Brendan Fraser Says BATGIRL Should Not Be Judged on Its Early Unfinished Test Screenings
As Brendan Fraser is out making the press rounds for his Oscar nomination for The Whale, he is being asked a lot about Batgirl. In a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show, the actor, who played the villain Firefly in the movie, offered some insight on the screening process for the movie and how the film shouldn’t have been judged in its early unfinished form. He argues that the movie wasn’t given a fair showing.
This comes after DC Studios Co-CEO Peter Safran said the “film was not releasable” and that “it would have hurt DC.” If the movie was unfinished, then yeah, of course, that makes sense. But, if the movie would have been able to actually be completed, I’m not so sure that would have been the case. Fraser said:
"They all say really good things about it. But the thing about it was it was screened in a garden-variety test screening. It was a director's cut, a first cut, it wasn't finished. I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't eat half-baked cake. I don't want to see something that's not ready yet. The sad thing is that I don't know if it was judged on merit. It wasn't shown in the best light that it could have been. I mean, yes, once you give a film to the people and the world, it's open season to criticize or praise it or whatever you want. But this didn't even really get a fair shake."
Fraser went on to say that the decision to scrap the movie was "disappointing," and added that he’s sad the fans won’t get to see Leslie Grace’s performance as Batgirl and praised her saying:
"Little girls are gonna have to wait longer now before they can see a Batgirl who they can identify that says 'hey she looks just like me too' in Leslie Grace and she was wonderful. Oh gosh, she was good, really terrific. She's a firecracker. Like dynamite comes in small packages for a reason. She's a dynamo."
Safran said, “I actually think that [president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery David] Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it.” Bold and courageous so they could write it off for tax purposes? Ok. I’m not buying it. I was actually excited about this movie, and it would’ve been nice if it would have gotten a fair shake, but what’s done is done.