The cast of the live-action Batgirl movie are reportedly “humiliated” after it was announced their flick won’t be released — which they claim they didn’t even know until they saw it in the news. Yikes.
ICYMI, Batgirl was completely “shelved” after test audiences absolutely fkn hated it. It was rated “in the 30s” out of 100. Ouch. An inside source told The New York Post HBO had decided it was “irredeemable” and cut its losses by axing the whole movie — which cost AUD$101 million to make, by the way.
But no one is more devastated by the news than the actual cast who, until the news broke on Tuesday, had no idea their movie would never see the light of day.
“They had no idea the movie was being shelved,” a film industry source told The New York Post.
Apparently the angry actors said the whole ordeal was “humiliating” and “disappointing” — especially since they were the last to find out the tragic news.
Brendan Fraser was literally still answering questions about his role as Firefly in the film at GalaxyCon on Saturday. I can’t imagine how awkward that must feel now. Was… no one going to tell them at all?
Apparently so.
Even the directors of the film Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi didn’t know their movie was canned until this week.
“We are shocked and saddened by the news,” they said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
“We still can’t believe it.”
The lead actress of the Batgirl film, Leslie Grace, has since taken to Instagram to break her silence on the whole shemozzle. Posting a carousel of behind-the-scenes videos and shots from the film’s production, Leslie wrote:
“Querida familia! On the heels of the recent news about our movie “Batgirl,” I am proud of the love, hard work and intention all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film over 7 months in Scotland.
“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!”
Before Batgirl was ruthlessly killed, it was going to hit the box office instead of being released on HBO Max. Apparently this wasn’t just because DC wanted that blockbuster vibe — The Post reported chief content officer of HBO and HBO Max Casey Bloys “did not want [Batgirl] anywhere near his streaming service”. Wow.
The worst part about this whole debacle is the disappointment of fans from diverse backgrounds.
The Batgirl cast was led by Afro-Latina actress Leslie Grace and included Ivory Aquino as transgender vigilante Alysia Yeoh. Fallah and El Arbi are Belgian directors of Morrocon descent and they’re also Muslim, so this whole project could have been a huge win for viewers looking for representation.
What a fkn shame.
