Chris Licht Releases Statement On CNN Exit: “I’ve Learned A Lot Over The Past 13 Months”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After struggling at the domestic box office, this weekend’s two major releases — the Warner Bros. superhero adaptation “The Flash” and Disney’s Pixar adventure “Elemental” — failed to catch fire with international audiences. “The Flash” pulled in $75 million in its international box office debut, which doesn’t sound all that bad… except when considering the movie is available in 78 overseas markets. That means it failed to hit $1 million in the vast majority of the territories in play. China led the way with a lackluster $13.8 million, followed by Mexico with $9.4 million, the United Kingdom with $5.3 million, Korea with $3.7 million and Brazil with $3.5 million.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/DC’s The Flash sped into 78 overseas markets this weekend, grossing $75M, below the $85M-$95M we saw coming into the frame. With domestic’s slow-crawl three-day included, that makes for a $139M global opening. This is lower than projections, with general audiences not rushing out to see the deeper universe pic.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “The Flash,” a superhero adventure starring Ezra Miller, emerged victorious over Pixar’s “Elemental” in a battle of the box office lightweights. This weekend’s two new releases were once expected to ignite the summer box office but instead entirely missed the mark, as “The Flash” stumbled with $55 million and “Elemental” collected just $29.5 million in their respective debuts. Both of those films fell short of already-low expectations. And worse, they were pricy endeavors, costing $200 million to make and roughly $100 million to market, so they are shaping up to be huge disappointments in their theatrical runs. In the lead-up to “The Flash,” executives at Warner Bros. worked hard to convince the public that the film is “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.” Directed by Andy Muschietti, the story picks up as Miller’s Barry Allen a.k.a The Flash travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder and inadvertently cracks open the DC multiverse. (Cameos abound!) But its tepid “B” CinemaScore from opening weekend crowds suggests that the moviegoing masses didn’t entirely agree with the lavish praise bestowed on the film by the people who made it. Without positive audience scores or strong word-of-mouth, “The Flash” will struggle to rebound in the coming weeks, especially as summer season heats up with the release of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” on June 30, “Mission: Impossible 7” on July 12 and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” on July 21.

Joe Goldberg himself (aka Penn Badgley) is giving us a glimpse of what’s to come in the upcoming fifth and final season of Netflix thriller series You, from Warner Bros. Television and studio-based Berlanti Prods.

“The Flash,” the long-in-the-works standalone superhero film that DC co-chief James Gunn called “one of the best superhero movies I’ve seen.” Starring Ezra Miller, the film brings together multiple DC worlds as The Flash races into the multiverse to change the past, crossing paths with Michael Keaton’s Batman from the Tim Burton films, a brand new Supergirl (played by Sasha Calle) and plenty more courtesy of some major cameos and surprises.Right now, “The Flash” is playing exclusively in theaters. But you may be wondering, when is “The Flash” movie streaming on Max? All your questions answered below.The film was released exclusively in theaters on June 16.Like all Warner Bros.

began. “Chris made mistakes, right? He made mistakes and as I said, he learned from mistakes. Zaslav decided to fire him or to let him go.

The Flash (★★★☆☆), look no further than IMDb, which has listed every single (uncredited) appearance on the movie’s full cast list. Some cameos are clever, while others are slightly creepy –- yet another example of CGI eerily resurrecting the dead.

J. Kim Murphy Nine years after it was first announced, “The Flash” has finally dashed into theaters, speeding toward a debut ahead of the box office competition. But the DC Studios film isn’t exactly matching the lightning pace of its superhero. The Warner Bros. release got started with $24.5 million on opening day, which includes $9.7 million in Thursday previews. That’s enough to set the Ezra Miller film on a surefire pathway to a No. 1 debut on domestic charts, but it’ll be tough for the film to match its projections heading into the weekend — some bullish ones predicting a four-day bow as high as $85 million through the Juneteenth holiday.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned this weekend, but chief among them, is what’s it like for a major motion picture studio to open a movie with largely a number of its cast, primarily its main star, not available to do press. That’s the big looming question which has been on everyone’s minds in the wake of Ezra Miller’s tabloid laden 2020-2022 in regards to Warner Bros. DC’s $200M The Flash, which isn’t looking good with a 3-day around $60M, off from the $70M-$75M the studio was expecting. The studio is still expecting the Juneteenth holiday to deliver and get the film to $70M over 4-days (if that’s the case, that’s the first time the Federal holiday, which has not proven itself to be a big moviegoing day yet, has yielded a daily gross for a movie north of $10M; last year Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion made only $8.6M on the Juneteenth Monday holiday). The pic did $24.5M yesterday (which includes Thursday previews). Other studios see these figures lower. Given the $9.7M previews last night, at a glance, it looked like Flash had the potential to over-deliver and beat its weekend estimates, and that’s looking less likely now. Should the movie have gone straight to Warners streaming service Max? Absolutely not. They need to make as much money as they can, and that’s through windows.

