With recent reports, David Zaslav, the President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery has perhaps stumbled upon his one-true saving grace when it comes to the notorious and controversially connotated, The Flash. People who haven’t been living under a rock for the past few months know well by now the string of legal controversies that have followed the lead actor of the film, Ezra Miller. With multiple legal accusations to take account of, Miller and their erratic actions have been an integral part of recent headlines.
From the potential of the film getting canceled, to now, getting a high test screening score, matching the likes of Nolan’s astounding and critically-acclaimed The Dark Knight Trilogy, the upcoming DCEU project has been following a successful streak of ongoing rumors and reports surfacing everywhere.
The Flash Receives High Test Screenings Scores
According to a recent report by The Hollywood Reporter, the upcoming DCEU endeavor has garnered tremendous support from the audiences at the test screenings for the film. Furthermore, as a cherry on top, the Ezra Miller-led film is said to have received scores as high as the ever-so-classic, highly regarded, and phenomenal The Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan, featuring Christian Bale as the frontrunner. Previously, many on Twitter were attesting to the greatness of The Flash, calling it a “crowd-pleasing” endeavor.
Now with scores that mount up to the legacy of Nolan’s brilliance, one can attest that David Zaslav has found a palliative to the constant whirlwind of criticisms thrown around. To the voices that unite to echo a collective choir of support for the film’s shelving, this may come off as a piece of potentially bad news. But why?
David Zaslav And A Ground Of Justification
In the reports, it was mentioned that Miller, and tagging along with them, CAA agent, Scott Metzger, met up with the head executives of Warner Bros. to convey a formal apology for bringing the company’s image to a negative light. Apparently, this apologetic sentiment has come about owing to a potential scenario of scraping off the film if Miller’s behavior did not improve.
Luckily, for David Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery, things seem to be moving on the most lucrative and desirable path — with the actor also stating that they are seeking professional treatment and ending the much-awaited statement with an apology, and a promise of getting back to a “productive stage” in their life.
Now, with the test screening results, the ball seems to be in David Zaslav’s court. The CEO, who has been scraping off multiple major projects, including Batgirl which would’ve marked Michael Keaton’s appearance as Batman, before the controversial 2023 film, has finally found a justification to stick by. If the film is the hope of a blockbuster that the studio is desperately clinging to, then scraping off The Flash is merely unimaginable.
After reports revealing that the studio only has money for releasing two films this year, The Flash might just be the commercial drive they need. But, at what cost?
For now, the only thing that can be somewhat ascertained is that Zaslav won’t be budging any time soon when it comes to the release of the notoriously tainted film. Shelving a $200 Million film, amidst a slew of plunging market shares, might be detrimental and add to the existing woes of the studio. As stated by THR, the executives have acknowledged that with The Flash, they “have a critical and box office hit” to call their own, especially now that it has been substantiated with test screening scores.
The forthcoming days will be quite telling, but as for now, it’s safe to assume that the Ezra Miller-led project is possibly seeing no end to it anytime soon.
The Flash is slated for a 23 June 2023 release.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
