Audiences were finally given their first peek at Michael Keaton’s return to the cape and cowl in the trailer and Super Bowl TV spot for The Flash. He was to continue his journey in the Batgirl movie before…well, you know…happened. Recently, DC Films’ Peter Safran made the claim that he watched a cut of the film before being locked away and deemed it to be not only unreleasable but saying it would have hurt the brand. Variety is now reporting that the film’s star, Leslie Grace, is rejecting that notion.
The Batgirl actress tells Variety that she was given the chance to watch the most completed version of the movie and doesn’t agree with Safran’s take at all. “I got to see the film as far as it got to; the film wasn’t complete by the time that it was tested. There were a bunch of scenes that weren’t even in there. They were at the beginning of the editing process, and they were cut off because of everything going on at the company. But the film that I got to see — the scenes that were there — was incredible. There was definitely potential for a good film, in my opinion. Maybe we’ll get to see clips of it later on.”
James Gunn had announced the slate of projects DC would be putting out for the beginning of its new universe. Predictably, Batgirl was not announced as a priority, but Grace was still inquired if she had spoken to Gunn or Safran, as they’d met with both Henry Cavill and Dwayne Johnson after they jettisoned their future plans, but wanted to maintain good spirits. Grace says, “No, I haven’t heard from them. But I wish them the best on all the plans that they’ve got rolling out. They’ve got a lot of projects to handle, and it’s not an easy job.”
Grace also says that at the time of wrapping the project, her co-star, Brendan Fraser, who played the villain, Firefly, had given her a wrap gift that included a card and a necklace with a couple of charms — a bell and a pair of dice. “The card said a lot of really sweet things, but he basically said, ‘I give you this necklace because in this business you gotta have a little luck. So ring your bell and never stop. It was just like, Whoa. And after all this, it’s had so much meaning.”