One does not simply shelve a movie with a $220 million budget–even when the star is garnering the wrong kind of publicity. Despite rumors, The Flash was never going to get the Batgirl treatment, according to producer (and sister to director Andy Muchietti), Barbara Muchietti, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
In August 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery was still a newly-merged organization, and executives were making a lot of decisions about current and future content on the Max platform, then still called HBO Max. Two events took place in very close proximity; the studio suddenly canned Batgirl even though it had finished filming and featured fan-favorite casting including Brendan Frasier and Michael Keaton. At the same time, Ezra Miller’s ongoing legal troubles came to a head. Chatter about Miller’s superhero film being shelved began to circulate even as Miller entered treatment.
When asked directly if there was “legitimate fear of the movie being canceled,” Muchietti said “Not at all. No. That was never real.”
Miller was arrested multiple times in Hawaii in April 2022, including accusations of grooming a minor (which the individual, now an adult, says are false). They also pleaded guilty to unlawful trespass in Vermont, and appeared to choke a woman at a bar in Iceland in a video that made the rounds online. The Muchietti siblings and DC Studios bosses have voiced support for Miller’s recovery in the months since.
The Flash stars Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Ben Affleck, and Michael Shannon, and hits theaters on June 16.
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