Michael Keaton Says of Axed BATGIRL Movie - "I Didn't Care One Way Or Another. Big, Fun, Nice Check"
Michael Keaton has had a big return to the role of Batman in recent years. After playing the iconic superhero in 1989 and 1992 in Batman and Batman Returns, and being named one of the best to play the role, Keaton returned for the great DC film The Flash last year, but he was also set up to be in a couple of other projects as well.
Keaton shot scenes for both Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which pretty much fell apart with the sale of Warner Bros. and the changing hands of DC, and Batgirl, which was famously scrapped by WB.
He returned to don the cape and cowl for each of these projects, but was left without a final product, and many fans were bummed out by that. But how did Keaton feel about the whole thing? Not too bad, as it turns out.
During a recent interview with GQ magazine, the actor revealed that he wasn’t too upset when Warner Bros. scrapped the release of Batgirl, in which the actor reprised his iconic role of Batman opposite Leslie Grace in the title role.
The studio shelved the film in August 2022 in a cost-cutting move. The $90 million-budgeted film was already shot and through post-production when the decision was made, which came as a shock to the industry. It was widely reported that a tax incentive was a driving force behind the decision to kill Batgirl.
When Keaton was asked if he was disappointed in the film’s axing, he replied, “No, I didn’t care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check.” GQ noted that Keaton was also “rubbing his fingers together in the universal gesture for ‘moolah.'”
“I like those boys. They’re nice guys,” he added on a softer note about Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. “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.”
It’s no surprise that this film’s lack of release was no big deal to Keaton. He wasn’t counting on its success for his career in any way. But it would have been fun to see him suit up again. He was great in The Flash, and I hope to see him as Bruce Wayne again one day.
via: Variety