Miller’s well-documented antics in the months following filming — it was the first time the actor had been seen in public in almost a year.Sporting a white suit jacket with black detailing and long wavy hair with a topknot and braids, Miller told “Flash” director Andy Muschietti on the red carpet: “I love you, maestro. I think you are amazing, and I think your work is monumental.”It was the actor’s first public comments since a raft of stories last year about erratic behavior in Hawaii and Iceland as well as their home in Vermont.Miller, who uses them/they pronouns, has been holed up at their Vermont farm for the past year while undergoing outpatient mental health treatment, their publicist told The Post.“The Flash” has gotten good-to-mixed reviews, with The Post’s Johnny Oleksinski calling it “good fun” and raving that Miller “is DC’s much-needed answer to Tom Holland’s embraceable Spider-Man.”Meanwhile, Twitter was awash with criticism of the actor this week, calling Miller an “abuser” and a “groomer,” but their rep said Miller is getting real help and is recovering.“This is not a publicity thing,” the rep said.

Christopher Vourlias Amid turbulent times for global streaming services who continue to course correct after years of pursuing subscriber growth at all costs, TV writers and producers in Eastern Europe are pondering the next step for a region still searching for its first international breakout hit. “The biggest challenge is the great Netflix correction — the recalibration, the reassessment of dollars,” Ioanina Pavel, who served as creative producer on the HBO Max original series “Spy/Master,” said Friday at the Transilvania Film Festival. “It’s not a bad thing, but it is a challenge. There’s been a glut. The Golden Age of TV is now coming to a close. It’s not a bad thing; it just means a reallocation of money.”

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent ANNECY — London-based Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe is set to initiate production next week on “Beast Boy: Lone Wolf,” the first time than a DC title that will be made out of the U.K. The announcement was made at a studio focus for Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, whose fan favourites had a student/exec audience hollering in approval.  Introduced by Sam Register, president of all three companies, the focus must rate at the fastest-paced of all big studio unveils at Annecy, packed by never-seen-before footage of multiple shows. Register didn’t talk strategy: The audience wanted to see shows, and studio execs were excited to show them. 

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers for Warner Bros. and DC Studios’ “The Flash,” now playing in theaters. Ezra Miller’s speedy superhero tears apart the DC Universe in the multiverse-hopping movie, “The Flash.” After first appearing in cameos in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad,” the Flash finally gets his own standalone movie, full of surprise appearances and shocking cameos.

The Flash” is here, and if you’ve seen it, you probably have a lot of questions about what it all, especially that cacophonous ending, means for the DC Universe.In the film, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) travels back in time and to other dimensions in an effort to save his mom’s life (and that of his father, who was wrongly convicted of her murder). Along the way he interacts with at least two actors playing Batman — Ben Affleck from Zack Snyder’s films, and Michael Keaton, who last played the role in 1992’s “Batman Returns” — alongside a whole lot of other characters.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director SPOILER ALERT: This story contains minor spoilers from “The Flash,” now playing in theaters nationwide. Reviews for Warner Bros.’ long-in-the-works “The Flash” movie have been largely favorable to mixed, but most critics agree the film is the latest comic book tentpole to suffer from unappealing visual effects. Leaked scenes on social media have also led to fan bafflement over the film’s VFX, especially an opening sequence in which Ezra Miller’s superhero speeds to Gotham City to save a bunch of falling babies from a collapsing hospital. To say the VFX babies in “The Flash” opening scene are rendered in a hugely un-human way would be an understatement. The same goes for all of the human characters who appear during the movie’s many time travel sequences. Suffice to say, none of them look human at all.

