People are slowly coming back to the movies as pandemic hysteria has died down.
But a huge film franchise is currently in jeopardy.
And a major studio is attempting damage control after one ugly sex scandal.
Warner Bros. has done a poor job keeping up with Disney in terms of comic book franchises.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a massive success for nearly a 20-year run.
Conversely, DC remains stuck in the mud with successful hits here and there, but no cohesive filmic universe.
Warner Bros. needs to nail The Flash, one of DC’s most iconic characters.
But the $200 million has been mired in controversy because lead actor Ezra Miller has been completely off the rails.
Miller has been involved in multiple violent altercations, and he was accused of grooming a teenage girl.
It would be impossible for Miller to be the face of a major franchise with so much baggage, so he and Warner Bros. are attempting to rehabilitate his image.
Miller said in a statement, “Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment…I want to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behavior. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life.”
Warner Bros. has tried to get a Flash film project off the ground for roughly 20 years, and none ever materialized until now.
The studio recently ate an $80 million loss for Batgirl because it was reportedly horrendous, but Warner can’t do that with The Flash.
Executives had no choice but to attempt to rein in Miller.
From Variety:
“The embattled actor, who is non-binary and uses they and them pronouns, played the DC Comics character Barry Allen in 2017’s ‘Justice League’ and its 2021 counterpart, ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League.’ But their role in the comic book franchise has been overshadowed by their off-screen behavior, which has alarmed friends and associates of the actor, as well as Warner Bros., the studio behind ‘The Flash.’ Most recently, Miller was charged with felony burglary in Vermont, after state police investigated an incident involving several bottles of alcohol being taken from a residence while the homeowners were not present. The actor made headlines in 2020 after a recording surfaced in which they appeared to be choking a woman outside of a bar in Iceland. No charges were filed. The actor has been arrested twice in Hawaii this year, once for disorderly conduct and harassment. In the Hawaii incidents, Miller pled no contest to a single count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and paid a $500 fine and $30 in court costs. The harassment charge was dismissed.”
Miller was also accused of being a quasi-cult leader on a “commune” in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Miller and Warner Bros. have a lot of work to do if they are going to pump hundreds of millions into a marketing campaign.
Nobody wants to see a family-friendly movie starring a cult leader.
