Michael Keaton recently sat down with GQ Magazine to talk his upcoming film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, his career, and the topic of the shelved Batgirl movie. He told them that he wasn’t too upset when the movie was shelved. It was supposed to be the first time he’d reprise the role of Batman since Batman Returns. Leslie Grace was set to star as Batgirl, but Warner Bros. shelved the project in August 2022 because of tax-saving reasons. The $90 million film was already through principal photography and was in post-production. Here’s what Keaton had to say.
“No, I didn’t care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check.” GQ also notes that Keaton was rubbing his fingers together in the universal gesture for money. “I like those boys. They’re nice guys. I pull for them. I want them to succeed, and I think they felt very badly, and that made me feel bad. Me? I’m good.”
The directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah had their work taken away from them, but they’re since landed on their feet, directing two Bad Boys movies and working on Ms. Marvel for Marvel. Batgirl was supposed to bring back Keaton’s Batman as a steward for their upcoming DC film universe. Instead, WB changed plans, he showed up in The Flash instead and that was his only appearance as the character.
Now, of course, DC Films is on a different path; they’ve shed the previous characters and creatives involved with the franchise, like Zack Snyder and the actors associated with those roles. Now James Gunn and Peter Safran are in charge of the division and they’ve got big plans for DC. Their first stage of the plan is Gods and Monsters with movies like Superman, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and shows like Creature Commandos and Peacemaker season two. It doesn’t look like Keaton’s Batman is part of those plans.
Batgirl was written off for tax purposes, which means that it’ll never see the light of day for the public. It’s a shame and an incredibly anti-creative move by Warner Bros. to take work that so many people put their heart and soul into. Hopefully it’s the end of the practice, but as they’ve shown, WB and other studios have already done the practice with finished shows and movies.
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Source: GQ Magazine
