It’s taken time, but it looks like the Batgirl movie is moving ahead as they’ve found directors in Bad Boys For Life’s Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, as revealed by The Hollywood Reporter.
Birds of Prey and The Flash screenwriter Christina Hodson has penned the script on feature focusing on Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon, becoming part of the Bat-family as Batgirl.
It would mark the first time we’ve seen the character in live-action since 1997’s Batman & Robin, but we should NEVER talk about that.
The film will be hitting HBO Max in the States and most likely get a theatrical release in the UK similar to other Max original films.
El Arbi and Fallah have become hot property due to their work on the Bad Boys sequel bringing it through years of developmental hell to receive the best reviews in the series and become the highest-grossing film in the US (granted in a pandemic).
They bounced from that to be showrunners for the Marvel series Ms. Marvel, where they’ll helm the premiere and finale episodes.
I am surprised Warner Bros and DC didn’t hire a female director, as I thought Reed Morano would’ve been a great choice. I loved her work on The Rhythm Section, a film I hope (however unlikely) to see a sequel as she did a cracking job directing the action scenes.
Then again, it does feel like I was the only person ever to see it.
Yet, with Bad Boys behind them, the studio has clearly got the right people for the job and will bring Hodson’s writing to life.
As for the lead, it’s always to have Barbara at college age (18-21) and will be a role to launch a Hollywood career, or a top A-lister will lead.
The first couple of names that came to mind were Ella Balinska (Charlie’s Angels), Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart), Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit, Last Night In Soho), Ciara Bravo (Wayne, Cherry), Katherine McNamara (Arrow, The Stand) and Ella Purnell (Army Of The Dead).
Another name to throw into the mix is Olivia Rodrigo. She’s the biggest star in Hollywood right now due to her song Drivers Licence and the release of her cracking debut album Soul and has an acting background due to her work on Disney’s High Scholl Musical: The Musical.
The interesting question is who’ll be cast as Jim Gordon depending if they’ll want to keep it in the DCEU, which would likely mean J.K Simmons returning or will it change due to the events of The Flash.
Only time will tell, but I do hope it’s Simmons.
The Bear Cave 