productions. What we can imagine as a backhanded offer, Grace allegedly gave a resounding “no” to the company’s request.
Along with Batgirl, it’s been reported by our own sources that Warner Bros Discovery will also be canning a slew of other DC-related content including Doom Patrol, Titans, and the animated Harley Quinn series. The choice to drop Batgirl was particularly strange given all the pull and push from the Ezra Miller-led The Flash. The feature has faced a slew of fans calling for its cancellation after the actor’s string of inappropriate, dangerous, and downright illegal behavior. If we had to guess, the major reason why Batgirl was canned, and The Flash is speeding forward is due to the film’s budget. While the former was running up a tab close to $90 million, the latter cost the studio close to $300 million, seemingly forcing Warner Bros. Discovery’s hand.
Whatever the case for the future of Batgirl in the DCEU, it’s clear that Wiedenfels and the rest of the corporate heads at Warner Bros. Discovery aren’t too keen to discuss it. With nothing more coming from the project, we’ll just need to wait even longer to see one of our favorite heroines make her way towards a feature-length telling.
