In wake of The Flash star Ezra Miller being arrested in Hilo, Hawaii on March 28, Warner Bros. and DC executives held an emergency impromptu meeting to discuss the performer’s future with the studio. During the meeting, the executives spoke how Miller was charged with disorderly conduct and harassment while visiting a bar, and how the charges can harm the character’s on-screen adaption, Rolling Stone is reporting.
The consensus in the room was to pause future projects involving the performer, including possible appearances in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The choice comes as the studio has more than a year before it has to make any formal decisions about a potential sequel to The Flash.
But Warner Bros. has avoided making any major decisions on its tentpoles properties since Discovery revealed that it will takes control of WarnerMedia in a $43 billion mega-merger.
Warner Bros.’ contemplation of how to proceed with The Flash in the DCEU also comes after the studio decided last month to move the character’s first solo film from November 4, 2022 to June 23, 2023. The Flash, which was directed by Andrés Muschietti, who’s best known for helming the studio’s two recent It movies, was plagued by numerous other problems during its production.
Miller reportedly had frequent meltdowns during The Flash‘s production last year. While the performer, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, didn’t resort to yelling or violent outbursts on the film’s set, they often felt as though they were “losing it.” Rolling Stone reported that Miller “would get a thought in [their] head and say, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.'”
According to the police report filed on March 28, Miller became agitated after patrons at the Hawaii bar began singing karaoke. Miller shouted obscenities and grabbed the microphone from a 23-year-old woman as she was singing and allegedly lunged at a 32-year-old man who playing darts.
The film star was later arrested and charged on both counts and was released on $500 bail. The incident took place at Margarita Village in Hilo, Hawaii, the day before Miller’s castmates from the upcoming Harry Potter prequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, celebrated the movie’s world premiere in London.
A local couple then filed a temporary restraining order against Miller on March 29. The couple claimed that after Miller’s arrest, the performer burst into their bedroom and threatened them, saying to the man, “I will burry [sic] you and and your slut wife,” according to the report. The petition also alleges that Miller stole the woman’s passport and the man’s wallet, which included a social security card, driver’s license and bank cards.
A judge granted a temporary restraining order the following day. The judge is expected to make a decision on whether or not to extend the restraining order by the end of the month.
The Hawaii incidents are the latest in a series of troubling events involving Miller. In April 2020, footage of the performer apparently choking a woman at the Iceland bar, Prikið Kaffihús, circulated on social media. The Justice League star was kicked out of the bar, but no arrests were made.
At the time, the footage made Warner Bros. contemplate how to move forward with its relationship with Miller. However, the performer was allowed to remain in Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore.
Miller shot the third Fantastic Beasts film and The Flash back to back for Warner Bros. in London in fall 2020 and spring 2021, respectively. Given the positive buzz that surrounded the early footage of the DCEU movie, the feature was expected to catapult Miller’s career, and turn them into one of the few performers who can currently carry a major box-office hit.
But the Hawaii incidents are expected to cause PR trouble for the star and Warner Bros. In the temporary restraining order petition, for instance, the couple noted that Miller “is famous and wealthy; this makes access to weapons much easier; as well as sending associates to harass the petitioner.”
Miller is known to have a fascination with weapons. During a 2018 cover interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the performer defended gun rights. “People need to protect themselves,” they said. Miller added they don’t have a problem with people owning semi-automatic weapons.
Miller first first garnered attention in Hollywood when they starred as a teenager in writer-director Antonio Campos’ 2008 drama, Afterschool. The centered focused on an Internet-addicted prep-school student who captures the drug overdose of two girls on video.
Miller then quickly began garnering attention from the major studios and was paid low seven figures each for both Fantastic Beasts and The Flash stand-alone. But since their behavior has become increasingly erratic in recent years, their career in expensive tentpole films is now in jeopardy.