Talks broke down for a cameo in 'Shazam!' due to scheduling conflicts, and the door is now closing on other potential appearances for the actor.
The DC cinematic universe appears to be losing its Man of Steel.
Henry Cavill, who has played Superman in three films, is parting ways with Warner Bros., sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. The British actor, who first donned the blue suit for 2013's Man of Steel, and then starred in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and last year's Justice League, is said to be hanging up the red cape.
Warners had been trying to enlist Cavill, who most recently co-starred in Mission: Impossible — Fallout, for a Superman cameo in Shazam!, which stars Zachary Levi and will bow April 5. But contract talks between Cavill's WME reps and the studio broke down, and the door is now closing on other potential Superman appearances.
That's because Warners has shifted its focus to a Supergirl movie, which will be an origin story featuring a teen superheroine. This effectively removes an actor of Cavill's age from the storyline's equation given that Superman, aka Kal-El, would be an infant, according to DC lore.
Furthermore, Warners isn't likely to make a solo Superman film for at least several years, according to another source. "Superman is like James Bond, and after a certain run you have to look at new actors," says a studio source. As such, Cavill will join Ben Affleck, who isn't expected to reprise his role for director Matt Reeves' forthcoming Batman stand-alone film, as a hero on the way out.
"We have a great relationship and great respect for Henry Cavill that continues to remain unchanged. Additionally we have made no current decisions regarding any upcoming Superman films," read a statement from a Warner Bros. spokesperson after the initial publication of this story.
A Warners source says the Shazam! deal fell apart because of scheduling conflicts. And that is backed up by the fact that Cavill recently signed on to star in the Netflix series The Witcher. However, another source says that the Witcher commitment came after the Warners impasse, suggesting a change in the studio's strategy.
"There's a recognition that some parts of the previous movies didn't work," says the studio insider. Another source says Warners is trying to hit a "reset" button with the DC universe, steering its ship slowly into another direction.
While Affleck and Cavill are segueing out, others who were seen together onscreen in Justice League are carrying forward. Gal Gadot is returning for Wonder Woman 1984, set to hit theaters in November 2019; Jason Momoa headlines a solo Aquaman movie this December; and Ezra Miller remains on board to star in a Flash movie, which is due to shoot in early 2019.
Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara and Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich are looking to reinvigorate the studio's DC Universe, which is still playing second fiddle to the Marvel Universe in terms of box office and critical acclaim. Just six years ago, when The Dark Knight Rises closed out the Christopher Nolan trilogy, DC was the superhero team with the mojo. But so far, only Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman spinoff has lived up to the promise of the franchise.
What Warners hasn't done is wiped the slate clean in one fell swoop, something that is nigh impossible to do given the years of planning that goes into these films. When asked about the studio at an investor conference on Sept. 6, new WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey said, "Hats off to Kevin and Toby and their team." But he also took a shot at DC. "Some of our franchises, in particular at DC, we all think we can do better."
A version of this story appears in the Sept. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Sept. 12, 12:50 p.m. Updated with a revised statement from a Warner Bros. spokesperson.
