It’s been over a week since Warner Bros. Discovery made the shocking announcement that it would pull the plug on its almost-complete superhero film Batgirl and, instead, take a tax break to recoup the money it had spent on the production.
At that time, CEO David Zaslav said the company was now following a “10-year plan focusing just on DC” and the movies they could release exclusively at theaters. Batgirl, which starred Leslie Grace (In the Heights) in the title role, was made to be released on HBO Max. Zaslav suggested it wasn’t worthy of a theatrical release.
“We’re not going to launch a movie until it’s ready,” he said. “We’re not going to launch a movie to make a quarter, and we’re not going to put a movie out unless we believe in it.”
He added: “We’re going to focus on quality…The objective is to grow the DC brand, to grow the DC characters. But also, our job is to protect the DC brand. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
Now, insiders are saying that Warner Bros. Pictures Group executives are entertaining the idea of bringing Grace back as Batgirl in a future DC film, or, as Variety puts it, “another Warner Bros. production.”
So, does that mean Warner Bros. would try to remake Batgirl, this time as a theatrical release? Or would they give her some screen time in something like Wonder Woman 3, perhaps, like Sasha Calle’s Supergirl is getting in The Flash? Maybe it means that to mend their relationship with Grace, they’ll cast her in one of their future non-DC movies.
Whatever the case may be, would Leslie Grace even be interested in another gig after the way Warner Bros. Discover has treated her and Batgirl? Only time will tell what direction the company is ultimately headed with its DC properties, but maybe that’ll include Grace, someone who deserves a lot more than a cameo in a superhero post-credit scene.