---
title: 'Let’s Talk About the STATE OF DC STUDIOS After Supergirl… | Sneak Peek'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=sgK0qlarxw0'
video_id: 'sgK0qlarxw0'
date: 2026-06-30
duration_sec: 3722
---

# Let’s Talk About the STATE OF DC STUDIOS After Supergirl… | Sneak Peek

> Source: [Let’s Talk About the STATE OF DC STUDIOS After Supergirl… | Sneak Peek](https://youtube.com/watch?v=sgK0qlarxw0)

## Summary



## Transcript

Can a project at DC Studios take off
without James Gunn being the writer
director of it? James Gunn, you promised
us we would be getting rocksolid
scripts, and this script is not rock
solid. [music] Immediately 59% on Rotten
Tomatoes. Peter Saffron and James Gun
were like, "This is going to be inspired
by Tom Kings and Billy. Evelyn's Woman
of Tomorrow comic story line in Junkits.
They were like, um, just kidding.
Actually, [music] we didn't." It feels
like the people who worked on this movie
and Warner Brothers knew that there were
issues with this. I don't think we
should be immediately putting James Gun
to like the highest standard of
screenwriting. I don't think he's like
the greatest screenwriter of all time.
>> I honestly think like James Gun is still
like a valuable asset to the Ellison no
matter what. Matt Reeves the Batman is
going to cook. The question will be this
other DCU movie that they want Supergirl
to be a part of in 2028. If if you're
trying to write this type of franchise
film, your movie has to be a hit. You
had a win. You had an easy win. And for
whatever reason, they chose to like make
it hard [music] for themselves. Welcome
back to New Rockstars. Supergirl is now
in theaters. It's the second film of the
DC Studios era under the leadership of
James Gunn and Peter Saffron. And the
reception for the film in its opening
weekend has been mixed. As we look ahead
to the future of this franchise, it's
really time to talk about the state of
DC Studios.
>> Yes, this is the sneak peek, the weekly
show here at New Rockstars, where we
look ahead to the future of fandom with
your host Jessica Clemens and Eric Voss.
>> Hello Jessica. Yes, it's time to talk
about the state of DC. Our breakdown of
the full Supergirl film for all the
Easter eggs and comic book references is
on the channel. It came out on Friday.
Uh here we're just kind of like checking
in with like this insane discourse that
we've been in throughout this weekend.
Obviously, it's a turbulent time at
Warner Brothers as a studio with the
Paramount Sky Dance Company run by the
Ellison's David Ellison CEO is planning
to acquire this company. The Justiceart
Department approved that merger. It's
probably going to be happening at the
end of this year. Um, uh, so a lot
there's been a lot of talk like, uhoh,
if Supergirl underperforms, is James
Gunn going to get fired? No, that's not
>> a crazy catch. That'd be a crazy
contract deal, one movie.
>> Yeah. And it wouldn't be based off of
this one movie. It's going to take a few
more failures for that to happen. Um, or
James Gunn, I think, would just choose
to leave. But I I think there's like a
few other movies that are going to be
coming out either way, including
Clayface, Man of Tomorrow, the the
Batman by Matt Reeves, and then a
follow-up to Man of Tomorrow, The
Lantern series is coming out. Uh but we
should take a little snapshot of where
we're at right now. So, um Supergirl is
still currently in theaters. By the time
you're watching this video, you may know
what the opening weekend box office is.
We're recording it a few days early, but
it it's currently projected to make 70
or 47 million in the opening weekend.
47. Now, that's way lower than some of
the projections you saw in the weeks
leading up to it. 70 million, 80 million
domestic, something like that. We're
going to talk about why you may have
seen some of those high ball
projections. Uh, and it's projected to
make somewhere around 90 million global.
U, but the Rotten Tomato score, it it
came out immediately 59% on Rotten
Tomatoes. And then over the past week
with all different kinds of critics
reviews coming in, it's been kind of
hovering from the 50s to the 60s. Uh, by
the time we started recording this
podcast, it was at 57%, but that number
may have changed by the time you're
watching this. Um, in particular, you
may have seen going around a review from
the Variety critic Owen Gberman, a
critic I highly highly respect. I grew
up reading his reviews in Entertainment
Weekly, and I generally agree with his
takes, even if he's a little grouchy
about like superhero cinema in general.
He's he's like the closest I think we
have to Roger Eert. He's very fair, and
he writes really great reviews. And in
this case, he gave a scathing review of
the film. And I'm going to read this
quote that he gave. I think this is
really the the crux of his frustration
with this film. He writes, "James Gun,
along with Peter Saffron, knew that he
was launching DC Studios right into the
teeth of superhero fatigue. Gun got
asked a lot about how he was going to
avoid that, and the key thing he said
was, "We're not going into production on
any movie until the script we have is
rock solid." For that was the overriding
problem with the superhero overkill era.
The films had lousy scripts which were
used as grids on which to layer the
visual effects. Gun was right to want to
take the comic book genre back to well
ststructured screenwriting basics. So
what has he done in his second DC
outing? He's given us a comic book movie
with the worst script I can remember.
End quote. From Owen Gleberman from
Variety. Um so as we talk about this
movie, I have seen it. Jessica, you have
not seen it yet?
>> I have not seen it. I see it tonight.
>> Okay. Jessica's seen it tonight. So,
we're not really going to be getting
into a review of the movie. We're just
going to be talking about the discourse
and what we've heard about this movie
and the current state of DC Studios.
But, I can just say I I had issues and
frustrations with this film. You can go
to my letter box. I gave it a three out
of 10 on my letter box. I know it's
really harsh on the film, but I'm still
I really like the casting of Millie Alco
in general. I like the I I still have a
lot of confidence in the state and the
future of DC Studios. It's just this
script does underserve the character. Is
it the worst comic book movie script I
can remember? Owen Gleberman, you got to
stretch your memory muscles. We can you
not remember Morbius?
>> I think I mean, yeah, he's not including
Morbius. He's not including Ghost Rider
2. He's not he's not keeping in mind
like the the Fantastic 4 movie that
never came out. Like he's he's just like
of recent years.
>> Yeah, there have been quite a few really
really bad ones. And I think the script
has a lot of problems with it. It's not
the worst, but it's also not
particularly great. And I and I share
his frustration. James Gun, you promised
us we would be getting rocksolid
scripts, and this script is not rock
solid. It has major issues. Now, I I
think most people will like it more than
my three out of 10 review. Um, so I I
I've made peace with that. Um, but uh
there are just a lot of issues with it.
And I think we should track like what we
know about this movie. When it was first
announced, it was called Supergirl Woman
of Tomorrow. That was going to be the
title of the movie, but then at some
point later, it was just revised to just
Supergirl. But still, Peter Saffron and
James Gun were like, "This is going to
be inspired by Tom Kings and Billy Eve's
Woman of Tomorrow's comic storyline."
But just in the weeks before the
release, when Anna Aguero and um and
Craig Gillespie got in front of people
asking them questions in the press tour
in Junkits, they were like, "Um, I'm
just kidding. Actually, we didn't really
pull pull it from the graphic novel
storyline." Um Craig Gillespie is like,
"I didn't even read it. I just looked at
Andra's script and got my shot list from
that." And then after I got my shot
list, I flipped through the comics and I
found some images that I kind of liked.
Like it was clear that these two
creatives really wanted nothing to do
with this source material. And you could
take issue with Tom King. A lot of
people are like, "Good. I don't like Tom
King as a writer. That's that's a take
that like, okay, fine, we could talk
about that." But like, specifically,
whatever your issues are with Tom King
as a writer in general, this particular
graphic novel storyline is praised. It
is really wellliked and it's the reason
why I think James Gun was excited to
greenlight this.
>> This script just zigs in so many ways
that that comic story line zags. And
again, we're not going to review
>> we're not going to review the movie
here, but one thing that uh Jessica and
I did see at SinCon, you remember seeing
the panel for Supergirl with with
>> uh
>> Oh my god. Oh my god.
>> That's James Gun calling right now.
