Batgirl extra in near-fatal smash with motorbike sues Hollywood giant for £200k

It was supposed to be a dream opportunity to appear in a Hollywood blockbuster.

But movie extra Cristina Stanovici is now suing the Hollywood studio Warner Bros after she suffered devastating injuries when she was struck by a motorbike on the set of Batgirl in Glasgow.

To make matters worse, the movie was shelved after it was reported to have received negative test screenings amid a soaring budget.

The 36-year-old was told she was lucky to survive being mown down by an e-motorbike carrying a camera rig but has been left traumatised and in constant pain.

The marine engineer is now seeking £200,000 in damages plus interest and expenses from the production company behind the ill-fated film, which was never released.

The Hollywood studio behind the shelved movie Batgirl is being sued after an extra was hit by a motorbike

Movie extra Cristina Stanovici is suing Warner Bros after she was struck by a motorbike on the set of Batgirl in Glasgow

But she fears she will never fully recover and said: ‘I would pay ten times any amount if I could get my health back.’

Ms Stanovici, from Yoker, Glasgow, was hired as a paid extra on the set of Batgirl when the cast and crew were filming in the city in March 2022.

She joined an overnight shoot in Bothwell Street and she and other extras were told to stand on the pavement while a fire engine was filmed racing past.

Moments later, the e-motorbike filming the action shot struck her from her right-hand side and she was left in agony on the ground.

She said: ‘I lay there for almost an hour while they checked me and stabilised me. Unfortunately, I didn’t lose my consciousness.

‘The memory will forever traumatise me.

‘But even after all that I am still not 100 percent and I don’t think I will ever be.

‘The pain is there every day and something hurts all the time.’

Doctors at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary told Ms Stanovici that she came close to losing her life.

Her injuries included a broken femur, tibia and thumb, and she had hip and pelvis fractires and a laceration to her head.

An emergency operation was carried out to place a pin in her thigh and she needed five blood transfusions.

Ms Stanovici added: ‘It lasted more than five hours, I had five blood transfusions and I almost died.

‘To hear the anaesthesiologist say “we had our fingers crossed for you” really sends a chill down your spine.

‘The surgeon told me it was one of the worst cases he has seen in his eight years at the hospital.’

Her personal injury action is being pursued by Thompsons Solicitors against American Night Productions Ltd, a subsidiary of California-based Warner Bros.

Legal papers have been served at the company’s London headquarters.

Joel Shaw, a partner at Thompsons, said their evidence includes an expert testimony from a healthy and safety consultant and witnesses to an alleged near-miss involving the motorbike before Ms Stanovici was injured.

He said: ‘We have got statements from a couple of other people who were on set and one of them had a near-miss with the motorbike before Cristina was hit.

‘So that tells you they should have known because someone else nearly got injured by this bike.

‘At that point they should have stopped and checked if this was a safe way to do it.

‘They have got to show they have taken reasonable steps to ensure the safety of our client.

‘We have consulted a health and safety expert who says they haven’t done that and they could have taken more care.

‘It seems like a common sense case and this simply should not have happened on a film set.’

Batgirl was due to star Leslie Grace in the lead role and filming in Glasgow took place in 2021 and 2022.

But in August 2022 it was announced that the studio had shelved the film because of cost-cutting measures.

Warner Bros was contacted.