Jordan Moreau “The Flash” is racing ahead at the box office, picking up $9.7 million in previews at the box office. The Warner Bros. film, starring Ezra Miller as the DC Comics speedster and helmed by “It” director Andy Muschietti, has endured a long and rocky road to theaters, but it’s finally opening this weekend. “The Flash” is projected to earn around $70 million in its first weekend, with some predictions as high as $85 million and others as low as $68 million. That expected opening is in line with previous DC Studios projects like last year’s “Black Adam” and 2018’s “Aquaman,” which both debuted to $67 million — but Warner Bros. is surely hoping that “The Flash” takes more after his “Justice League” companion than Dwayne Johnson’s antihero. “Black Adam” stalled out with $168 million domestically and less than $400 million globally, while Jason Momoa’s “Aquaman” surfed to $335 million in North America and $1.14 billion worldwide. Without question, “The Flash” will perform better than March’s “Shazam: Fury of the Gods,” which opened with $30 million and ended its domestic run with just $57 million. In terms of Thursday previews, “Black Adam” collected $7.6 million, “Aquaman” had $9 million and “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” made $3.4 million.

Earlier this month, “The Flash” and “IT” director Andy Muschietti emerged as the “top choice” of Warner Bros. to helm the new DCU‘s upcoming “Batman: The Brave And The Bold.” Now Variety confirms that Muschietti has indeed landed the project.

The Flash director Andy Muschietti and producer Barbara Muschietti have confirmed that Tom Cruise called them to praise the latest DC superhero film.Speaking to Total Film Magazine, Andy Muschietti said that Tom Cruise and Stephen King were sent early copies of the film, and that both of them had praised the movie. King publicly praised the film in May, writing on Twitter: “As a rule, I don’t care a lot for superhero movies, but this one is special.

When Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer” hits theaters next month, it marks the first film by the director not produced by Warner Bros. in nearly 20 years.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros./DC’s The Flashper box office sources is playing like a deeper universe superhero movie with around $9M in Thursday night previews which began at 3PM. While the pic’s critical score on Rotten Tomatoes has fallen to 67% fresh from 71% fresh, audiences are enjoying it more at 88%. That’s a good sign.

Ezra Miller’s erratic behavior that landed the star in court in Hawaii and Vermont in 2022, to the Warner Bros. shakeup in October 2022 that led to James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over the limping DC Studios.Running time: 144 minutes.

Marta Balaga There is a whole new Batman in town. Despite that familiar name, upcoming “Aztec Batman: The Clash of Empires” will introduce an original hero, assured its team during their riotous presentation at Annecy. Overseen by Warner Bros. Animation and DC, the film is produced in Mexico in partnership with Ánima and Chatrone. “This is a bold project,” admitted director Juan Meza-León, joined on stage by character designer Marvick Núñez and art director Diego Olascoaga. Promising an alternate take on the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, but also opening up about his protagonist’s surprising yet apparently historically accurate look.

Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy take in the view of the rolling hills of Antibes. The sun beats down so fiercely on a lily-white tablecloth that the co-CEOs and co-chairpeople of the Warner Bros. Film Group shield themselves with Gucci and Ray-Ban shades. They resemble the all-powerful studio chiefs of yore — or at least their surroundings do. A lot has changed since the Golden Age of Hollywood: Jack Warner didn’t have two smartphones constantly buzzing, misconduct allegations involving “The Flash” star Ezra Miller and cratering share prices to worry about. “It’s so competitive now,” De Luca says, looking out at the shimmering water. “We all have to sing for our supper.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Warner Bros.’ “The Flash” already made a few high profile fans before its theatrical release. Horror icon Stephen King got to see an early screening of the DC tentpole and raved on Twitter, “This one is special. It’s heartfelt, funny, and eye-popping. I loved it.” A report from THR also claimed that Tom Cruise was treated to an early look of the film and loved it so much that he personally called director Andy Muschietti to share raves. In a recent interview with Total Film magazine, Andy Muschietti and “The Flash” producer Barbara Muschietti confirmed Cruise’s phone call. “If anything, [we got] more confidence in the thing that we did, because the movie was finished by the time that [Cruise and King] saw it,” Andy said about getting pre-release praise from King and Cruise. “It was a confidence boost if anything.”

If you were ever questioning just how powerful Christopher Nolan is in Hollywood, look no further than the situation that developed between the filmmaker and Warner Bros. during the pandemic.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros Discovery is closing its Danish production arm, we’ve learned.