Don't don't tell them. Don't talk.
>> We're not friends.
>> We ain't friends. James Gun was not
there at Vegas and we didn't want to
read too much into that. We knew he was
busy with pre-production for Man of
Tomorrow, but Peter Saffron was there
chatting with Craig Gillespie, Millie
AOK, and Jason Mamoa. And it was really
kind of like the lowest energy
presentation we saw the full week at
Cineacon.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. And it's almost it feels like the
people who worked on this movie and
Warner Brothers knew that there were
issues with this.
>> Possibly. I think Millie I've been
watching a lot of interviews with Millie
and she does seem low energy though in
other interviews. like it seemed like
across the board this is how she acts in
interviews which is I'm not saying it's
fair it's more so that I haven't had a
chance to see her in anything else
really except for House of the Dragon in
which she wasn't supposed to be as in
there as long as she was so we don't
really get a lot of time talking to
actual Millie Alox and she might just be
one of those interviewers that doesn't
want to be there she's young too so it's
like she hasn't had to deal with it for
like 20 years like everyone else has
she's like oh this is just disruptive
like and I don't care I'm just an actor
that acts.
>> Yeah. And I I really don't blame her at
all. I don't think she is the problem at
all with this movie. In fact, she's
she's really well cast in this. She just
has this innate coolness that like movie
stars just kind of magically have. The
fact that like she went from House of
the Dragon playing young Rainer
Targaryen really well, speaking multiple
languages to just being like a natural
star on the big screen. I'm like, damn,
it's cool how some people can just do
that. And she does in this movie. It's
just the story around her
>> is I had issues with it. Um, and I think
she was really great in Superman. I
think she'll be really great in Mana
tomorrow. I think they really cast her
well. I don't have a problem with
someone's low energy on a press junket.
That's it's not all on her to promote
this movie. Um, but I have heard some
rumors, I don't know if they're true,
that like there was an issue with this
movie in early 2025 where James Gun
working with other people at the studio
might have taken it away from Craig
Gillespie to do kind of like a death
saving throw re-edit of the movie.
>> When you watch this movie, you'll see
the editing in many sequences is like,
whoa, this is an odd
>> this is odd. The the movie just feels
kind of reassembled in a lot of ways.
Um, I haven't seen a single review out
there praising the editing of this
movie. Interesting.
>> Um, I don't know if that's true. That's
just a rumor that I've heard. Um, and
um, another thing we can report here, if
you listen to the Town podcast, they
talk about how a lot of PR firms, and
you know this, you've worked in PR,
they're they're doing paid social media
clipping. And this is not necessarily
new. They've been doing it for the past
few years. Justin Baldon's legal and PR
team did this. Um, uh, even like there
were like Zack Snyder and when Justice
League came out, that was like, you
know, 8 years ago, they were doing this
back then, too. But clipping refers to
um when people will write organic tweets
or or post organic um Tik Tok reactions,
they'll pay to promote those things
through like whole teams of people and
bots that are basically reposting that
with some of the same talking points.
And this I'm probably talking to you and
you're like, "Yeah, I know. I've seen
that. I've seen where people are just
saying the same thing on my TikTok and
reals and it's just a person, but
they're literally saying the same
talking points. Specifically, Warner
Brothers has been doing that. I'm not
talking about like paid reviews and
shills. We'll talk about that in a
second, but I'm just talking about like
when people are talking about like their
hype for this movie. Wow, the hype is
crazy. Wow, this movie is going to make
$100 million domestic. that might have
been originally an or organic tweet that
someone or an aggregator wrote, but the
reason you're seeing it so much is
because that Warner Brothers knows that
that is a divisive take that's going to
get a lot of engagement. So, they paid
for that thing to be amplified. So, that
has been happening a lot and it's not
new, but it's been happening a lot with
Supergirl and it's happening a lot with
House of the Dragons new season.
[clears throat] Um, now a lot of you are
like, "Yeah, well also influencers were
paid there. This happens with every
movie, every major movie. They do media
events, they do meet and greets with the
cast, they do set visits, they do um
these little uh like um parties or
whatever where like certain press or
certain Tik Tockers are invited. Uh they
do media screenings at film theaters
around the LA area. Um that happens.
That's not new for Supergirl. They
Disney does that. Universal does that.
Sony does that. They all do it. They all
do it. And it happened again. So, we're
not saying like, oh, this was like a ma
a matter of desperation, but what I can
say is like um talking with the people I
talked to at Warner Brothers, they um
>> they they seem like more understanding
that this movie is going to have a mixed
response and they're okay with that. I
think they went into this movie knowing
that.
>> Yeah.
>> And they're not trying to like change
that narrative. They just want people
talking about it at all.
>> Yeah. I think naturally you're going to
with a Supergirl.
>> Yeah. I think they knew that already.
And then on top of that, this script
also, despite it being written by a
woman, despite it having a character
like Millie Alak, despite someone who
has a an agenda of trying to write
strong female characters like James Gun
did, I think they I think they missed
the mark with this one despite all that.
>> Yeah,
>> it's it's a shame. I think a lot of us
went into wanting to see this. And I
think if you're watching this now, maybe
you are one of the people who are like,
"What are they talking about?" I I love
this movie. And I hope there are a lot
of you out there. Um, I hope that like
Hollywood doesn't learn the wrong
lessons from this, but I do think, uh,
just to kind of give you guys a sense of
where we're at right now, um, in the
opening weekend, uh, or it was like the
the release, uh, at the red carpet, um,
we had an executive producer on this
movie who confirmed that Man of Tomorrow
is shooting right now in Atlanta and
that Millie Alco will return as
Supergirl in Man of Tomorrow. And he
also said um uh the way this movie ends,
you're going to see where she ends up.
If you've seen the movie now, you kind
of get a bit of a sense um of like where
we'll see her next, but they said that
there's going to be another DCU movie
after Man of Tomorrow that Supergirl
will be a big part of as well. So, Man
of Tomorrow, summer 2027. They're saying
in summer 2028, there's going to be
another DCU Supergirl movie that she's
going to be part of it.
>> Um and uh they said this is Lars P.
Winther. He's an executive producer on
this movie at DC Studios. And he said
that he and James Gunn and Peter Saffron
actually met with David Ellison. He said
that David Ellison came to Trill Studios
in Atlanta. That's where they shoot all
their movies that James directs. Uh and
he says David Ellison came to Atlanta.
We showed him everything and we're
having discussions with him. He said,
quote, "He's pretty open to what we're
doing. We do have a slate and a lot of
it obviously Clayface is already coming
out. We already have the Lanterns TV
show on those things. The trains left
the station so we're good." but he's a
big fan and he's been great with us.
He's giving us kind of what we want. So
far, everything's good. So, despite
whatever your takes are on Supergirl,
the movies and shows that have already
been shot or are in production,
>> that includes Lanterns coming out in
August, August [clears throat] 16th on
HBO, Clayface coming October 26th to
theaters, Man of Tomorrow coming July
7th, 2027 next summer. Uh, the Batman
coming October 1st, 2027. And then and
then that's like everything that's for
sure coming out. The question will be
this other DCU movie that they want
Supergirl to be a part of in 2028
>> up in the air and then all the other
titles that they've announced before,
including the Authority,
um, a Wonder Woman movie.
>> Oh, well, I think Creature Commando
season 2, I think the animated ones are
still moving forward. Creature Commandos
and Dynamic Duo are still coming. But
it's like if this movie really
underperforms, you may you're gonna see
a lot of discourse that like I know
Grace [snorts] Randolph was already said
like DC Studios needs to take Wonder
Woman away from Anna Aguera. I think
that's premature.
>> Um I but I can understand there are
major script problems in this. I think
like this isn't the immediate success
that uh the studio and the fans are
going to be that excited to see the
screenwriter be kind of like James Gun's
main go-to screenwriter other than
himself. Yeah, it's unfortunate that you
like because I don't agree with Grace
Randolph, but I also don't disagree in
the terms of like Wonder Woman and
Supergirl are two top like tiers for
what it seems like they were already
structuring it around Superman, Batman,
Supergirl, and Wonder Woman. So, I'm
like, okay, of these four, if the same
girl that did Supergirl is going to do
Wonder Woman, we need to talk about it.
