Brendan Fraser is once again calling out the decision that kept Batgirl locked away from audiences. The Oscar winner, who played the villain Firefly in the shelved DC film, says Warner Bros’ choice to scrap the completed movie is a clear example of how Hollywood has begun to treat films as commodities, not cultural works.
Fraser spoke candidly in a new interview about the episode that stunned the industry in 2022 when Warner Bros killed Batgirl in what the studio described as a strategic shift. The film, which starred Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon, had finished principal photography and was already deep into post production when the decision came down.
For Fraser, the issue has always been bigger than a single film. He says the cancellation reflected a worrying direction in the industry where studios increasingly view their projects in purely transactional terms. In his words, the Batgirl decision signalled a shift to an environment where “it is more valuable to burn it down and get the insurance” than to release a completed movie to the public.
Fraser said the cast and crew poured months of work into a project that deserved to be seen. He described the experience as a painful reminder that creative labour, no matter how dedicated, can be erased by corporate priorities disconnected from audiences and storytelling.
The cancellation instantly became one of the most controversial decisions in recent studio history. Executives positioned it as a financial and strategic move during the company’s transition under new leadership. Analysts at the time pointed to tax write off incentives and internal restructuring, which made unreleased content more profitable than attempting a full theatrical or streaming rollout.
Fraser argues that the larger concern is what this logic means for the future of filmmaking. If content becomes valuable primarily as an asset to be written off rather than a story to be shared, he says the industry risks losing its creative soul. It is a sentiment shared by many filmmakers who worry that mid budget projects and original stories have become vulnerable in an era where corporations increasingly prioritise intellectual property management and quarterly results.
