Batgirl (2022)

[thecolorsblend]

As a general note, we keep hearing about Zaslav's "ten year plan" for DC on film.

Something we should all keep in mind is that DC characters are going to begin entering the public domain. Superman in 2034, Batman in 2035, Wonder Woman in 2036 and so forth.

That doesn't mean that WBD will "lose" the characters. But it does mean that everyone else will gain them (or gain pieces anyway).

In my opinion, that reality does a lot to explain why so many seemingly rash decisions are being made right now. Zaslav's supposed ten year plan has twelve years in which it can be executed while WBD retains a monopoly on DC characters.

It's tempting to suggest that the copyright law could be extended. It's happened before. But I think it's highly unlikely to happen this time.

Because Disney would probably have to lead the charge on that. Because I'm betting that nobody else has the funds at the moment. But there are a lot of reasons why Disney is powerless this time to change the law. They're long and tedious reasons so I'll skip them.

But what it all comes down to is that once Steamboat Willy becomes public domain (which will happen on January 01, 2024), the dam will have broken. And after that, I'd be shocked if entertainment media companies are able to successfully lobby for changes in copyright law ever again. If Disney can't get it done now for Mickey Mouse/Steamboat Willy (and they can't), why would a less influential company be successful in protecting a (by definition) lesser IP?

Which means that Zaslav's career is probably riding on his ten year plan being an unqualified success. I can only imagine the pressure he's under.

I say all of the above to point out that these crazy decisions WBD is making actually make a certain amount of business sense. I think I better understand now what Zaslav is up to. And if I'm right, he's betting literally everything on his ten year plan. So, don't expect him to be in a warm, compromising mood in the years to come. If anything, he'll probably only become even more hard-nosed going forward.

[The Dark Knight]

Are the current decisions crazy? Not really - it's the former regime who allowed things to evolve to that point. It led to Supergirl replacing Cavill and Batgirl taking the prominent Batman role. If the bull wasn't taken by the horns right now the original Snyder trinity was gone forever. Keaton is always going to have my respect as Batman, and that much is obvious for all of us here. But if there's the real possibility of a Justice League reformation with Cavill, Affleck, Gadot and others I'm dropping everything and going with that. Scrapping the Batgirl movie is very small potatoes when you look at the big picture, which removes the idea Zaslav is being reckless. It's calculated and necessary. Get the current slate released and then get the ball rolling with the films the fans really want to see, namely a true Man of Steel sequel. If that's what happens I can see him turning things around dramatically.

[The Laughing Fish]

Batgirl was supposed to wear a second costume in this canceled film, which means that original costume was supposed to be homemade.



Still looks like a CW costume, but at least it looks a bit better.

Leslie Grace has dismissed Peter Safran and Zaslav's claim the film got canceled because it was unwatchable and defended the project.
https://variety.com/2023/film/columns/leslie-grace-batgirl-canceled-interview-dc-studios-1235519751/

I never once cared for the premise for this film because of its shoehorning of Keaton and Simmons together. Still, I have to question Safran for publicly sh*tting on this film and how unreleasable it was when the writer - Christina Hodson - is reportedly on the writing committee for the half-assed DCU reboot.

Not exactly professional, is it?

[eledoremassis02]

Video of Keaton on set
https://twitter.com/ImRealSALTi/status/1671025336702713856?s=20

[Silver Nemesis]

Video of Keaton on set
https://twitter.com/ImRealSALTi/status/1671025336702713856?s=20

It's crazy how good Keaton looks in the suit, even now in his seventies. There's something about his face that's extremely complementary to the mask. No other actor has ever looked as cool wearing it.

Two things we didn't get to see in The Flash: Keaton resuming his public Bruce Wayne persona, and the Batmobile in action. Batgirl would've delivered on both of those scores. It also would have given us another fight scene in the sequence where Batman saves Gordon. Just seeing Batman back in his element – the dark rooftops and alleyways of Gotham – would have made it worth watching.

This movie might well have been terrible, but I'd still like to see it. This was meant to be Keaton's fourth Batman movie (not counting his Aquaman cameo), so if The Flash was his Batman Forever then this would've been his Batman & Robin.

Think about it. Snow. Batgirl. A villain with a temperature-based weapon. Apparently it sucks. This really would've been Keaton's B&R.

Did they recreate the cathedral set from B89?

[The Dark Knight]

There's something so sad about seeing Keaton smiling in the tuxedo, knowing he filmed that Batgirl content in good faith.

[The Joker]

This movie might well have been terrible, but I'd still like to see it. This was meant to be Keaton's fourth Batman movie (not counting his Aquaman cameo), so if The Flash was his Batman Forever then this would've been his Batman & Robin.

Think about it. Snow. Batgirl. A villain with a temperature-based weapon. Apparently it sucks. This really would've been Keaton's B&R.

There is a curiosity with this. Absolutely. A movie, featuring Keats as Batman, that is now "Lost Media", will always remain enticing to see. No matter the quality of the film itself. It's not exactly on the same level as "London After Midnight" for me, but it's still very intriguing.