Or at least maybe she learns from the
situation. I don't know. It's hard
because it's like I haven't seen the
movie yet. But I'm also like
I feel like being like James Gunn the
script sucked and you said you looked at
it. I don't think we should be
immediately putting James Gun to like
the highest standard of screenwriting. I
don't think he's like the greatest
screenwriter of all time. And so I could
see him seeing the script and being like
this could be adjusted. This should be
adjusted. And it's still being not a
great script.
>> Yeah, it's his he wears a lot of hats as
the head of DC Studios. It's his job to
manage the franchise. the creative
direction of the franchise and like that
includes a lot of things. It includes
like managing fan expectation. It
includes like in his the way he's carved
out his job to direct his own films and
write his own films. Sometimes he's even
talked a lot. I think that's why Owen
Gberman's like uh indictment is kind of
valid because James Gunn has put himself
out there a lot saying like I give notes
on everything. We're doing things
different here at DC Studios than the
way Marvel did them. You're not going to
see the same superhero fatigue in the
way we do it. So, like when this script
does get a mixed reception from critics,
it's like he does have the answer for
>> I'm confused because I'm like, did we
think that he was the greatest person of
all time?
>> I guess that's I guess that's what I'm
confused with. It's just cuz I'm like
James Gunner has great movies 100%. But
I also love his movies that are like
they're they're great movies, but I
would never be like, you know what, this
is the greatest script I've ever seen in
my entire life. And so that's why I'm
like, why are we holding him to the
standard that he is the gold standard of
screenwriting? And I'm like I think
that's the only part where I'm confused.
Like I don't think anyone's going to get
to uh be best for everybody. Even like
Christopher Nolan writes [ __ ] that you
guys hate. But it's like
>> I I we're all going to have grievances
with someone. And I do think that my
personality my personally with James
Gunn I'm like yeah I love watching your
movies. They are so fun. I can rewatch
them all the time. But I never looked at
it as I look at Logan.
>> So I'm like
>> referring to the 2017 Logan film.
>> What what Logan do you think I'm talking
about?
>> My son.
>> Your son. Well, nothing can nothing can
be like Logan Voss. Nothing is going to
be like that. That is the best thing in
the world. [laughter]
>> No one can come up with that.
>> But no, no, I hear what you're saying. I
think um we we should be very careful
holding him to too high of a superlative
status. I do think James Gunn is like up
there with the best like franchise
worldbuilders,
>> franchise world building.
>> And and I think that is something where
the Supergirl movie struggles. I don't
think it's outrightly bad. And one big
thing I disagree with Owen Gberman on,
he's like really critical of like the
the puppetry of this movie, the
practical puppetry. He was saying like I
disagree with the takes that uh cinema
changed in a negative way when Star Wars
and ET and these other and Jaws came
out. Um because he's but he's like I do
kind of agree that too many movies are
trying to do the mostly Cantina scene
and that might have had an adverse
impact on the industry. I think really
he's throwing shade at the Mandalorian
and Grou a little bit when he says that.
I think old man Gleberman's like, I
hated having to sit through all these
puppetry. I love practical puppetry in
movies.
>> Yeah, same.
>> I was born in 1988. It's the only world
that I know and I'm I'm grateful for it.
And I like that part of Supergirl. I I
like that preferred to the CGI [ __ ]
that we've seen too much of. But uh but
I think what he's saying is that um in
terms of franchise world building um
like the tone of this movie does not
have the same kind of open-ended feel
that Guardians of the Galaxy did.
instead. Like I think critics are really
struggling for an analog and they keep
reaching out to Mad Max in terms of like
the the dirt and the soot and the um the
punk feel of it, the leather of it all.
And I don't even think Mad Max is an
accurate description for it. Maybe Heavy
Metal Heavy Metal might the animated
heavy metal uh movie from the 80s might
be a good Oh, you should watch it. It's
insane. [laughter] It's an insane movie.
>> Even that I'm like even if we were like,
"Oh, you're used to doing these." I'm
like, "Yeah, but then you hired Anna."
So, it's like you're going to have Anna
write a Guardians movie or you're going
to have Anna write this kind of movie.
Anna's going to write her own type of
movie. We can get mad at how Anna wrote,
but it's like you guys put faith in her.
So, what the hell's going on here?
[laughter]
What the hell's going on here?
>> I I I think there um like there's going
to be forces at Warner Brothers who put
pressure on James Gunn and Peter Saffron
to be like, get a new writer in here
because she's unproven. And this is just
something I know from like follow I used
to try to be a screenwriter myself. I
listened to every episode of Script
Notes for a while. I was on an episode
of Script Notes and listening to Craig
and John talk, they show that like if if
you're trying to write this type of
franchise
>> um franchise film, your movie has to be
a hit. Your movie like it doesn't matter
if like the director botched it. Like,
and this happens all the time. There
happens where like the script is subpar,
but like the movie made a [ __ ] ton of
money. Aquaman 2018 Aquaman, that script
isn't that great. But because like James
Juan made a billion dollar movie with
it, all the screenwriters are gonna get
work afterwards.
>> That's the shitty thing though is like
which I mean I'm sure she already takes
this into consideration. She has a lot
more hurdles and obstacles than Aquaman
does. I will also say Aquaman was a very
low bar [laughter] for the for the DC.
It was like, okay, I'm I'm hating
everything that's coming out. And then
Aquaman was just fun. Aquaman was so
much fun. It was so much fun. Um and
also, oh my god, that merch. That merch
immediately. Yes, 100%. But Supergirl
already has so many limitations and they
already didn't like package a lot of
their press stuff that great. So it's
like what am I excited for? And I don't
know what's happening. So I'm like damn
girl. But you are right where it's like
unfortunately these movies do have to be
a hit. I don't care if it's like bad and
like great for families but it has to be
a hit. And if it's not I I feel like
with Supergirl you weren't going to
really appease for a family. Like
families aren't going to see Supergirl
unfortunately. But like you need to
appease to something. you need to you
need to have something that's I don't
know I don't know again I have not seen
this movie um I will also say I think
Owen's take is very valid and great
>> and I always go back to what Joe says um
from the house of our podcast of the
ring
>> Joanna Robinson
>> Joanna Robinson that's like it's up to
you to find the critics that really
resonate with you and if this person's
entire scathing review is like to you
the viewer audience person listening
right now is like I would never feel
this way about like this than this guy
that's completely okay that is 100% %
okay like that there there's a reason
why you probably don't you listen to him
but you would listen to Grace Randolph
or you would go somewhere else like
that's the whole point of being like a
very a lot of critics uh Robert I think
kind of feeds into like a lot of
people's consensus but I think going to
find the person that writes reviews for
movies like this in ways that you like
you can find it um and they probably
will be like I don't think it's as bad
you know how many reviews I read from
other black people that were like
sinners is a mockery
>> like there was a lot of people that were
black that hated sinners and there's a
black people that love sinners. It's
like it it takes you having to figure
out who you're who who you who you ride
with.
>> Totally. And I I do have to defend Owen
Gberman. There were some incorrect quote
tweets and takes saying that he was the
person at Variety who [ __ ] on sinners
and said it was going to underperform.
No, Owenberman. Owen Gberman loved
Sinners and he was one of the people at
Variety who sang its praises and was
championing the work that Ryan Cougler
did. Um, it was some box office
reporting, but it was someone else, but
it was a variety.
>> It was a variety box office reporter who
underpredicted the success of the movie
and and she just got it wrong. She
clocked it wrong. But I think a lot of
people were surprised at how well that
movie did and we're all happy that it
did well. U but yes, uh Owen was not one
of the people and also Owen was one of
the people who loved Superman. He he
didn't think it was a perfect film, but
I think he said James Gun what he
cringed at. And I again I disagree with
this take as well from Owen's review
that um that the whole scene with Clark
and Lois the the 11minute argument
scene.