KOMPAS.com - Ada kabar kurang menyenangkan bagi para fans Henry Cavill sebagai Superman . Mengutip beberapa sumber di Warner Bros., The Hollywood Reporter menyebut Henry Cavill tidak akan lagi berperan sebagai Superman. Aktor asal Inggris itu mengenakan kostum Superman untuk kali pertama pada film Man of Steel yang dirilis pada 2013. Dilanjutkan dengan Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice pada 2016, dan Justice League (2017). Menurut The Hollywood Reporter , Rabu (12/9/2018), Warner Bros berusaha menampilkan Cavill sebagai Superman dalam Shazam!, yang akan dirilis pada April 2019. Namun pihak Cavill dan Warner Bros tidak mencapai kesepakatan soal itu. Kini kesempatan Cavill memakai kostum Superman pun sudah tertutup rapat. Di luar itu, Warner Bros. kini lebih berfokus menggarap film Supergirl. Film ini kan menceritakan asal muasal Supergirl alias Supergirl remaja. Dengan begitu tertutup pula kemungkinan Superman seusia Cavill, yakni 35 tahun, masuk dalam jalinan cerita Supergirl. Sebab menurut cerita di jagat DC, saat itu usia Kal-El alias Superman masih bayi. Selain itu Warner Bros juga tidak berencana membuat film solo Superman setidaknya dalam beberapa tahun mendatang. "Superman itu seperti James Bond dan setelah beberapa lama Anda harus mencari aktor baru," kata sumber lain yang dikutip The Hollywood Reporter. "Meskipun belum ada keputusan apa pun tentang film-film Superman di masa mendatang, kami selalu menaruh hormat dan berhubungan baik dengan Henry Cavill. Itu tidak akan berubah," kata juru bicara Warner Bros yang dikutip media tersebut.
Baca juga: Ketika Bintang Superman, Henry Cavill, Disebut Meninggal Dunia
For the past year the writing's been on the wall, and now The Hollywood Reporter is saying it's official -- Henry Cavill will no longer portray Superman in Warner Bros.' big-screen adaptations of DC Comics. Many fans are angry, despite months of warning from people like yours truly that this was probably going to happen, while Cavill's reps and Warner are necessarily doing what they can to mitigate the negativity toward themselves and each other. So let's look at what happened, why it happened, and why it's probably going to turn out for the best for everyone involved.
Cavill's Man of Steel was good and did blockbuster business in 2013, grossing $668 million worldwide. However, studio expectations were higher, given what they felt was a high-quality result sharing the same sort of "grounded in realism" approach that turned Warner's Batman franchise into a billion dollar franchise. Indeed, Man of Steel shared the same pedigree as Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, with David Goyer penning the Superman script. That still wasn't enough to carry Man of Steel toward the $800 million territory the studio hoped for, and it was clear there was still lingering baggage weighing the super-series down.
Cavill received mostly very positive critical reception for his portrayal, even though many also felt he wasn't given enough opportunity to show joy and excitement at having his powers and at the prospect of being a godlike symbol of hope for the world.
Next came Batman v Superman, which met with overwhelmingly negative critical reception, constant media coverage of that negative reception, less enthusiastic audience scores relative to past Batman-featuring films (and even Man of Steel), an underperformance of $873 million, and widespread complaints that Superman seemed too dour and was bogged down in perpetually questioning his mission and even the worthiness of humanity at times.
The terrible results for Batman v Superman of course led to widespread changes in Warner's approach to the DCEU, and a last-minute rush to make adjustments for Justice League.
We all know how that turned out, of course. Taking about $658 million worldwide, Justice League was an undeniable failure. I won't call it a true "flop," since it made enough to qualify as a blockbuster; but it failed because it didn't recoup its costs, it was the lowest-grossing film of the entire DCEU to date, it was a critical failure, and it once again received mixed audience scores.
Cavill was forced into a no-win scenario of sorts, first with an "evil" Superman sequence that -- while many of us were fine with it and got the point of it -- seemed to alienate a lot of viewers and critics, followed by massive reshoots to make him more upbeat and smile often but which were hamstrung by distractingly bad CGI removal of his mustache. Cavill gamely gave it his best shot, but to no avail, he just couldn't overcome the multiple problems in the film and particularly with his character.
And to be blunt, while I think Cavill was a great casting choice and I don't blame him for the problems, it's also true that for whatever reason the mainstream audiences never seemed to take a real shine to his Superman. Fans can argue about it all they want, and insist his popularity among fandom was important, but the fact is most of these films' box office comes from average mainstream viewers, not comic book fans. And like it or not, Cavill was simply never a hit with those average viewers.
