Warner Bros. puts Batgirl back into development with Bumblebee writer

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

A little over a year ago, Warner Bros. tasked Joss Whedon with developing a standalone Batgirl movie which he would write and direct, but Whedon ended up departing the project in February after admitting that he was having difficulties cracking the story. "Batgirl is such an exciting project, and Warners/DC such collaborative and supportive partners, that it took me months to realize I really didn't have a story," Whedon said in a statement at the time. "I'm grateful to Geoff and Toby and everyone who was so welcoming when I arrived, and so understanding when I…uh, is there a sexier word for 'failed'?" THR's sources also added that, "in today's cultural environment, a male filmmaker may have faced greater public scrutiny if he were to have tackled a movie with lead characters of such feminist importance as Batgirl or Wonder Woman, much like a white filmmaker would have seen backlash taking on the Black Panther movie."

Now, THR reports that Warner Bros. have put the BATGIRL movie back into development and they've tasked Christina Hodson with penning a new script featuring Barbra Gordon, daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon. Hodson has penned UNFORGETTABLE which starred Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson, as well as SHUT IN starring Naomi Watts and Oliver Platt, but her biggest project will land later this year with BUMBLEBEE, a TRANSFORMERS spin-off. The BATGIRL movie wouldn't be Hodson's first association with the DC Universe, as she was also involved with developing the Harley Quinn/Birds of Prey SUICIDE SQUAD spin-off movie in 2016. It's exciting to see BATGIRL back in development, and it's been said that this is a high-priority project for the studio. Now, who should Warner Bros. snag to direct the film?

Back to BUMBLEBEE: THE MOVIE, the upcoming film stars Hailee Steinfeld (PITCH PERFECT 3) and John Cena (FERDINAND), and takes place in 1987 as Bumblebee finds himself on the run and taking refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.

BUMBLEBEE: THE MOVIE will hit theaters on December 21, 2018.