Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Says Company Made "the Right Decision" Shelving Batgirl

When Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav shelved DC's Batgirl as a cost-cutting measure, new DC Studios co-chair Peter Safran called the controversial decision a "courageous" one. "That film was not releasable," the Aquaman and Shazam! producer told press during DC Studios' slate reveal earlier this year. "I actually think that Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it because it would have hurt DC. It would have hurt those people involved." Appearing at The New York Times Dealbook Summit in New York on Wednesday, Zaslav agreed, saying it took "courage" to axe the $90 million Batgirl. 

"What content is going to help us win? The content that wasn't, we made a strategic decision on," Zaslav said, according to The Verge. "It was difficult and it was painful. But I think it was the right decision for the company and it was necessary."

Originally ordered for the HBO Max streaming service, Batgirl was reportedly budgeted at $80 million before costs rose to nearly $90 million due to COVID-19 protocols. It was later reported that the studio would save between $15 million – $20 million by opting to take a tax write-down rather than release the movie, which had completed filming but not post-production. Scrapping Batgirl — and the $40 million animated movie Scoob! Holiday Haunt — was part of Zaslav's company-wide cost-cutting measures to pare down $3 billion in debt post-merger.

Batgirl starred Leslie Grace (In the Heights) in the titular role of Barbara Gordon. The cast also included Michael Keaton (The Flash), reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman, J.K. Simmons (Justice League) as Barbara's father, GCPD Commissioner James Gordon, and Brendan Fraser (The Whale) as the pyromaniac villain Firefly. Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah later confirmed that Warner Bros. Discovery purged the film from its servers — any and all Batgirl footage was "gone."

"The guys from Warners told us it was not a talent problem from our part or the actress, or even the quality of the movie," El Arbi told the French outlet SKRIPT. "They told us it was a strategic change. There was new management, and they wanted to save some money."

"The decision to not release Batgirl reflects our leadership's strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max," a Warner Bros. spokesperson said in a statement at the time. "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."

Warner Bros. Discovery came under fire earlier this month when it was reported that live-action/animated hybrid Coyote vs. Acme, starring John Cena and Wile E. Coyote, would join Batgirl in the studio vault rather than release in theaters or stream on MAX. The Looney Tunes movie was to be shelved because the relaunched Warner Bros. Animation shifted its "global strategy to focus on theatrical releases," a spokesperson said. But that decision was reversed: unlike Batgirl, Warner Bros. is reportedly shopping Coyote vs. Acme to rival streamers.