In light of Ezra Miller’s ongoing legal problems, sources within Warner Bros. have indicated that, “even if no more allegations surface, the studio won’t likely keep Miller in the Flash role in future DC films.”
As reported by Deadline, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and his team are headed towards a potential “first movie crisis” as The Flash’s June 23, 2023, approaches. This is due to The Flash star Ezra Miller’s compounding legal issues that began in March 2022 when the actor was arrested in Hawaii and was fined for disorderly conduct.
Deadline has heard that Warner Bros. has attempted to get help for Miller, but the “headlines continue to pile up.” This is obviously an issue for the studio as The Flash is a big tentpole release for the DCEU that comes with a $200 million budget, will see the return of Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck as Batman, and is helmed by IT director Andy Muschietti.
It would be hard to market The Flash with Ezra in front if they continue to face legal troubles, and it may force Zaslav and the team to scale back the promotion and planned publicity tour, send the film straight to HBO Max, or “lean in toward making the movie a hit and then drop Miller if they can’t straighten things out.”
“There is no winning in this for Warner Bros,” one studio source told Deadline. “This is an inherited problem for Zaslav. The hope is that the scandal will remain at a low level before the movie is released, and hope for the best to turn out.”
Most recently, Miller apparently deleted their Instagram account and reports say a court attempting to serve an order is unable to locate them. Miller’s issues have extended past Hawaii and now have reached Massachusetts and North Dakota and include accusations of violence, psychological intimidation, and other forms of misconduct.
This is not the first time Warner Bros. has had to deal with this type of situation, as it replaced Johnny Depp with Mads Mikkelsen after the Fantastic Beasts actor who played Grindlewald was facing abuse allegations. Depp and Heard recently finished a six-week trial where the jury sided with Depp in his defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