>> I love that scene is my favorite scene
in the in the apartment when they're
going back and forth.
>> He said that he loved the scene as well,
but he cringed when he when they started
talking about what punk rock means.
>> They're cartoony.
>> It's a it's a comic book movie, but it's
an actual comic book made into a movie.
I I love this.
>> I didn't cringe. I I understood what
James Gun was trying to do with it. And
that's kind of his deeper theme of the
movie. And I really love the way that
came back in the final scene of the
film. But I understand I understood the
validity of of what Owen was trying to
say and that like
>> the he was trying to set up his argument
for Supergirl and that Superman
>> uh was like this nerdy boy scout trying
to say like this is what punk rock means
to me. But the moment you call something
punk rock, you kind of kill the punk of
it.
>> Yeah, you kill the punk.
>> Um he's not wrong about that either cuz
like no way Sid Vicious would ever allow
himself to be called punk rock. he's
just doing something else with the Sex
Pistols. Um, similarly,
uh, the Supergirl movie, it kind of
wears punk rock on its sleeve too much
with all of its needle drops. I I do
think, um, the the general strategy is
still overall worth continuing at DC
Studios. Craig Gillespie has talked
about this in interviews, how James Gunn
told him that um, every he wants every
movie to feel like its own graphic novel
as opposed to something that all has to
interconnect. And so, like, if Supergirl
doesn't work out as well as it did, but
if Lantern still is like one of the
coolest HBO mystery box series you've
ever seen, the the health of the DC
Studios slate is still intact. You know,
>> I think they can afford to have some
drops, especially this early in their
career. Uh there's only been two movies,
you guys. So, it's like, yeah, one is
there's no way they're going to make 12
movies and all of them are great.
>> Yeah. I and and for anyone saying that
it was a miscalculation to have a
Supergirl movie second, no, I I I
[clears throat] still think it was a
smart overall strategic decision to
follow up Superman with Supergirl. I
mean, the way Millie Alcott comes into
that movie at the end of Superman is is
still really fun. It's just the and the
casting of the character again and the
whole idea of Krypto really cool. I I
get the idea to follow it up. It's just
like this particular story didn't work
out. It's great. And uh and we'll we'll
hear more about like the problems with
the creative direction of this movie in
the weeks ahead. But
>> I I'd also argue that I don't think
you'd forget her scene in Superman for
sure. Like it was very great. It's very
loud, very boisterous. But I also think
like coming right after Superman makes
more sense because of that. If it came
out 2 years later, you'd be like, "Oh
yeah, what was she doing? She was a
drunk person that flew into like his his
house. Like who was she again?" It it
makes sense to come right after the
other. That way we don't lose that same
like heat that came off of Superman. And
and it wasn't even like one year. It was
only 11 months, right? Cuz Superman came
out in July, like the first week of
July.
>> Yeah.
>> So, yeah, it wasn't it wasn't a full
year, but it it's still fresh in your
memory where she was in Superman.
>> The um the best parts of Supergirl in my
opinion are the whole like DC mythology
stuff we get into when we go back to
Krypton, go back to Argo City, when
she's interacting with her cousin Call.
I'm like this. I love living in this
world right now. this is this is like
the exact DC Studios vision that I want.
So that's why I'm kind of still
optimistic about the state of DC
Studios. I'm I'm willing to still um see
what like Lanterns has cooking up for
us. I think I'm really excited for Man
of Tomorrow. I'm really excited for Matt
Reeves the Batman. Um, but I do think
like if if Clayface underperforms and if
like and if James Gunn can't get because
I think the the ultimate test for James
Gun as a franchise studio head is can a
project at DC Studios take off without
James Gunn being the writer director of
it. And so Clayface I think is is an
important test and I think Lanterns is
an important test.
>> I think Supergirl was important in that
regard.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. And so like if you have three
strikes, if if if Clayface is like
considered a misfire where they're like,
"What were they thinking with this?" If
Lanterns just feels like a really bad
kind of like streaming series where it
really just feels like it was re-shot,
rewritten on the fly. And if you have
like I think we'll know in October,
early November, right around the time
when the Paramount Warner Brothers deal
is going to close. Like if all three of
those are
>> bad,
>> considered bad by the general public.
>> No, but he shouldn't be working on them.
And not only because of his time,
because he literally cannot do
everything. Also because I think he
benefits in the realm that he did like
him doing Superman made sense. He was
like, and he even talked about how it
came from where he was with his dad. And
we see that, we hear that. The the feel
of this man was in Superman. But I don't
need to see him doing a horror version
of Clayface. I don't know if he can. I
don't want to see him doing an all women
the mascara. Like I don't know if he
can. I don't need to see him do
lanterns. I want to see two people that
work with detective shows do lanterns.
It's like I do think he would shoot
himself in the foot if he takes on too
many genres that he's not used to doing.
>> Mhm.
>> And that's why I'm like I don't even
care if we get four strikes. You don't
need to shove yourself into every
project.
>> Well, what the genre
>> because the time
>> James Gun has proven he can do comedy.
He can do uh just kind of a general
crowd-pleasing superhero film. He can do
horror. He's done a couple different
genres himself really well. But you're
right, Paradise Lost L lost is going to
be like a Game of Thrones type show or
House of the Dragons type show in The
Mascira, so that's still in development.
>> I also think the horror he does is still
different. There's 400 subg genres to
horror and it looks like Clayfaces of
like a man that can't identify himself.
And I'm like, yeah, could you do that?
Like he puts himself into everything he
writes and I love that. That's what I
loved about Superman so much. I don't
have a relationship with my father, but
I was like this I can see it and I and
this is so sad and emotional, but I'm
like do you have that same kind of
emotion in you for like being invisible
or just not being noticed or wanting to
be noticed or not being who you are? Do
you have imposter syndrome? Whatever. I
bet he does. I bet I bet he does and he
doesn't. I feel like he's gotten his ego
stroked a lot with all of his projects
recently, but I'm like
>> I think the events of summer 2018
they will never come back because he
keeps making hits.
>> Oh, sure, sure, sure. [laughter] I'm
just saying like he's gone through those
feelings of like too much celebrity
>> attention.
>> So he might do that but it's like I
don't think he can cut his face off and
be like I'm a different man. Um
>> he did cut off his hair and say I have a
different hair color.
>> He's like I got white hair now. Um but
with the mascara and like and also not
to be this person it's like those
projects I do I would want Supergirl
written by a woman just so she could do
she understands like this approach. But
I also do think I don't know or
Supergirl. I will say I have not seen
Supergirl yet. But from what I heard
about it or what I've seen about it, I
was like, "Yeah, if this is a sad girl
story, I kind of want to see it from a
sad like I want a girl to write it. I
want to know like cuz she'll be able to
empathize in ways that he can't."
>> Totally. Totally. And and I think you're
you you are seeing some takes out there
that like there's going to be some
frantic calls to Matt Reeves into Greta
Gerwig this weekend. Greta Gerwig is not
going to be the person to come save the
woman. You think they're going to do?
Well, she would [ __ ] That's what
they're saying. I think she would tear
that [ __ ] up.
>> Oh my god, dude. Put her on.
>> But she's not the only female writer in
Hollywood.
>> 100%. But let me see how she does
fantasy and the lion the witch in the
wardrobe and then we'll talk. Or Narnia
and then we'll talk.
>> If Narnia is pristine, I would probably
have a lot of faith in her doing Wonder
Woman. Oh, and the mascara. Sorry. This
is just Oh, that [ __ ] would eat it up.
[laughter] She isn't the only woman
writer though. She That is also true.
Um, and hopefully the success of Barbie
led will lead Warner Brothers and these
other studios to say, "Hey, women can
write good successful billion-dollar
femaleled stories."
>> It does suck that Anna maybe [ __ ] up
this project cuz I think that is
unfortunately how Hollywood does work a
lot. And they don't want to group you
all together, but they will be like,
"Well, she didn't do a good job on this
one. Should we get someone that's more
experienced for the next one?" Also, who
has experience writing a superhero movie
to this caliber? That That's Supergirl.
