For months now, Ezra Miller has been generating headline after headline, with each new story seemingly more nefarious than the last, ranging from violent outbursts to child grooming, and even running an Icelandic cult.
This week, Miller — who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns — was charged with felony burglary after allegedly stealing bottles of alcohol from a Vermont home. According to Rolling Stone, Vermont’s children service department is also currently looking for the mother and three children who had been living on Miller’s farm.
The burglary arrest is the latest in a string of charges Miller is facing. In April, Miller was arrested in Hawaii and charged with suspicion of second-degree assault. Reportedly, after being asked to leave a social event at a private residence, they “became irate… and reportedly threw a chair, striking a 26-year-old female on the forehead,” per police.
This was just one month after they were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and harassment in Hilo, Hawaii.
While all of this continues to unfold, Warner Bros. are watching, weighing their options around what to do with their big-budget, Miller-fronted DC film, The Flash.
The Flash isn’t set to hit cinemas until mid-2023, but with Warner already facing backlash over the cancellation of Batgirl, the Miller problem is becoming more glaringly obvious by the day.
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According to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, there are three courses of action being discussed.
The first option entails Miller seeking professional help, and then returning to the spotlight to do an interview, where they would open up about their violent, erratic behaviour. From there, Miller would be scheduled to “do limited press for The Flash, and the movie would open in cinemas as planned”.
Should Miller not agree to seek help, option two involves Warner releasing the film without Miller being a key player in the film’s marketing, despite being the lead of the franchise. From there, Warner would recast the role for future DCEU films and sever ties with Miller. This would be similar to the way Disney approached the Armie Hammer situation in relation to the promotion of Death on the Nile.
As a final option, and one that Warner is seemingly hesitant to pull the trigger on, the film would be scrapped all together. With a budget of over USD$200 million, The Hollywood Reporter describes this option as “unprecedented”, but with Miller playing multiple characters and appearing in nearly every scene, re-casting and re-shooting the film — aka, the All the Money in the World approach — wouldn’t be an option. It’s worth repeating that Warner did just scrap Batgirl, a film with a USD$90 million budget and zero allegations of child grooming, because they wanted a tax break.
Indeed, just last week Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav said that Warner execs were “very excited” about the prospect of giving The Flash, along with a number of DCEU films, a theatrical release.
The Flash, should it ever see the light of day, is directed by It filmmaker Andy Muschietti, and co-stars Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck, who are both reprising their roles as Batman.
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