Batgirl (film)

Batgirl is an unreleased American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Barbara Gordon / Batgirl. Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah from a screenplay by Christina Hodson, the film starred Leslie Grace as Batgirl alongside J. K. Simmons, Jacob Scipio, Brendan Fraser, Michael Keaton, and Ivory Aquino. The film was intended to be part of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Kristin Burr produced the film for DC Films and the streaming service HBO Max.

Development of a Batgirl feature film began in March 2017 with Joss Whedon attached to write and direct, but he left the project a year later. Hodson was hired to write a new script in April 2018, with El Arbi and Fallah hired to direct in May 2021 when the film was confirmed as an HBO Max original. Grace was cast that July, and additional actors joined in the following months, with Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne / Batman from the earlier films Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), as well as the DCEU film The Flash (2023). Filming lasted from November 2021 to March 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland.

In August 2022, DC Films and HBO Max's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced that, while the film had entered post-production, the studio no longer planned to release it as scheduled due to the company's cost-cutting measures and a refocus on theatrical releases. The shelving of a nearly complete, big-budget film from a major studio was considered an unprecedented move and drew backlash from audiences, commentators, and some executives, while the creatives involved received support from industry professionals. Some United States lawmakers requested that the United States Department of Justice reconsider the WBD merger, citing its business practices, including the cancellation of the film.