‘Batgirl’ begins: HBO Max movie production officially underway

Fans of the DC Extended Universe will be excited to know that the forthcoming Batgirl movie coming to HBO Max has officially begun filming.

The news comes to us straight from co-director Adil El Arbi’s Instagram page, in which the director shared the on-set clapperboard.

“Day One of #BATGIRL 🦇 !!! Al Hamdoulillah 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 #drarriesunited #dc,” Arbi wrote in the caption of the post.

It’s also somewhat interesting to see some of the behind-the-scenes tidbits of the movie, such as the fact that it will be filmed in 60 frames-per-second, rather than the more movie-traditional 24. That choice somewhat makes sense when you consider that the film is the DCEU’s first full-length movie designed exclusively for streaming, AKA TV screens.

We also get an eyeful of one of the props from the movie: a desk name plate that reads “Officer Barbara Gordon.”

The titular hero will be played by In the Heights star Leslie Grace as the daughter of Gotham Police Commissioner James Gordon, a character who will be reprised by J.K. Simmons, the Academy Award-winning actor who got inexplicably jacked to play the part in 2017’s Justice League (as well as the Zack Snyder redux released earlier this year).

The film will be co-directed by Arbi and Bilall Fallah with a script from Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson.

Fan favorite Brendan Fraser will also co-star in the movie as the villain Garfield Lynns, AKA Firefly.

There’s not an official release date for Batgirl just yet, but it’s expected to come out sometime next year. We’ll keep you updated on all of the movie’s developments in the meantime.