J.K. Simmons On WBD’s “Bizarre” Decision To Shelf ‘Batgirl’ Movie: “Maybe We’ll Never Know”

Four years after Batgirl was pulled from the HBO Max release schedule, J.K. Simmons wants to see the DCEU entry released.

The Oscar winner, who starred as Commissioner James Gordon in the Adil El Arbi/Bilall Fallah-helmed movie, recently looked back on Warner Bros. and DC Films’ “bizarre” decision shelf the title amid the WBD merger.

“It’s bizarre,” he said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “Apparently, one test audience saw it, and you know, it wasn’t like it was a bad score from the test audience. It was a whatever business decision obviously, and then, Justice League, which was a very small part, had its own drama attached to it. But then Zack’s cut… the director’s cut came out, which the DC fans really love.”

Simmons added, “When Batgirl came along with Adil and Bilall, it was an exciting prospect to be part of the origin story of Batgirl. For those who don’t know, Commissioner Gordon’s daughter. Maybe we’ll never know… We really had a good time making it and thought it was going to be a fun superhero movie. Oh well.”

Starring Leslie Grace as the titular Gotham City desk cop turned vigilante, Batgirl also Brendan Fraser, Jacob Scipio and Ivory Aquino, as well as Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne from Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992).

Batgirl‘s shelving came amid WBD’s mandated purge of several completed HBO Max and theatrical projects, including Scoob!: Holiday Haunt and Coyote vs. Acme, which has finally found a distributor in Ketchup Entertainment.