We know who she is. Everybody knows who
she is.
>> Deborah Snider.
>> Oh, I do love Sn Oh my god. I love
That's my girl. That's my girl. She
caught a villain. I love her. We met
her. No, wait. Maybe that was me and
Brandon. Me and Brandon met her. She's
always walking around Burbank.
>> Uh Patty Jenkins.
>> Patty. Oh, my girl. I mean, she's Patty
Jenkins.
>> Wonder Woman 84 is what?
>> Okay. No, shut up. That that there was
too many hands in the pot for that
movie. That movie was horrible. But let
me tell you, the first one, I loved it.
But I also don't think she had a great
time coming back. remember because she
came back to James Gunn about something.
>> I don't remember.
>> Remember remember when she was tweeting
about it or something? She was like she
came to pitch something and they were
like, "Yeah, we just don't really see
the vision." And I was like, "Patty,
my girl, let's put Shondaanda Rimes in
there." [laughter]
>> Shondaanda will fix it.
>> Shondaa will WRITE THE MOST DRAMATIC
[ __ ] PIECE. [laughter] No one will
understand it. It will just be a
heart-wrenching love tale.
>> Yeah.
>> Nasa would be great. I want Nicasa to
direct something for them. I would love
her to do a hot girl.
>> Yeah. Um, that would be great. Yeah,
there is a lot of there is a lot of
women, but I also I I don't know. I I'm
maybe I'm just too nice today. I feel
bad for Anna.
>> I feel really bad. It sucks. It would
suck. I would be like, "Don't show me
the news."
>> I just want to know. I kind of want to
know what happened with this script.
Like,
>> you could probably look it up and find
the script somewhere, right? Actually,
maybe not.
>> I don't know. I don't know. Well, I
mean, the story will be told at some
point, but it's just like whatever.
Again, whatever you feel about Tom King,
that woman of tomorrow graphic novel is
like a really great blueprint. Like, you
don't need to
>> change it. I think this keeps happening
where they get these screenwriters who
don't really have a relationship with
the source material, but the studio head
has a relationship with the source
material. And the writer's like, I just
want work. Sure, I'll do whatever you
say. And then they don't really give a
[ __ ] about this graphic novel. And they
just kind of read it and they're like,
I'm going to do my own thing. It's like,
no, no, no, no, no. your job is to just
write a screenplay version of this.
>> But there's no way you can make them, I
guess, do that, I guess, right? You
can't be like, I told you to read that
source material and stick to it.
>> I mean, there's certain things that Anna
does with this script of like shortening
the timeline of it. That's fine. Giving
the movie a ticking clock of 3 days
versus several months, totally fine.
Even changing the exact resolution of
how they deal with Creme at the end of
the story due to, you know, if you're
trying to have these characters come
back in future titles, you can't really
do that. But just the they [ __ ] up the
character of Crim in this movie. It is
awful. Like like he's unwatchable in the
movie and it's it's part of the Matias's
performance. The way the character is
written is unwatchable. Um I even think
like the character of Ruthie Marie Null
is like underwritten in this final
script and she has such great narration,
this true grit narration that they just
decided no, we don't need narration.
It's like if you want to make this movie
different, why not just have a young
girl like Scout Finch in Tequila
Mockingbird narrate over it? You could
do that and it would feel different and
it would be so cool and it would be true
to the graphic novel
>> and true to uh Haley Steinfeld in the
True Grit movie. It would be great and
they didn't do it and I just don't
understand why. I I I don't know if I
ever get five minutes with James Gun or
Anna Agraa in any junket in the future.
I kind of just want to spend the five
minutes just be like, can I ask you some
hard questions about why you wrote this
this way?
>> And I'll probably never get that chance,
but like someone can one of these
influencers or Tik Tockers who does get
an interview with them, please, for the
love of God, ask them some questions
about why some unflattering questions
about why they chose to write the
script.
>> They'll lose the opportunity.
>> No, they'll never get a chance. Instead,
they're going to be like, "Let's play
this game of like
>> who would you kiss?" Superman,
[clears throat]
your cousin. [laughter]
>> Um, yeah,
>> I'm being kind of hard on it, but it's
just like you had a win. You had an easy
win, and for whatever reason, they chose
to like make it hard for themselves.
>> Do you think it felt like one of those
scripts that was like, I don't want to
take from the source material cuz this
is still like my project. I want to
write my own kind of
>> which is which is ego. If you're a work
for hire for a major franchise, just get
the project made and make it successful
with the nerds who are going to watch
it.
>> What works what I guess what hits
harder, hearing people be like, "This is
a horrible script." Or hearing you just
copied the comic.
>> You just copied the comic has worked for
Marvel Studios for 15 years.
>> But this is not Marvel Studios. This is
Anna. [laughter]
>> So I I I guess it's not I know it can
still be selfish 100%. I'm not
disagreeing with you at all. Uh, it's
just I guess going in there as a writer.
Do you And this is like this is it's so
funny because this is how I feel about
Survivor people and people on Rupaul's
Drag Race. I'm like you made it on the
show. That was half the battle. If you
leave first, you did you did it. Why are
you crying that you're going home like
as number five? And it's LIKE BECAUSE I
WORKED HARD TO GET HERE. SO I'M LIKE A
writer like her going in there and then
being like I'm not going to take
everything from that source. I want this
movie to be my Supergirl movie. And I I
am like yeah that is kind of selfish.
I'm like I get I guess what I'm saying
is I understand where she would be
coming from in that regard, but this is
also a movie that has to be a hit. Yeah.
>> And you have to take those L's for those
hits. And I don't think you would lose
work making a hit that is just copying a
comic. You can go back to doing whatever
you want to do on the side that is just
you. You could write your own piece and
then fund it or do whatever the hell you
want. But I do think for like something
this big, maybe we just need that
consensus that like when it's this big,
you have to go from the comics. I don't
give a [ __ ] Like you have to go back to
what was good. You have to identify what
the fans really really care about from
the source material in this take on the
character. And we're not just saying
copy the comic. We're talking about
adaptation. And you know, I should
clarify what I just said. Marvel Studios
actually has rarely copied a to a
comics. They often make their the Russo
brothers love making their own kind of
story. But this is like the challenge
with this is why they give Oscars for
adapting a source material into a
screenplay. The best I think the best
example of this was uh Fran and Philippo
scripts for the Lord of the Rings
trilogy. um Peter Jackson with those two
women are really true Tolken scholars
who have read all the appendices.
They've read the smearillion. So when
they're making choices to adapt the
volumes of Fellowship, Two Towers, and
King into those three movies, they are
when they're filling in gaps, they're
filling in gaps from other things Tolken
wrote over here or other themes that
Tolken was developing in other places
that Christopher Tolken was developing.
So, like they clearly have a lifelong
passion for the source material and
that's what makes a really well- adapted
screenplays win their Oscars. Yeah. And
and I think you can't just have like
it'd be one thing if an Aguero was like,
you know, I didn't have an attachment to
um
>> to the Tom King script, but I did have
the attachment to these other eras of
Supergirl or what Helen Slater did or
the CW.
>> But I think it was like already too
late, right? Cuz James and them were
like we're taking from this.
>> They I don't know what I don't I really
don't know what her initial pitch was.
Um, but like you even see that with
James Gun. Like James Gun has been very
clear with Superman. He's like, I I like
Smallville. You're going to see
Smallville DNA in my DCU. We have no
problem with that because it's like,
okay, well, you did have your gateway
into Superman either through the Silver
Age comics, either through Grant
Morrison runs or whoever's runs, the
All-Star Superman run obviously was big
for him. Uh, even if it was Superman
animated series, like I loved how uh
Matt Reeves had said with the Batman,
he's like, "I liked Batman the animated
series in the '90s." It's like, "Fuck
yeah, dude. I want to see your vision
for this." You know?
>> So, you're saying like it's maybe a part
of Anna being like, "I don't actually
like this Tom King run."
