With all the shakeups happening within the DCU, reports are circulating exclusively via Variety that Dwayne Johnson went over former DC Films president Walter Hamada's head and went straight to current CEO David Zaslav and pitched a trilogy of films where he would end up facing off against Henry Cavill's Superman.
via Complex:
According to Variety, Johnson delivered the proposal to Zaslav shortly after the WBD merger closed, a move that wasn’t well-received. “Dwayne went around everyone, which didn’t sit well,” an insider said.
The blueprint allegedly led to a “Superman-versus-Black Adam showdown,” the magazine writes.
The article comes months after the Hollywood Reporter alleged Johnson took a similar approach in order to get the green light for Cavill’s mid-credits cameo in Black Adam.
THR wrote that Hamada turned down Johnson’s idea for the Superman cameo, so the Rock approached Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy with the same plan in July, soon after the two assumed their roles as co-chairperson and CEO of Warner Bros. Film Group. Johnson was seemingly so determined to get the Superman cameo in Black Adam that the production team shot the scene without showing the Man of Steel’s face. Cavill finalized his deal and filmed his part one month before the movie was released.
Johnson’s relationship with Warner Bros. reportedly took a turn for the worse in light of conflicting news over the profitability of Black Adam. Variety said the studio would lose somewhere between $50 to $100 million following the theatrical run, but WB came to the movie’s defense, saying it would break even at $400 million. Johnson disputed Variety’s report with a claim that Black Adam would actually profit between $52 to $72 million.
The Black Adam profitability dispute added more fire to an already simmering feud between Johnson and Warner Bros. Variety reports Johnson sought a producer credit for DC League of Super-Pets, even though he “did little to promote it.” The Rock also allegedly pushed for a tequila bar featuring his Teremana tequila brand at the New York premiere of Black Adam. The problem with serving alcohol at the event was that the film is rated PG-13.
“His demands increased and the returns just weren’t there,” a source told the outlet.
Johnson confirmed last month that Black Adam will not be included in the “first chapter of storytelling” for the connected DC Universe being crafted by the newly-appointed DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Dwayne basically went around the proper channels and thought he could use his clout to get his DC universe made, and it backfired. No matter hard you try to slice it, Black Adam was not a good movie, and it underperformed at the box office.
Kudos to Dwayne for shooting his shot, but what people like Dwayne need to realize that being a mega-movie star does not give you the authority to dictate how superhero universes work at the major studios.
I do wish we would have gotten to see a Black Adam sequel with a better script, but since the first film wasn't good it will never happen.
You can read the entire article here.
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