Brendan Fraser opens up about cancelled Batgirl film: ‘It’s tragic’
Brendanr Fraser was reportedly not happy with the films cancellation. (Getty)
Everyone’s favourite Mummy actor Brendan Fraser still isn’t happy about Warner Bros cancelling Batgirl.
The film was shelved in August despite having already been completed, after officials claimed early test screenings didn’t bode well for the film.
It was to star Leslie Grace as the titular female caped crusader as well as JK Simmons as her father, detective James Gordon. It also would have introduced DC Films’ first transgender character, played by Ivory Aquino.
Fraser would have played the villain Firefly. He vented his frustration about the film’s cancellation in an interview with Variety, saying that “it’s tragic.”
“It doesn’t engender trust among filmmakers and the studio,” he said. “Leslie Grace was fantastic. She’s a dynamo, just a spot-on performer.
“Everything that we shot was real and exciting and just the antithesis of doing a straightforward digital all-green screen thing. They ran firetrucks around downtown Glasgow at three in the morning, and they had flame throwers.”
The film reportedly exceeded its $70 million budget, with spending soaring to more than $100 million before it was shelved according to reports from The New York Post. It’s widely believed the company thought it would make more financial sense to use the film as a tax write-off – which means it can never be released.
A source said that Warner Bros Discovery believed an “unspeakable” Batgirl film would be “irredeemable” to the public.
Fraser seemingly disagreed while commending directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, saying: “Everything that Adil and Bilall shot felt real and exciting,” adding that “it was a big-budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials.”
I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process! To every Batgirl fan – THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, “my own damn hero!” #Batgirl for life! ? pic.twitter.com/4D9ZM87Ytu
— Leslie Grace (@lesliegrace) August 4, 2022
After Batgirl’s cancellation, Leslie Grace paid a heartfelt tribute to the cast, saying in a tweet: “I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process!
“THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, ‘My own damn hero!'”
In a similarly disappointing fashion, the highly-anticipated adaptation of Supergirl is also unlikely to go ahead according to August reports.
Brendan Fraser film criticised
Brendan Fraser is currently promoting The Whale, in which he controversially dons a fat suit to play a 600lb gay man.
Criticism has come from Mean Girls‘ Daniel Franseze, who told People: “I love Brendan Fraser, [so] I’m very conflicted.
“Seeing him get up so modest in Venice and have that moment, I was very happy for him. He’s a lovely man. And it’s great. But why? Why go up there and wear a fat suit?”
