DC Movies - To Infinity and Beyond
- Thread starter dahj
- Start date
No idea but wouldn't surprise me at this point.
Expense dictates whether or not an actor will be replaced. WB will likely attempt to ride this out, while awaiting the effect of whatever legal consequences Miller will face.
Business rarely works that way. WB made a substantial investment, and shelving it is not what the PTB (more importantly, the stockholders) want or will accept by any stretch of the imagination.
One film having an issue with its star does not have a bearing on the rest of this solid series.
Further, film history has witnessed a number of franchises that were truly wrecked for any number of reasons, such as: the Burton/Schumacher Batman films, and the Salkinds/Cannon Superman series (two of the four films were garbage). Resident Evil is unwatchable dreck outside of the first film; the Rocky series should have ended with the first, instead of burying its legacy with one, bloated / stupid entry after another. Halloween, Jaws and Friday the 13th were only worth the original entries and perhaps 50% of their first sequels--the rest can be flushed. Just scratching the surface.
It is going to depend on whether or not these recent allegations hold up.
They don't have to. The recent Death on the Nile remake got released despite the rape allegations against Armie Hammer, and the controversy surrounding Letitia Wright. The West Side Story remake got released despite similar allegations against Ansel Egort.
In 1963, Cleopatra was released under the shadow of what, by the standards of the time, was the shocking scandal of its stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor having an extramarital affair with each other. The scandal hurt the movie badly at the box office, but they'd put so much money into it (it was the most expensive film ever made up to then) that they couldn't not release it. The same probably goes here.
I'm reminded of a comparable situation with William Hartnell and Dr. Who. The original idea was to replace Hartnell in the serial 'The Celestial Toymaker'. Hartnell is absent in episodes two and three, being rendered invisible and mute by the Celestial Toymaker. When he was restored, the intention was Hartnell to have been replaced by a new actor playing the Doctor and nobody remarking on his changed appearance. The assumption being that he had always looked like the new Doctor.
A few of you keep saying this, but if these are allegations of paedophilia. That is just not something that I can see this movie or company wanting to be associated with. If the allegations prove unfounded then that is a much different story.
Decisions in Hollywood are not simply about what people want. It's a business, not a hobby, so the decisions are always first and foremost about money. 20th Century Fox had no choice but to release Cleopatra despite the scandal, because they had spent so much money on it that they couldn't just drop the whole thing. The film bombed, but they still had to release it, even though they may not have wanted to anymore.
WB does not want to be associated with scandal, but again, WB made a very substantial investment into this film (and expectations for the series overall), so shelving it outright it is not what the PTB (and again, the stockholders) are likely to do.
Agreed. This is FAR more serious than two people screwing around on a set. I don't care what time frame or context you put it in. If Richard Burton had been found to be a Pedo in 1963, his career would have been finished and Cleopatra would have never seen the light of day.
It's possible. Kevin Spacey's Gore film was shelved by Netflix and his role in All The Money In The World was reshot with Christopher Plummer after Spacey's sicko crap was exposed. Netflix also fired him from House of Cards, which was a very successful show. If worse comes to worse, they could reshoot Ezra's scenes with another actor. It's been delayed so many times, what harm would delaying it again have?
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If they are going to do anything in reaction to the whole Miller situation, that seems to me like the most reasonable solution, but then it leaves us with the questions of time and money. Are they going to want to spend the time and money, neither of which are infinite for a production like this, to do something that complex?
The thing with replacing Miller is, as long as they cast someone of similar look/size, they probably mostly only have to reshoot the out of suit scenes and the close ups in the suits, along with new adr for cg action scenes. I'm sure it would be expensive, but they wouldn't have to redo all the expensive super hero action CG, and could probably still use the out of suit stuff if Miller isn't in the scene and maybe just use body doubles when filming a new actor to be put into older out of suit scenes so they don't have to bring everyone back in to refilm those.
It wouldn't be that cheap, but it also wouldn't be as expensive as shelving or totally reshooting the movie and they definitely have the ability to do something like this. If Miller goes any more off the rails, or if those latest huge allegations end up being true, they're not going to have a lot of choices.
It wouldn't be that cheap, but it also wouldn't be as expensive as shelving or totally reshooting the movie and they definitely have the ability to do something like this. If Miller goes any more off the rails, or if those latest huge allegations end up being true, they're not going to have a lot of choices.
It's kind of funny to think that of all the movies to potentially have to replace an actor, he's not only the lead but also plays multiple versions of the character in the film. So even more replacement work.
I doubt that he'll be removed from it unless this latest accusation proves to be true. If that happens, WB is gonna be losing a bunch of money no matter what they do. If the accusation turns out to be untrue, they can likely still get away with a proper release, although undoubtedly it will no longer be able do the money they were hoping for regardless. Ultimately, this movie is screwed.
I doubt that he'll be removed from it unless this latest accusation proves to be true. If that happens, WB is gonna be losing a bunch of money no matter what they do. If the accusation turns out to be untrue, they can likely still get away with a proper release, although undoubtedly it will no longer be able do the money they were hoping for regardless. Ultimately, this movie is screwed.
Seems the obvious solution is shift the marketing to focus more on Michael Keaton returning as Batman. That was going to be a big part of how this was going to be sold anyways. Plus rumors are that Batgirl is moving from HBOMAX to a theatrical release which he is also part of. Sell the future of DC movies without Ezra Miller.
The smartest move would to create a subtitle that emphasizes it being an event in the greater DC Expanded Universe. More than just about the Flash.
The smartest move would to create a subtitle that emphasizes it being an event in the greater DC Expanded Universe. More than just about the Flash.
That seems to be how it was done with Death on the Nile and West Side Story -- downplaying the controversial cast member in the publicity. That's harder to do when it's the title character of the film, but it's probably their only feasible option at this point.
A little more seriously... they might need to call it Justice League:Flashpoint.I say call it Flashpoint: Batman vs Batman! (Including the exclamation point.)
Or just simply Batmans.
And there is precedent.... HBOMax Justice League had a portion that was essentially the Cyborg movie.
Your title idea would be a creative and series-supportive way to redirect the film. While it is a Flash movie, other DCEU characters are in the film, and this is the direct follow-up to ZSJL. Aside form the investment in marketing materials, it would be the least expensive way to handle this film.
That is basically what I was thinking. Certainly imagined them putting Justice League in the title. Though wonder if some would complain it was misleading. But as you said there is a lot of precedence. In comics and other media too.
Anytime you put multiple members of a superhero team in a story together it’s basically a team story. Regardless if it’s in the title. Most of the big DC crossover events could be labeled as “Justice League”. Alan Moore’s classic story “For the Man Who Has Everything” appeared in a Superman Annual. But has Batman and Wonder Woman in major roles. It was later adapted into a Justice League Unlimited episode.