DC Studios Boss Peter Safran Says It Was The Right Call To Cancel ‘Batgirl’: “That Film Was Not Releasable”

There have been plenty of words written about the cancellation of the “Batgirl” movie, which was one of the biggest news stories of 2022. At the time, it seemed unfathomable that a studio would cancel such an expensive project during post-production and shelve it without anyone ever seeing it. Since then, Warner Bros. Discovery went ahead and canceled a number of other projects after filming was completed, in an attempt to recoup some money with tax write-offs. But there’s something about “Batgirl” that still stings, especially in the minds of comic book fans. However, according to one of the new bosses of DC Studios, despite being an unpopular decision, the “Batgirl” cancellation was the right move. 

In an interview (via Variety), Peter Safran, the co-CEO of DC Studios spoke up about the decision to cancel the “Batgirl” film while it was already in post-production. While he understands that the decision might have hurt people’s feelings, he’s concerned that releasing the film might have hurt the DC brand and the careers of those involved. 

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“Batgirl’s a character that inevitably we will include in our story,” Safran said. “On the Batgirl front, it’s not about late in the process of the film getting canceled. I saw the movie, and there are a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera on that film. But that film was not releasable, and it happens sometimes. That film was not releasable. I actually think that [president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery David] Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it because it would have hurt DC. It would have hurt those people involved.”

He continued, “I think that they really stood up to support DC. The characters, the story, the quality of all of that. I spoke to Adil [El Arbi] and Bilall [Fallah] — the directors — last week, we were chatting. We’d love to be in business with all those folks. Christina Hodson wrote it. Some people are already back in business with us. As I said, a lot of talented people were involved, but the film just was not releasable. It would not have been able to compete in the theatrical marketplace; it was built for the small screen. So, again, I think it was not an easy decision, but they made the right decision by shelving it.”

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As he said, Batgirl is likely going to show up at some point in the new DCU. Obviously, that will likely not be the same version played by Leslie Grace, but the character will have a future. And it would appear, at least in the early stages, that folks who worked on the canceled film have landed on their feet. The directors, El Arbi and Fallah, are already attached to other projects, including “Bad Boys 4.” And Leslie Grace is still riding high off her breakout performance in “West Side Story.” Of course, we can’t forget Brendan Fraser, who is up for an Oscar for his work in “The Whale” and seems to be more popular than ever before.

So, in that sense, maybe WBD’s decision was exactly what was needed. And we already know the future of the DCU looks to be very bright, indeed.