>> You can't just have a good pitch is what
I'm saying. You you have to have you you
if you're going to be adapting this
source material in which there are going
to be scholars of it watching these
films, judging it, you yourself have to
be a scholar. And the reason I say that
is we know of plenty of screenwriters,
working screenwriters, who are scholars
of this source material and are not
getting this work. And I don't know why
they're getting passed on for just some
person who was in the original cast of
Hamilton.
>> I was about to be meaner for a second
there, [laughter] but like
>> I think that's a very
>> I think James Gun I think James Gun just
gets wooed by people who are actors
turned screenwriters because that's who
what he was.
>> I see it. I see it. Yeah. I also feel
like I don't know. It might be hard. It
might be hard getting those writers. You
get like, "Okay, here's a bucket of a
bunch of people we can hire from." And
then you're like, "Oh, I like this a
lot. Let's give it to her." Like, I feel
like that's just usually how it goes.
There's a bunch of great screenwriters
100%. But it's also like who you know,
>> right? It is completely like whoever's
agents got to send the like here's my
person. Like I'm sure watch it have been
like any there's probably someone that
was like James Gun's longtime friend
that's now working at CIA that's like
hey actually I represent this person
that's really good. You should have a
meeting with them and then that person
gets to write the next movie.
>> And and I'm being really really critical
and what I just said was probably the
harshest thing I've ever said about
James Gunn. Um but what we should
acknowledge is that every movie when it
does to come together and open is
miraculous in a way. It it's it's
miraculous that the right kind of team
can come together to even make any
adaptation. And the fact that we have a
Supergirl movie coming out that like
it's a well-cast Supergirl who's part of
a cinematic universe that we're still
excited about, that's miraculous in a
way. And we should be we should be
grateful that we can even have a movie
like this where we can talk about and be
this critical of. Um but what going
forward I think what what's required for
these movies to work is like adaptation
is not a simple thing. And I'm begging
Marvel Studios, DC Studios, anybody
who's going to be adapting IP, like
you,
>> it's hard.
>> You can find people out there who are
working already on projects who have
like a a bone deep affection for the IP,
for the lore. Uh, and those people are
chomping at the bit to get an
opportunity to write a screenplay. And I
think that's very very important for all
future adaptations.
>> Yeah. I just think it's hard.
>> I'm not even playing devil's advocate.
It's just I don't I would not under like
there could be the greatest screenplay
right now from someone at UCLA and I do
not know how they would get that to
Kevin Figy's door.
>> Yeah.
>> And I don't even know how Kevin Feige
would trust to read this kid's
screenplay. Like that's the hard part
and this is what I hate about the
mechanics of Hollywood in general and
this is why who you know is really
important. It's just like that's what
gets you through the door. Like that's
what gets people to read your script is
if you have a good team of people that
can promote you. Uh even getting back in
the day it was like, "Oh, you won this
weird writing competition. You can do
this thing." They don't do that [ __ ]
anymore. So it's just like who is your
manager? Who represents you. Can they
like rep you really well? And then on
top of that, like show me, prove to me
that you actually are good at this. And
then after you pass all those tests, let
me look into your background. If you
have some weird racist tweet, I'm not
hiring you. [laughter] If you have some
weird [ __ ] like I can't hire you. if
you have a problem with something or you
said something or you did something, I
also cannot hire you. Um, it's it's it's
so I'm like I'm not playing I'm not
playing devil's advocate because they
should they should that I want them to
bring new people in. That's how you get
better ideas. That's how we got back
rooms. But I'm just like I don't even
know where to start. I wouldn't even
know where to start. And if and I've
been an assistant a million times. I'm
like, [ __ ] I'm not reading all 500,
>> right?
>> 500 screenplays. I'm like, what? And
then also after the fifth hundred, I'd
be like, I don't know what's good
anymore. [laughter]
>> And we're commenting on the outside, you
know? we have like a a position of
privilege here where we can just like
assume it's way easier than it is. And I
I do think like Supergirl is not
necessarily like the movie for which we
should be being this critical of these
franchises. The Mandalorian and Grou
deserved this.
>> People still like The Mandalorian Grou
though. That's the problem is like and
also as it's Mandalorian Grou is a
[ __ ] spin-off to me. I'm like
Supergirl is supposed to be one of the
core for me. So, I'm like I'm not trying
to put it on a bigger pedestal, but I'm
like I expected more from Supergirl than
I ever would from Mandalorian Grou, but
I would expect more from a Star Wars
Star Wars movie like the Rise of the
Skywalker before I expect it from
Supergirl. Yeah, if that makes sense.
>> I I I'll say that I'm far more concerned
about the the health and the future of
the state of Star Wars after the
Mandalorian and Grou than I am about the
state of DC after Supergirl.
>> They're still going. They don't care.
Star Wars don't care. They they got all
the money.
>> Well, sure. They're always going to be
commercially successful, but I think
there is far more writing on Stariller
in 2027 than there is on like Clayface
Mana tomorrow.
>> I think so. I think Well, yeah. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
>> I think if uh compared to the the DC
ones, 100%. But I don't think it's like
a lot is weighing on that movie.
>> You think for theatrical Star Wars, it's
all weighing on. Wouldn't they get rid
of the TV before they get rid of the
movies?
>> No. If Stariller fails, you're going to
see heads roll at Lucas. Really? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. They need that movie to be
super successful. Or we're going to face
a future where like we might not have we
might be like Star Trek where we don't
have Star Wars for the next like few
decades.
>> I mean that's true. They already did
that kind of or well it hasn't been that
long since the last one but it's been
long enough. It's been too long.
>> It's just there or there will be very
very small Star Wars movies that come
out every now and then that are very
lowbudget and then maybe but it's not
going to be the big budget franchise
ones that it's been for like the past
like 20 years. They'll literally keep
doing the series.
>> Uh maybe, maybe. Yeah, they'll still do
animated series
>> because the animated ones are still
going.
>> Yeah. And they have like a welloiled
machine. They can keep pumping those
out. But live action series, I mean,
they cost a lot of money to make those
Ahsokas. And
>> I just thought that was like where they
wanted their money to go more than I
guess the TV series still help the
parks.
>> There's not going to be any money coming
in. I think the all that all that like
they'll still pump money into parks.
Like I think Star Wars will always be a
forever brand that will do well in the
parks, experiences, merchandise. Yeah.
And they'll have animated shows that
come out that keep that alive, but it's
going to be it's going to take a while.
You're going to have to take another
generational talent the way J.J. Abrams
pitched himself to be in 2014. Oh, yeah.
>> Um, so, but yeah. So, but DC Studios, as
Peter Saffron and James Gunn have said,
they have a couple more movies and shows
that are coming out that I think all of
them would have to fail and lose a [ __ ]
ton of money for them to go back to the
wall. Because the thing is, no matter
what, Matt Reeves the Batman is going to
cook.
>> It's going to cook. And Batman will
always be a [sighs] hot hot brand more
than Star Wars is currently. So I think
no matter what, even if you consider the
DC brand to still be fledgling and shaky
after Supergirl, like damn, this is
still the universe that has Batman in
it.
>> Yeah.
>> And uh and I and I'm not too worried
about e anyone's jobs right now. I I
think, you know, yes, you can be
concerned about Paramount's acquisition
of Warner Brothers and what the
Ellison's want to do with it, but the
reason why they were most excited to
acquire Warner Brothers is they're like,
we want to have our names on a Batman
movie,
>> I think. And that's the that's your
that's your gold ticket. I don't think
Marvel technically has that anymore
since Iron Man is gone. So, it's like,
oh, our money maker isn't Batman. He is
making money in the games. He's making
money in the other things that have
nothing to do with James Gun's DCU. And
then they they're making their own DC's.
Oh my god.
>> And Marvel does have Spider-Man. They
share They're sharing it with Sony.
>> But but yeah. Yes, you're right. You're
right. Um
>> core core money is going straight to DC
for B right. All of Matt Reeves' money
goes straight to DC or War Brothers.
>> Yeah.
>> And then so what? We don't know.