Melissa McCarthy, who played lovable chef Sookie St. James on all seven seasons, recently opened up about one big downside to filming the mother-daughter dramedy starring Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore and Alexis Bledel as her daughter, Rory Gilmore.Though the show takes place in the fictional Connecticut town of Stars Hollow, it was actually filmed at the Warner Bros.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor One of the most influential and alluring jobs in journalism just opened. Now the company trying to fill the position is waiting to see if anyone really wants it. Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to move deliberately rather than quickly in its search for a new CEO for CNN. Executives are telling staffers and TV agents that it will likely take a few months to fill the role that Chris Licht held for one turbulent year. Licht, the TV news veteran and “Late Show With Stephen Colbert” showrunner, was ousted last week after spearheading a series of programming moves and talent decisions that kept headlines about CNN circulating more often than anything else produced by the newsroom. Licht’s final error was taking part in a profile The Atlantic published June 2 — 15,000 words detailing a “Meltdown at CNN.” Numerous statements from Licht in the story and his questionable judgment in allowing a reporter such broad access marked the last straw for his corporate managers as well as CNN insiders. Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper all lodged concerns about Licht’s ability to manage following the profile’s publication, according to a person familiar with the matter, confirming details previously revealed by The Wall Street Journal.

The Flash hasn’t even opened to $100M this weekend –and may potentially not– but Warner Bros. is already popping champagne with the pic’s filmmaker Andy Muschietti.

BreAnna Bell “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” recorded a solid performance for ID and the newly integrated Max. The three-episode series, which premiered on May 29 on ID and aired over the course of three consecutive nights during the 9 p.m. block, delivered an audience of 10.295 million total viewers across ID, Max and Discovery+ according to a mix of data from Nielsen and Warner Bros. Discovery. This marks ID’s highest-rated telecast in three years. The six-hour documentary exploring a bizarre family saga centered around the mystery of Natalia Grace, a 6-year-old Ukrainian orphan who was believed to have spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia — a rare congenital bone growth disorder that results in dwarfism. But her adopted family suspected otherwise.

Ezra Miller was all smiles on the red carpet for the premiere of The Flash. The internet, not so much!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While at the Annecy Animation Film Festival, Mediawan Kids & Family unveiled a raft of new youth-centric shows, including “Karters” and “Witch Detectives,” on top of a licensing pact with DeAPlaneta Entertainment. Spearheaded by animation veteran Julien Borde, Mediawan Kids & Family is a division of the international film and TV powerhouse Mediawan whose recent acquisitions include Brad Pitt’s Plan B. Mediawan Kids & Family is partnering up with Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA on the production and distribution of its animated series “Karters” for the linear and non-linear services of Warner Bros. Discovery. The action-packed series will premiere on Cartoonito for EMEA, and will be distributed by Mediawan Kids & Family Distribution worldwide except Latin America.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Joker” fans who are theorizing about the reported musical aspects of the upcoming Joaquin Phoenix-led sequel film finally have a little bit more clarity, thanks to star Zazie Beetz. “I think people will be surprised. I don’t think it’s going to be what they expect, around it being musical,” Beetz, who is reprising her role as Sophie Dumond for “Joker: Folie à Deux,” told Variety Monday at Chanel’s Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner in New York. “We all sort of express musically and dancing in our lives day-to-day. I think it’s going to work really well.” Todd Phillips returns to the director’s chair for the “Joker” sequel, which is rumored to take place prominently in Arkham Asylum.

Naman Ramachandran Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” led the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second consecutive weekend with £4 million ($5.1 million), according to numbers from Comscore. The web-slinging animation now has a total of £16.2 million. Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts” debuted in second place with a healthy £2.9 million. In its third weekend, in second position, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” collected £2.1 million for a total of £19.9 million. In fourth place, another Disney title, “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3” earned £511,837 in its sixth weekend for a total of £35.5 million. Rounding off the top five in its fourth weekend was Universal’s “Fast X” with £475,640 and a total of £14.2 million.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent British actors Julia Ormond (“Ladies in Black”) and Lydia Page (“Blue Jean”) are set to soon appear in psychological horror movie “Home Education” directed by Italy’s Andrea Niada. Set in the scenic Sila plateau in Italy’s Southern Calabria region, “Home Education” revolves around a family that are followers of an esoteric cult and live in a secluded house deep in the woods. Warner Bros Entertainment Italia, Italy’s Indiana Production and BlackBox Multimedia are producing with support from the Calabria Film Commission. Germany’s SquareOne Productions is handling international sales. Warner Bros. Pictures will release the film in Italian theaters.

Ezra Miller is speaking out in public for the first time since August 2022.