Leslie Grace Shares Some Tantalizing Behind-The-Scenes Glimpses Of The Canceled Batgirl Movie
Every year tends to come with both good and bad times. But some years, it really feels like there may be rather more of one than the other. For instance, following the merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery, those affected by CEO David Zaslav's ruthless cost-cutting measures that left numerous projects canceled or vaulted to never see the light of day again in an effort to trim billions of dollars from the company's budget. One such project was Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah's "Batgirl."
The highly-anticipated superhero movie was meant to feature Leslie Grace, the breakout star of Jon M. Chu's "In The Heights," as the titular heroine alongside Michael Keaton's Batman as they faced off against Brendan Fraser's Firefly. But just as the movie was preparing for its debut on HBO Max, Zaslav yanked it from the release schedule in August to take advantage of an accounting loophole that would keep the losses of projects like this one (which came to about $90 million) off of Warner Bros. Discovery's newly minted books.
It would be perfectly understandable if the young actor was upset to have such a huge high profile project so unceremoniously trashed. However, as Grace reflected on the past year in a recent Instagram post (as many do around this time of the year), she lived up to her name and was indeed full of grace as she expressed gratitude for the experiences that 2022 had brought her. And as an added treat for DC fans, she included some never-before-seen shots from the set during her time as Barbara Gordon.
The Batgirl movie we'll never see
In her Instagram reel, Grace stitched together quick clips from throughout her year as Lido's "How To Do Nothing" played in the background. Spliced between videos of her friends, loved ones, and aesthetically-pleasing breakfasts are quick snippets from the set of "Batgirl."
If you look closely, you'll see multiple versions of her Batsuit. There's one that resembles the modern Batgirl of Burnside look with the trademark yellow Doc Martin boots, another that looks more like Keaton's cowl that covers her nose and requires Battinson's big dark eye circles, and possibly another that's a hybrid of the two. Maybe it's the final version of her costume?
There are also a lot of battle wounds being shown off in the makeup trailer, some GCPD branded attire, and even an action shot of Batgirl putting Firefly in a headlock. For balance, there's also another image of Grace and Fraser hugging in costume that offers probably our best look at the Firefly costume we've seen so far.
There is also an absolutely adorable shot of Grace kneeling down to talk to a young fan wearing a Batgirl outfit. Knowing the ultimate fate of the film, it's incredibly sad to think that the little Batfans won't get to see this version of the character brought to life. But in her parting message to 2022, the actor said, "My gratitude and love for life is much deeper thanks to the experiences you brought me. I take your lessons with me as we part."
As she ends the year looking on the bright side, the performer will undoubtedly land another major role to showcase her undeniable star power soon. For all we know, DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran might offer her another opportunity to play Batgirl. But for now we'll just have to wait and see.