>> Not all of his money, but the money he
makes on this movie. And then even if
the money for Lego Batman goes somewhere
else, a little bit still goes to like,
oh yeah, we're adapting.
>> Yeah. That that was full Warner Brothers
profit there.
>> They're getting And then same with the
Penguin.
>> They still spin spin-off, but like
>> HBO series. Yeah. But they still the
Batman universe makes money is what I'm
saying. Ah damn.
>> And so that's why I think you're you
might see greater calls for uh James
Gunn to just make the Matt Reeves half
of the universe. The Matt Reeves Patson
Gotham the Gotham of the DCU. But we
should be clear that there is still a
plan for a Brave and the Bold movie to
come out. They want to have their own
Gotham. That's going to be the Gotham
that we see in in uh Clayface. Now
Clayface might be set a few years
earlier than everything else. So,
there's a world where it just is a
separate Gotham, but I don't know. We've
only seen a teaser for Clayface. That
could be the Gotham of the Matt Reeves
universe. But, I feel like that might be
pressure that Ellison puts on him by
just saying like
>> because of more money.
>> Either make all of these movies graphic
novels and there's no connected
cinematic universe or make it the same
cinematic universe cuz we're just going
to fund more of these patents in
Batman's.
>> I don't mind you splitting the universe,
but I will say if they're both dark and
dirty, it's going to be hard to
differentiate. Like especially if uh
Clayface is going to be bloody and gory,
I'm going to be like, "Oh, so Penguin is
the same place." Right. Right. These are
the same worlds, both dirty and gritty.
>> It it I think it's going to be a while
before we hear any update about like a
separate Batman movie that exists in the
continuity of Superman. I think what you
might see is if like Clayface [snorts]
does okay, like if Clayface is just like
kind of a mid-level performer. Um, and
if Man of Tomorrow does well, and then
if Matt Reeves the Batman is like the
highest grossing of all of these movies,
what you're going to see is pressure
from the Ellison's to just say like, we
we'll we'll give you money for a
follow-up to that that Matt Reeves
directs if we can get Patson back. We're
not going to give you we're not going to
give you $200 million for another Batman
movie. [snorts] That's not that.
>> That's not that. Well, yeah, the Batman
will make more money than our new Batman
would. Also again, but also I'm it's it
cost them a pretty penny to make The
Batman and Robert Patterson only is
gonna ask for more and more money. And
then when you put in Scarlett Johansson
and a bunch of other people in it,
Scarlett Johansson's rate is I want to
know what she's making for that movie.
>> Uh probably 15
>> cuz she makes she made a [ __ ] ton for
Jurassic World, but she could have asked
for that for Jurassic World. But this
one, I could see Matt Reeves being like,
"Come on, it's still a good movie. It's
out there what these A-listers rates are
for like Leo DiCaprio will only do a
movie for 20 million.
>> Minimum 20 million.
>> I just need a
>> Tom Cruz is around that too. Um Downey
is around that as well. But
>> Tom Cruz could ask for more.
>> Oh, he does. [laughter] He genuinely
gets
>> hired for all of it because he's acting
as the stunt too.
>> I'm saying they're minimums.
>> Oh, they're minimums.
>> And they get points on the back end
generally as well. U Scarlett Johansson
I think is the highest paid actress. Um
she's higher than Charlies Theron. Um,
Zenaia's up there, but I think I think
ScarJo gets more than Zinda does.
>> I agree.
>> Um, so it's probably around 15 million,
maybe 20 million for her, but I don't
think it's probably not a guaranteed
minimum. I bet there's some negotiation
because
>> there has to be.
>> She's she's like hustling. She's not
like where it's DiCaprio where he'll
only do a movie when he really believes
in it. Scarlett Johansson did Jurassic
World Rebirth. She's doing this Batman
movie and she's doing The Exorcist.
>> Oh yeah, she's doing The Exorcist. So,
like I think she's probably getting like
a minimum of like 12 or 15 would be my
guess for all of her movies.
>> Okay.
>> And it's she's worth it. She brings that
much and more for like uh just her being
on the
>> Also, she's good at doing stunts, too.
So, it's like you get the best of both
worlds. Everyone recognized her. She's a
good face. She's a good person. Not
>> I almost said that and then I was like,
wait, no, she's not.
>> We don't know her. She's married to
Colin.
>> I know enough of her. I know she just
took up for Woody Allen again. Oh,
[laughter]
well,
>> she she she her her priorities are in a
different baskets. And this is she would
love that we go back to a time where we
didn't care about what celebrities
[laughter] said, unless they were on
camera. She would be like, "Can you guys
please just go back to the time where
you didn't know [laughter] me?"
>> All right. So, that's kind of the
general state of the DC Studios universe
right now. I think like it's the
underperformance of Supergirl is not
enough of an indication of the future
for James Gunn and Peter Saffron's jobs.
Uh but we'll look at Lanterns, we'll
look at Clayface, and we'll look at
tracking for Man of Tomorrow, and those
will be more of an indicator. Uh but I
honestly think like James Gunn is still
like a valuable asset to the Ellison.
>> Um and Craig Gillespie is still a you
know, a good director who also made it
and Carella and these other movies. It's
just he also made this one. He also made
Hey, not everyone's gonna win every
movie. You know what I'm saying? Those
movies might be winners. This one's
gonna be bad. [laughter]
>> Um, coming up this week on the New
Rockstars channel, you will see our
breakdown of episode two of season 3 of
House of the Dragons coming to the
channel tomorrow. Um, X-Men 97 premieres
Wednesday, uh, July 1st. First three
episodes of X-Men 97, you'll be able to
see the new Rockstars Easter egg
breakdown hosted and written by Gina
Epilo. She is our resident X-Men
animated series expert. So, you're
really going to love her breakdown when
that comes out to the New Rockstars
channel. Um, and then we have our next
episode of The Road to Doomsday where
Jessica and I talk about Logan, the 2017
Logan film. Uh, that's coming this
Saturday, July 4th, on the 4th of July.
All right, so let's end this episode
with what we're watching. What else have
you been consuming and watching this
week?
>> Um, I'm watching, which is actually
really funny. I'm watching the Batman's
all the way through again. not not
watching what's his names Adam West. Um
I have watched those. I don't need to
watch them again, but I'm starting from
the or uh like the 89 Michael Kitten.
Yeah.
>> Yeah. And we're going up.
>> And I hate to say it.
>> I still love the Val Kilmer one. That
one is still my It's still my number one
unfortunately. It is still
>> That's your number one.
>> It's my number one cuz it's so funny. I
think it's Jim Carrey as the Riddler is
so much fun for me that I really I
really like Arnold Sorenhager is also
very funny.
>> That's in the fourth one.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, no. I Well, I've
watched them all, but I'm just watching
from the beginning. I'm just naming like
the villains are so much fun in that
movie. Tommy Lee Jones. [laughter]
>> He's like uh Sam
>> and you can tell he's kind of really
irritated with Jim Car.
>> Oh, he [laughter] hates working with
him.
>> He He just He's so annoyed. The only
part I don't like is just like why even
put like Drew Barrymore and what's her
name as Uma Thurman's Po Ivy in it for
like a split second. But otherwise it is
very fun.
>> Drew Barrymore being in the third one is
such an odd
>> weird I don't understand. But I I really
like I love Val Kilmer a lot. I love Val
Kilmer a lot. Oh
>> yeah. Miss him.
>> I miss I do miss him. I loved Val Kilmer
a lot. He was like the hottest man to be
when Batman came out. I was like oo now
that is a plastic man.
>> Um what are you watching? Uh, last
Sunday was Father's Day.
>> Oh my god. Oh, so sorry. Added part that
I'm watching Love Island.
>> Oh, I hear it's just straight up porn
now.
>> Yeah, it is. And it makes me very
uncomfortable. And I don't understand
why we're okay with it. Maybe I'm
getting really old. Is that me being I
don't know. I Why are you
>> I think we're all sex positive here, but
like the show had a different mission.
