Dwayne Johnson pitched a multiyear plan to Warner Bro’s CEO
Dwayne Johnson( The Rock) presented WBD CEO David Zaslav with a multi-year DCEU plan, including Henry Cavill’s Superman and BlackAdam eventually engaged in live-action.
During Black Adam’s press tour, an unusual marketing choice was made in which The Rock revealed the film’s post-credit scene. Henry Cavill, who plays Superman, was resurrected in the sequence, giving fans hope that he will appear in a sequel to Man of Steel or a future DC crossover film.
Cavill’s return and the entirety of Black Adam feel out of date less than four months after the movie’s release. As a result of DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn’s announcement that Henry Cavill will not repeat his role as the Man of Steel and that the writer/director has started writing an entirely new Superman story.
Why was there a rift in the relationship between Dwayne Johnson & DCU
For instance, the DC Extended Universe had the most turbulent year of any studio division in 2022. Amid the upheaval, the “Batgirl” movie, with a $78 million box office collection, was permanently shelved in post-production.
Because a write-down was closely held, “Aquaman” deal points were revealed in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial, and the upcoming “The Flash” release schedule teetered following a succession of detentions and outbursts involving its lead actor Ezra Miller.
All of that served as merely a prelude to the executive shuffle that put James Gunn and Peter Safran in charge of Washington, DC. Nothing, however, was possibly as dramatic as Henry Cavill’s brief appearance in “Black Adam,” during which he momentarily assumed the Superman identity before losing it two months later.
The future of Johnson’s Black Adam appears to be utterly gone with the newly hired co-CEOs of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran. The high-budget movie from October, which cost $235 million, including reshoots, only brought in $391 million globally.
Johnson’s relationship with the studio was further strained by his 2022 DC League of Super-Pets project, which he requested a producer credit for but barely promoted.
Johnson requested that his tequila company Teremana be allowed to have a bar at the Black Adam New York premiere.
Instead, it limped into and out of the box office at a tepid $350 million—for superheroes—paving the way for Peter Safran and James Gunn to take charge and try to revive the floundering studio.
Throughout the entire scandal, Dwayne Johnson has been depicted as a man high on his image as a massive star and, of course, the velvety, delectable flavor of good Teremana tequila. The tequila The Rock Won’t Stop Talking About: Teremana!
What will be DCU’s moves regarding Superman & Black Adam in 2023?
DC executives Gunn and Safran are still sifting through the debris as 2023 gets underway. They will soon disclose their three-year interwoven vision for the cinematic world, excluding Cavill’s Superman and Wonder Woman. However, things might have turned out differently since a rival gang secretly attempted to seize control of DC.
According to sources, Dwayne Johnson briefed CEO David Zaslav on a multiyear strategy for Black Adam and a Henry Cavill-led Superman shortly after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger concluded in April.
The concept allowed the two properties to interact and set up a Superman against Black Adam battle. Hiram Garcia, Johnson’s former brother-in-law, and Beau Flynn were also members of the think tank attempting to steer DC in a different direction. While other sources minimized any talk of Black Adam’s future, they verified the meeting.
Although the decision was made amid a power vacuum caused by the departure of Toby Emmerich, president of Warner Bros. Pictures, and former DC president Walter Hamada, sources say it caused an internal commotion. One person says, “Dwayne went around everyone, which didn’t sit well.“
Even though Emmerich had decided in 2018 to find a different actor to don the red cape, Cavill’s appearance in “Black Adam” eventually received the approval of new Warner Bros. film co-heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy.
This year, Cavill split ways with his manager, Johnson’s ex-wife Dany Garcia, but a source claims it had nothing to do with the DC turmoil, and she is still the actor’s chief strategist.
Johnson lobbied for a producing credit on the animated movie “DC League of Super-Pets,” which debuted in July. Still, he could have done more to promote it, so the relationship between Johnson and Warners was already fraying.
