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Hollywood Wouldn’t Cancel Ezra Miller (But Audiences Just Did)

'Flash' star's frightening rap sheet ignored by studio en route to weak debut

What does it take to be “canceled” by Hollywood, Inc.?

  • Louis CK admitted to pleasuring himself in front of several women. 
  • Bill Murray’s mischievous on-set antics put his legendary career on pause.
  • Roseanne Barr fired off one racist Tweet and she, along with her groundbreaking sitcom, got the heave-ho.
  • Morgan Wallen spoke the n-word, but not against a black person and in private.

Yet Ezra Miller’s nauseating rap sheet hasn’t canceled his once-promising career.

Assault. Resisting arrest. Felony burglary. Not one but two frightening accusations of grooming.

'The Flash' Star Ezra Miller Charged With Burglary In Vermont

Surely a major movie studio like Warner Bros. would stop Miller from starring in “The Flash,” one of the summer’s biggest films? Not even close.

Not only did Miller, who uses they/them pronouns, keep the gig, the actor is favored to reprise the role should “The Flash” crush it at the box office.

Except that’s looking unlikely now.

“The Flash” will bring in roughly $60 million during its three-day debut, lower than both recent estimates and the DCEU’s recent disappointment, “Black Adam” ($67 million). The film’s Cinemascore is a “B,” which sounds solid but represents a weak bow for superhero fare.

What happened?

Recent supersized hits like “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” belied talk of superhero fatigue. The film also followed the nostalgia-friendly formula set by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Top Gun: Maverick” where older stars reprised their beloved roles (Michael Keaton is Batman, again, in “The Flash”).

“The Flash” also earned a dizzying amount of pre-release hype, with everyone from Tom Cruise to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav singing its praises.

Audiences ignored all of the above, and the film is likely to get steamrolled by upcoming blockbusters (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”) and leggy holdovers (“Spider-Verse”) alike.

Super buzz. Keaton’s return. Plenty of curiosity. None of it worked.

Did audiences weigh in against Miller, who likely avoided cancellation due to the actor’s nonbinary status? Are there other reasons to explain away the film’s weak debut?

Hollywood, so quick to judge stars accused of far less, clung to Miller in the hopes of launching a new superhero franchise. The mainstream media, once again, had the industry’s back.

Instead, the industry learned audiences have a Cancel Culture standard all their own.

14 Comments

  1. I always hated the term “Non-Binary”. Because that was how Ezra Miller was able to get away with his crimes(No, I’m not calling Ezra “They/Them”). Hollywood needs to disband, because of this.

  2. You’re quite sly & deft with your vocabulary, avoiding pronoun use throughout to describe this mentally ill dude. But I think the sane normal people should be calling men with a penis exactly what they are. That’s the pushback, not the middle ground.

  3. Challenging for this film to open on Father’s Day weekend when grooming allegations are involved. Then again, Hollywood is full of groomers, so it probably didn’t register to them that this film might tank for that reason (amongst others, of course). Instead, the people have spoken.

  4. I was hoping the movie would do better on opening weekend. I am a huge fan of Michael Keaton’s Batman. I blame Ezra Miller alone for the box office results. Anyone could tell that the goofy actor has not changed HIS ways just by how he looked at The Flash premier. I am hoping that HE never works again in a Hollywood movie or any movie. HE is a mess of a MAN.

    1. I look forward to seeing it on cable thanks to Keaton, who is my generation’s big screen Batman. But I refuse to drop the much larger amount of money to see it in a theater because of Miller.

  5. Warner Bros. and Hollywood giving Miller a pass for his extensive rap sheet is the biggest reason I skipped The Flash. Plenty of other actors have been punished by Hollywood for just ONE transgression. See Will Smith and new Jonathan Majors.

    It also didn’t help The Flash’s potential box office that it had to face down superhero fare with great audience buzz like GOTG Vol. 3 and Across the Spider-Verse.

  6. Disney’s new $200-million Pixar film did a belly flop on opening weekend. How can this be, since it features a non-binary character and talks about racism and xenophobia??

  7. Grooming Disney’s Elemental, Mr. They/Them’s The Flash, and the gay, Black Lives Matter-inspired The Blackness all tanked at the box office, to which I can only say, God Bless America.

  8. Hey. Keep wasting your money on pieces of trash, Hollywood! So many lonely depressed veterans. The people closest to actual superheroes we have, and you just f***ing won’t.

    P*** up your Mother’s backs.

  9. @Sam Smith

    Animated film Zootopia tackled themes of prejudice and racial stereotypes. It made $341 M domestically (USA and Canada) and $1.023 B globally.

    https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl4031743489/

    So, dealing with racism isn’t why Elemental did poorly. I think a big reason is that the film looked to similar in concept to Zootopia. Audiences are often skeptical of films that look like rip-offs.

  10. Warner Bro’s , or should I say “We ( Warned You Bro’s )! Punish Ezra or get Punished!!! AquaMan 2 is next! Amber ( Turd ) Heard is Expendable. AquaMan 2 is going to sink like the Titanic! The Rainbow ️‍Coalition is going to Implode!!! Equal Treatment starts with Equality in Hollywood. Rules apply to everyone including Nonbinary!!!

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