Normally, I wouldn’t really bother with TMZ-style shenanigans on this blog. But if it affects movies that I want to see or how movies are getting made, I might mention it in passing. However, this situation with actor Ezra Miller warrants a discussion. I’m not going to get into the grimy details of what they’ve been up to. What I will talk about is the impact that they are having on the upcoming Flash movie and Warner Bros. in general. When Ezra first got into trouble, Warner’s response was to not say anything and hope it went away. It did, until Miller got into trouble again in Hawaii. Multiple times. Again, WB stayed silent. But that was BEFORE David Zaslav and Discovery bought out Warner Bros. It seems that Miller is on the run from the law with an 18-year old teenage girl that they “groomed.” Reports have now come out that Warner Bros has parted ways with Ezra Miller. Those are not true. What was reported from Deadline was that Warner Bros is in a lose/lose situation here. There’s no winning for them on any front. How do you release a 200 million dollar movie whose main lead is on the run and taunting the law? You can’t just release it to theaters and expect people to show up if they know what’s going on. The stigma of what Ezra’s done has forever tarnished the Flash movie, which also stars Michael Keaton returning as Batman. Ezra has completely disrespected the people that they’ve worked with, for, and the audience. You can’t engage any form of marketing with Miller. So, what do you do with a 200 million dollar project that’s burning holes in the wallets of everybody at WB. The answer to this is not going to be an easy one, and Mr. Zaslav has some very difficult choices to make. He could release the film in 2023, in theaters as expected, but with no marketing or fanfare. You could released it straight to HBO Max, or just not release it at all. That last one is likely not going to happen. Considering how many people that have worked on this project, it would do them a serious disservice to not have their work shown in any capacity. What seems to be going around is that Warner Bros. will no longer work with Miller on ANY project. That much is almost certain.
As for Ezra Miller, their career is finished. I’ve never seen anybody deliberately trash their own promising career the way that Ezra has. I really liked them as The Flash in Justice League. They were great. They’ve also had great roles in The Perks of Being A Wallflower and We Need To Talk About Kevin. No movie studio now will ever look at Ezra Miller and think that they are a safe bet. Ezra has become a toxic liability. I would imagine Ezra’s management and representatives have already jumped ship and will no longer represent them. While Amber Heard may have a way to bounce back from her defeat in the Johnny Depp lawsuit, there’s no coming back from what Ezra’s being accused of doing. If they had the career of someone like say, Mel Gibson…then possibly, but I doubt it. Gibson had the benefit of having a 30+ year career before his public meltdown, and he get hammered for it. He lost the status that he enjoyed for so long. Yet, he was still able to come back and still have a career, despite no longer being on top. Ezra Miller doesn’t have that cushion. While Miller hasn’t been CONVICTED of any crime the way that Roman Polanski or Victor Salva has, once the law catches up to Miller, and they will, Miller’s not going to be able to get out of it. Maybe the fame/infamy got to their head, I don’t know. Nobody wins here. Not Warner Bros. Not Miller, not the people that worked on Flashpoint, and certainly not the audience. In fact, it might be hard for some people to go back and some of Miller’s earlier performances because of this. I honestly hope that Ezra Miller gets the help that they need, but they have no real future in this industry anymore.