Did they recreate the cathedral set from B89?

Sure looks like it.

(Looks like twitter deleted the pictures, but I have the same pics saved on my tablet)

Now I have to speculate on what the context was for this scene? Especially for such a specific location. Was Jack Nicholson's Joker mentioned or alluded to?!?

[DocLathropBrown]

I don't think that's supposed to be Gotham Cathedral... the design is too different. I think it's a different bell tower or perhaps Barbara's clock tower.

There are few things I want to leak more than this, dammit. Maybe the assembly cut of Forever that Kevin Smith is showing off.

[The Laughing Fish]

Word of advice for anyone who finds leaked images: always put them in an image hosting service. Never copy the links from Twitter, they will always get struck down due to copyright.

I find it very curious these images were leaked while The Flash is currently bombing hard at the box office. A little too much of a coincidence, I reckon. I remember the directors said last year they tried to find footage to salvage, but the film was already removed from the server. So, who leaked these images, and what was their motive for doing so?

[Silver Nemesis]

I've read a leaked plot breakdown of the Batgirl movie, and I thought I'd post details about Batman's role in this thread in case anyone's interested. I won't bother marking this in white, since the film might never be released. But if you're holding out hope that it will be, and want to avoid spoilers, then stop reading now. If you're not bothered about spoilers, and you want to know what Batman's role would have been like, then read on. I can't guarantee that the following details are one hundred percent accurate. This is leaked info, after all. But I think it's mostly on point.

So the basic plot is about Barbara Gordon becoming Batgirl and avenging herself against Firefly, who started the fire in which her mother died. It sounds like her origin story in the film follows the comics fairly closely, with her making her costumed debut during a battle with Killer Moth after she attends a fancy dress party. According to leaks, one of the costumes she tries on before the party is a version of the Batman '89 suit. It's described as looking far too big on her, and there's a scene where she wears it in front of a mirror while impersonating Batman.

One person who attended a test screening said that the wintry Gotham looks like the version from Batman Returns. In general, the movie is said to be visually closer to the Burton films than The Flash was.

While Keaton effectively co-starred in The Flash, he reportedly has far less screen time in Batgirl. Batman plays a supporting role in the story and appears in five scenes altogether.

His first scene takes place at the beginning of the film and is set during Barbara's childhood, where she sees Batman and Gordon fighting a group of criminals. This is the scene they were filming when the first pics of the new batsuit appeared online. Keaton uses some kind of bat-spray during the fight as well as a batarang. His fight double is Ashley Beck, who also doubled for him in The Flash. There's no word on whether he's digitally de-aged, but based on Barbara's age Bruce would be in his forties or fifties at this point and still relatively in his prime.

Keaton's second scene takes place in the present, where he appears as the older Bruce Wayne. He's attending a public event in his playboy persona when Killer Mother appears and tries to assassinate him. Fortunately Batgirl shows up and saves the day.

This is what Killer Moth looks like in the movie. This is his stunt double.

After failing to assassinate Bruce, Killer Mother is murdered by Firefly.

Keaton's third scene occurs later when Batgirl is leaping across the rooftops. Batman snares her leg with his grapple gun and pulls her to the ground. He makes some remark about her needing to land on her feet and throws shade at her for being a novice. Batman then gets into the Batmobile and drives off, not realising that Batgirl has stolen his grapple gun while they were talking.

His fourth scene takes place on a rooftop where Batgirl summons him with the Bat-Signal. She's in over her head and needs help fighting Firefly. He tells her she needs to learn to cope on her own and leaves her to it.

His fifth and final scene takes place right at the end of the movie, after Batgirl has defeated Firefly. Barbara sets up her headquarters in a clock tower (like Oracle in the comics), which architecturally resembles the cathedral bell tower from the 1989 movie. Batman goes there and gives her a new armoured costume. The movie ends with Batgirl and Batman leaping off the building and activating their cape gliders. It sounds like the final shot of Batman Begins, where Baleman swoops over the camera with his glider, only here it's Batman and Batgirl gliding together.

So that's the extent of Keaton's role. It sounds like he would have had maybe ten minutes of screen time altogether. One scene as Bruce Wayne and four scenes as Batman. We would have seen him driving the Batmobile again, and we would've seen him fighting a gang on the streets of Gotham.

One screening attendee recently posted that the film was not as bad as reports have indicated. He said it was a decent 6/10 film that needed reshoots, just like any other movie does at that stage of production, but that it wasn't the irredeemable wreck the studio has made it out to be.

It's also been said that the film doesn't really make sense in light of The Flash's ending. The original Flash ending, featuring Keaton, was meant to set up Batgirl by establishing that the Flashpoint and DCEU realities have merged. That's why Simmons' Gordon is working with Keaton's Batman. But since the studio decided to use the Clooney ending instead, it would now be harder for them to release Batgirl without confusing the audience.

I'll end this post with the following pic, which I don't think we've discussed before now.

Is that an image of a young Oswald in the background, perhaps from his days performing with the Red Triangle Circus?