James Gunn’s DCU Faces a Franchise Ending Nightmare: Batgirl Lawsuit Reveals Scrapped Project May Have Nearly Got an Extra Killed
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has been the co-CEO of DC Studios since November 2022. Ever since he took the position, he has helmed many DC movies such as Blue Beetle. He had also announced that he is working on a new Superman project which will focus on a younger version of the superhero.
DC Studios has not been doing too well lately due to the cold shoulder it received from the audience of Shazam: Fury of the Gods and Blue Beetle. Things have not exactly started looking up as the extra of a movie that was never released has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. due to the severe injury she suffered on the set of that movie.
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James Gunn’s DC Studios In Trouble
James Gunn keeps getting into controversies every once in a while. His insensitive jokes on the internet between 2008 and 2012 led to Disney firing him. However, he was rehired in March 2019. Earlier this year, his criticism of Tim Burton’s Batman and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight from Facebook, resurfaced on the internet causing a lot of backlash from fans.
Although a Batgirl movie was almost ready to be released, it was scrapped in the summer of 2022 much to the dismay of the fans who were eagerly waiting for it to hit the screens. Now, more than a year later, an extra Cristina Stanovici from the unreleased movie has come forward with the haunting accident that happened on the Scots set.
In an interview with The Sun, Cristina Stanovici revealed how a speeding motorbike allegedly ran into her during the filming of Batgirl. She recounted the alleged horrifying accident that led to her having a broken thigh, shin, hip, pelvis, and a thumb and a head gash. She could have allegedly died on the spot from the amount of injury she suffered.
Despite going through multiple surgeries in the past 18 months, Stanovici is allegedly still in pain and her leg will probably never be the same. She has filed a lawsuit against Batgirl‘s producers Warner Bros. as she continues to undergo surgery in hopes of getting better.
Peter Safran Defended Warner Bros. For Shelving Batgirl
Batgirl starring actress Leslie Grace was shelved by Warner Bros. after the company’s merger with Discovery was completed. However, at the time, the production house had offered no explanation for their decision. In late January 2023, newly appointed DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran insisted that it was the right decision.
During a press event on the Warner Bros. lot (via Variety), Peter Safran said:
“But that film was not releasable, and it happens sometimes. That film was not releasable. I actually think that [president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery David] Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it because it would have hurt DC. It would have hurt those people involved.”
Ironically, the ill-fated Batgirl movie did end up hurting Cristina Stanovici without getting released. Whether the extra will get her justice or not remains to be seen.
Source: The Sun, Press event on the Warner Bros. lot (via Variety)
