Beloved actorBrendan Fraserhas commented further on the sudden cancelation of theBatgirlmovie, describing the decision as “tragic.” Speaking withVariety, Fraser said that he feels that such decision-making negatively affects the trust between filmmakers and studios, before heaping praise on hisBatgirlco-star Leslie Grace.
“It’s tragic. It doesn’t engender trust among filmmakers and the studio. 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 3 in the morning and they had flamethrowers. It was a big-budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials.”
Batgirlwas being directed byBad Boys for Lifefilmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah from a screenplay by Christina Hodsonand would have starred Leslie Grace as Batgirl,alongside J. K. Simmons, Jacob Scipio, Rebecca Front, Corey Johnson, Ethan Kai, Michael Keaton, and Brendan Fraser as Firefly, the villain of the piece.
Batgirlwas unceremoniously canceled in August, and while details behind the decision have been somewhat vague, it seems thatBatgirl’s$90 million budget was ultimately determined to be more valuable as a tax write-off. It has also been reported thatBatgirl, which was due for release on HBO Max, went against the new mandate from CEO David Zaslav to make DC movies “big theatrical event films.”
Fraser continued, revealing that he never got seeBatgirlin whatever state it was in at the time. While he does say that directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah had put together a rough cut together, he does not “eat half-baked cake.” Fraser went on to praise the directors saying, “Everything that Adil and Bilall shot felt real and exciting.”
Batgirlwould have told the origin of the character amid small, personal stakes. Sadly, we will never find out how “real and exciting” Batgirl was.
Related:Brendan Fraser Gets Emotional While Accepting TIFF Tribute Award For The Whale
Brendan Fraser Will Next Appear in Oscar Favorite The Whale
Though it is now unlikely that we will ever see Brendan Fraser as a DC villain, the Brenaissance continues, withThe Mummystar now an Academy Award favorite for his performance in director Darren Aronofsky’sThe Whale. A performance that has already won Fraserseveral awardsandstanding ovations.
Based on the 2012 play by Samuel D. Hunter,The Whalewill find Brendan Fraser leading the latest outing from Darren Aronofsky as Charlie, a 600-pound middle-aged man who tries to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter. The two have grown apart after Charlie abandoned his family for his gay lover, who later died, which led to Charlie binge-eating out of pain and guilt.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Samuel D. Hunter,The Whalestars Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, and Ty Simpkins alongside Brendan Fraser with Sadie Sink, who is best known for starring in Netflix’sStranger Thingsand theFear Streettrilogy, starring as Ellie, Charlie’s daughter.
The Whalepremiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on June 26, 2025, and is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on August 08, 2025, by A24.
