Michael Keaton Weighs In On Batgirl Cancellation: "It Was A Business decision...I’m Going To Assume It Was A Good One"

Michael Keaton thinks the axing of Batgirl must have been a "business decision".

Keaton won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Emmy at the Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday (Sept 12) for his performance in Dopesick. It is his first Emmy win. 

His role as Dr Samuel Finnix had already won him the Choice Awards, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and Television Critics Association Awards. 

When asked backstage at the Emmys what he thought of the cancellation of HBO Max's Batgirl — where he reprised the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne — Keaton told Variety, "I think it was a business decision. I’m going to assume it was a good one. I really don’t know."

Last month, Warner Bros shelved Batgirl, which reportedly cost US$90 million (S$126 mil), to take a tax write-down. The movie, directed by Bad Boys For Life's Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, starred Leslie Grace as Batgirl, as well as JK Simmons and Brendan Fraser. 

Keaton will be donning the Batsuit again for Ezra Miller-starring Flash, which is slated to open in cinemas in June 2023.  Meanwhile, Fraser, who played villain Firefly in Batgirl, has also opened up about the movie's cancellation. 

“The fans really wanted to see this film made. Leslie Grace is a dynamo,” said Fraser at the Toronto International Film Festival where he was promoting The Whale, the drama which is picking up a lot of Oscar buzz for the actor. 

“The movie was shot and conceived for a smaller screen. In this age that we’ve come out of now between streaming service versus theatrical release, it wound up being the canary in the coal mine. What did we learn from this? Work with trusted filmmakers, like [The Whale director] Darren [Aronofsky].”

Dopesick is now streaming on Disney+.— BANG SHOWBIZ

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos