While the notorious caped crusader Batman has had many an incarnation, we have seldom seen Batgirl in the lead. So to say that the cancellation of her first live-action movie is disappointing would be an understatement.
In The Heights star Leslie Grace was set to play the titular vigilante, aka Barbara Gordon, who is also the daughter of police commissioner Jim Gordon (JK Simmons), while none other than Michael Keaton would reprise his role as Batman.
Fans have been teased with plenty of updates and images of the cast in action, including some of Grace in her (satisfyingly) comics-accurate Batsuit, so it's a little difficult to accept that we won't actually be seeing it next year as planned.
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It's not uncommon for previously announced projects to be shelved (DC's live-action movie Wonder Twins was cancelled earlier this year), but what is shocking is the fact that Batgirl had already finished filming, was in post-production, and was scheduled to be released on HBO Max in the US.
In other words, the movie was nearly completed and was already gaining traction. So why would Warner Bros Discovery cancel it when they were so close to the finish line?
Answer: Money, of course – or so it seems.
A company statement stressed that the decision was "not a reflection" on the performance of its "incredibly talented" lead star and was instead the result of a change in strategy at the company, which has also scrapped Scoob! Holiday Haunt.
"The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership's strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max," said a Warner Bros spokesperson in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter).
"Leslie Grace is an incredibly talented actor and this decision is not a reflection of her performance. We are incredibly grateful to the filmmakers of Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt and their respective casts and we hope to collaborate with everyone again in the near future."
According to Deadline, the primary reason for the cancellation of Batgirl was Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav's rejection of former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar's strategy, which involved a heavy emphasis on building streaming subscriptions for HBO Max through original content.
This included the controversial decision to simultaneously release the studio's entire 2021 theatrical slate – including Dune, Godzilla Vs Kong, King Richard and The Matrix Resurrections – on the streamer at a time when cinema attendance was low due to the pandemic.
Instead, Zaslav wanted to commit to releasing first-run feature films in cinemas before releasing them on the streaming service.
However, this backfired as Batgirl wasn't considered big enough or designed to compete with tentpole theatrical releases, unlike other DC projects such as The Flash and Aquaman 2, despite the film edging close to a $100 million budget after reshoots and COVID delays.
The issue with spending the money to expand the scope of Batgirl for cinemas is that it reportedly would nearly double the film's budget, which would be out of the question for a company supposedly newly focused on "belt-tightening and the bottom line", according to Variety.
Unfortunately, this means the studio has reportedly decided that cancelling the movie was the best way to recoup costs, most likely because it will qualify for a tax write-down. If this turns out to be the case, then it would prevent Batgirl from being released on HBO Max in future or being sold to another distributor.
It's not the news we wanted or expected, but we'll keep our fingers crossed for the possibility of seeing some snippets of what was filmed in the future...
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Social Executive, Entertainment Portfolio After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022, where she wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona continued contributing to the site as a freelance reporter, becoming social executive for the Hearst UK entertainment portfolio in summer 2025. Iona now leads the DS social channels, covering red carpets with stars such as Paul Mescal, Austin Butler, and more.
