Warner Bros bet $220M on Ezra Miller — and released a bomb it couldn't promote

Warner Bros cast Ezra Miller as the Flash in 2014 and spent the next decade building the DC universe around him. The solo film was delayed repeatedly through several directors, and by 2022 Miller was accumulating arrests — twice in Hawaii in March — and a felony burglary charge in Vermont.

The studio's reaction was split. Emergency meetings in April 2022 kept the film on its release date but paused future projects with the actor; in August, as a felony charge landed, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav told analysts the studio had seen the film and thought it was 'terrific'. The film would launch with its star taking no part in promotion, appearing only at the premiere.

The Flash opened on 16 June 2023 to a $55 million domestic weekend, then suffered one of the worst second-weekend drops in superhero history. It finished with about $271 million worldwide against a $220 million production budget and a reported $150 million promotional spend — a net loss Deadline later estimated at roughly $155 million, and over $200 million once marketing is counted, making it the most expensive superhero flop to that date.