If you're Warner Bros., you cannot simply ignore the fact your Superman has repeatedly failed to live up to expectations critically, financially, or in sheer popularity. Cavill just never managed to break out in the role, and that's unfortunate but there's also no point denying the truth of it. And this is a business, and business decisions have to be made based on reality.
Another reality is that this iteration of the DCEU has only really had two solid success stories so far -- Suicide Squad, and Wonder Woman. The former is a qualified success, since it was a box office hit grossing more than expected while receiving bad reviews and mixed audience scores. So yes, the DCEU is being changed and soft-rebooted at this point, and the soft reboot could eventually become a hard reboot depending on a few factors in the near-future. Which means, when combined with the truth about Cavill's Superman not being a big hit with viewers after three tries, Warner is not mistaken in thinking it's time to move on.
And let's be clear, Cavill probably is better off moving on at this point, too. He has just starred in the hit Mission: Impossible Fallout, he has a starring role in the new Netflix series The Witcher, and there are no Superman films on the horizon at this point anyway. Why continue haggling and dealing with the stress and frustration of superhero movies that aren't working, and that could in fact wind up hurting his career if he stars in another one that fails?
No, at this point, it's reasonable for both sides to part ways. The negotiations themselves didn't really go well in the first place, since an attempt to arrange a cameo in the upcoming Shazam! fell through, going a long way to reinforcing Warner's feeling that it was time to just move on and set Superman aside for a little while until they can come up with a better plan for him.
There's not much point in denying the facts here, the Superman films and appearances so far in the DCEU haven't worked out very well from a business standpoint, aside from the underperforming hit Man of Steel. The negotiations didn't work out either. And overall, the DCEU is being rethought after a lot of mistakes and stumbles. Warner is doing their best now to correct things and figure out the best path forward, and meanwhile Cavill has to pursue his career where there are clearer and more likely paths to success for his future. Both sides have reasons for their reactions and decisions, and now it looks like both sides will benefit most by shaking hands and parting ways when it comes to Superman.
I'll have another article soon about what I think is the best new path forward, so stay tuned for that, dear readers.
Box office figures and tallies based on data via Box Office Mojo , Rentrak, and TheNumbers.
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Henry Cavill is hanging up his Superman cape and departing Warner Bros.’ DC Cinematic Universe, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Cavill’s decision to leave the franchise comes amid structural changes for the DCU, with different films becoming higher priority than a Superman sequel. Warner Bros. “has shifted its focus to a Supergirl movie, which will be an origin story featuring a teen superheroine,” sources told The Hollywood Reporter.
“This effectively removes an actor of Cavill’s age from the storyline’s equation given that Superman, aka Kal-El, would be an infant, according to DC lore.”
The report also suggests that another stand-alone Superman movie was years away from production, and the actor playing Superman will have to change as a result. Based on previous interviews with the actor, this seems like it might not be a problem for Cavill.
Cavill has been outspoken about the highs and lows of playing Superman in the DCU, arguing Warner Bros.’ cinematic universe is in need of a massive tonal shift. Cavill has said that although the franchise “has made money, it hasn’t been a critical success.”
“We can start telling the stories in the way they need to be told,” Cavill told Rake Magazine. “It is even better to come back from a mistake or stylistic error into the correct vein because it will make it seem that much stronger. Wonder Woman was the first step in the right direction.”
Buried in the Hollywood Reporter story is speculation that Ben Affleck, who played Batman opposite Cavill in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, will also leave his role as Batman in Matt Reeves’ upcoming stand-alone film. Rumors about Affleck hanging up Batman’s cowl have bounced around for months.
It’s unclear how Cavill (and Affleck’s) exit will affect the future of the DCU; there are currently no stand-alone Superman movies in production at Warner Bros.’, according to the Reporter.
Polygon has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment.
Update: Warner Bros. issued a statement to Variety.
“While no decisions have been made regarding any upcoming Superman films, we’ve always had great respect for and a great relationship with Henry Cavill, and that remains unchanged.”
