Michael Keaton says he did not care about WB cancelling Batgirl as he got a "nice check" for shooting it

In an interview piece published by GQ on August 19, actor Michael Keaton said he wasn’t disappointed when Warner Bros withheld the Batgirl movie. His reason was that he had received the pay as the movie was already shot. This was the second time the actor had reprised his role as Batman, first in the 2023 movie The Flash and then in the unreleased Batgirl.

The movie was already in the post-production stage when the decision to stop its release was taken as a cost-cutting step. It had a budget of $90 million. When asked whether the fate of the movie was disheartening to him or not, the actor replied,

“No, I didn't care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check.”

While talking about Batgirl’s directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, he said he liked them and that they are "nice guys."

“I pull for them. I want them to succeed, and I think they felt very badly, and that made me feel bad. Me? I’m good”, said Michael Keaton.

The actor played the iconic role, first in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman and then in Batman Returns, which was released in 1992. Keaton reunited with the director for his upcoming release, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a sequel to the 1988 movie Beetlejuice.

In the interview with GQ, the actor said Tim Burton liked him because of his energy. He also added that the director told him that his eyes show signs that he is "intelligent, scary, and crazy all at once."

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Leslie Grace was supposed to make her debut as the titular character in Batgirl beside Michael Keaton

In the movie, the titular character, also known as Barbara Gordon, was played by Leslie Grace. Other than Keaton, JK Simmons was also set to reprise his role as James Gordon. As per a report by Radiotimes.com, although details regarding the plot were not released, Michael Keaton’s role would have been to mentor Barbara.

DC Studios' new head, Peter Safran, said shelving the movie was the right decision at a press event in January 2023. The new head also added that Warner Bros' CEO and president, David Zaslav, made a bold move by shelving the movie.

“Batgirl’s a character that inevitably we will include in our story. On the Batgirl front, it’s not about late in the process of the film getting canceled. I saw the movie, and there are a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera on that film. But that film was not releasable, and it happens sometimes”, said Peter Safran.

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Michael Keaton’s upcoming film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, directed by Tim Burton, is slated to be released on September 6, 2024. The film features a star-studded cast that includes Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, and other big names alongside Keaton.