I'll tell you right now, I would like if
I was on that show, which I would never
be, but if I was, I'm not trying to open
tongue every single person within 30
seconds. And also, there's like
challenges are like
>> strip for this person, all five of these
men. And I'm like, I don't want to do
that. I don't want to do that. I don't
mind doing this. Is the first season or
not the first season, there's been a lot
of season, but this is a season where
there's a girl on there that's like very
like, oh, um, I'm taking things slow.
And she's actually being like
villainized for it. Like some of the men
are like, "This is crazy. Why is she
waiting?" And I'm like, "Probably cuz
there's cameras on you guys 24 [ __ ]
seven." That same episode, there's a
girl going down on a man in their room.
And I'm like, "Why are we watching this?
This is crazy." Do also, first off, do
you guys not know that you're being
recorded? Secondly, why am I watching
this? Cuz now I'm just watching like a
24year-old giving head and I don't want
to watch that. I don't want to watch
that. I don't want to watch that. That's
all it is. It is porn. It is 100% porn
and I have my grievances with it because
I don't I feel so uncomfortable. I'm
like, I don't think I got consent to
watch this.
>> Yeah, they didn't warn me that
>> they didn't they didn't tell Did they
tell them? But I also I'm like I guess
it's on it like ninth season. You know
what the show's about?
>> But I'm also but it's but it's so heavy
to me that I'm like
>> can I go to Fiji and tell the girl that
I just saw her give this guy a head.
Yeah. And also their parents are also
watching the show. Everyone's families
are back home being like, "I hope Carla
finds love." And then Carla goes down on
Gabriel and you're like,
>> "That's not what I meant."
>> YEAH, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT. It's so
funny because parents will be in like
comments on Facebook being like, "I hope
my son chooses a naya. What are you
talking about? Get out of here. This is
so weird of you, dude. Weird. Weird."
And they also don't know how to find out
that another girl got caught saying the
n word and got kicked off the show in
the middle of the night.
>> Well,
>> girls, why is it so fun to say the n
word? I know why it's fun. I can say it,
but [laughter]
I'm allowed to say it because it's for
me. It's my word. But why the [ __ ] are
y'all saying it? This girl got caught
literally being like, "Oh, this n-word
keeps trying to talk to me." In 2022,
2022. And then crazy in the episode
she's in,
>> she doesn't she conveniently doesn't
kiss any of the brown people.
>> That's
>> She doesn't kiss any of the brown
people. She goes, "There's a pattern." I
said, and I'm reading it and I'm reading
it. [ __ ] you thought you were the
Riddler, but I got it. [laughter] I got
like walks like a duck, quacks like a
duck. She got kicked off the show. I'm
like, there's too many times people are
getting kicked off THE SHOW. HOW THE
[ __ ] is I'm not even trying to compare
it to Survivor, but if they can find
people on Survivor that aren't [ __ ]
horrible people like that, what the [ __ ]
are we doing? Like, what you guys have?
It's Peacock. You have all the money in
the world to be actually vetting a lot
of these people and then somehow these
people get on the show and then all of a
sudden we find their Snapchats of them
saying the n-word to every rap music
video all of a sudden.
>> Well, I think it's a show like Love
Island. You really do have to It's
harder to find people who are going to
kind of put themselves on display like
that. Whereas Survivor, you have a lot
of people like, I want to make a million
dollars. I'm just someone who grew up
watching Survivor. And I True, you have
a lot more wholesome game bots that come
through, especially in the new era of
Survivor, but Survivor went through
this. There's quite a few people
histories.
>> Oh, there's problematic people that
reveal themselves when they're on
Survivor, and I go, "Oops."
>> I go, "That's gross." I love My favorite
part of Survivor is when Jeff's like,
"You make me sick." [laughter]
>> Yeah. When Jeff has to be Uncle Jeff and
kind of sit everyone down and be like,
"Let's talk about how to be people in
civiliz."
Okay. Sorry. That's Love Island. Insane.
I'm not okay with what's happening.
Yeah. Now you go. Sorry.
>> Um it was Father's Day last Sunday.
[laughter]
So I was like trying to My wife was
like, "You can watch any kind of dad
coded thing you want." And I was like,
"But what's something that would be
really hard to get you to watch on any
other Sunday?"
>> So we're making a brisket.
>> No. Well, that No, I I was thinking
movies. So I was like, I put on Master
and Command. Mastering Commander Far
Side of the World. Um it's a Russell
Crowe, Peter Weir movie from the early
2000. It was like the re team up of
Russell Crowe and uh Paul Bettany in
2003.
>> I didn't watch a lot of I didn't watch
any Paul B.
>> It's a good Patrick O'Brien ship movie.
It's like it's a Napoleonic or
>> No, you just said a dad movie. Why would
I watch it?
>> You don't need to watch it. Well, you do
need to watch it. It's [laughter]
excellent. It's same director of the
Truman show.
>> Okay. I like it.
>> It's very very good. Uh it was like
nominated for a whole bunch of awards
and I was like, you know what? How have
I avoided seeing this all this time? And
it's always been on my list. I was like
now this sun Sunday. Father's Day 2026.
We're watching it and Kelly's like, "I
love that." And I was like, "No." I kind
of was like, "Oh man, I was hoping that
you wouldn't like it." But
>> did you like it?
>> Oh, I loved it. I loved it. What I'm
saying is like
>> I I wanted this Father's Day to be
something like cuz this is the only day
and Get Away with it. But it just shows
me how much I love my wife and how great
of taste of movies she has. We have
similar taste and she [laughter] if it's
a good movie, she's going to like it.
Um, but we had a wonderful Father's Day.
I like that you chose a movie that you
never saw and you like kind of put it in
the dad category.
>> That is like what if you research like
the rewatchables, Jason Conpion was
like, "This is definitely a dad movie."
And I'm like, "Okay, noted." I was like,
"Between that and uh oh, re-watching the
pilot of Band of Brothers," cuz Kelly
and I are going to rewatch Band of
Brothers.
>> We've already watched it again.
>> I've never watched Band of Brothers, but
I also don't know if I should
>> this Fourth of July.
>> I don't know if I should.
>> You should watch Band of Brothers. I
don't know. Maybe.
>> It's very good.
>> It's very, very [laughter] good.
>> Maybe I will. Well, is it really sad at
parts?
>> It is, but
>> cuz I started rewatching Sons of Anarchy
and then I was like, "Oh, I don't think
I can watch this now.
>> It's too deep for me. It's too sad." Um,
lots of people die in horrible ways.
>> Jess, you're getting You're becoming a
softy on us.
>> I am a very big softy. Oh, I'm very I
don't cry. That's why I watch horror
movies cuz I don't cry in horror.
>> But most horror movies are sad now.
>> No, they're not sad. They're people just
getting chopped up.
>> Well, they're all tragic. They're all
like
>> No, horror movies is sad.
>> I still haven't seen it.
>> Really? I still haven't seen it. I'm so
behind. You got to watch them while
still in theaters. But like none of them
are like sad like in the ways that like
Wild Robot sad or Toy Story could be
sad. Like those are things that I'm like
this is emotionally like I can't wa I
just can't feel this way right now. My
Prozac will not allow me to watch this.
[laughter] When I again I got kind of
tricked into watching Project Mary. I
did not know it was a sad movie. And the
entire film I had tissues like this the
entire time cuz I could not stop crying.
And I I think it's also a we talked
about this. It's like um what is it? My
biological clock or whatever. When I see
cute things that are small or just like
need help, I I I react in a way that I
can't. That's why I can't watch
Gremlins. [laughter]
>> Oh.
>> And it was really hard for me to see
Rocky get hurt.
>> And I was just like and like any like
Grou the same way. And so like movies
that have that and they weaponize that
on me, I'm like I can't watch it. I'm
going
>> Project Hail Mary the movie even toned
down that part of from the book. God,
>> there's like way more of like um Ryland
kind of nursing wounded Rocky back to
health. There's like a whole like two
[snorts] chapters about it.
>> And I've cried I've cried in books. Uh I
remember watching me reading me, Earl,
and the dying girl and there's still
like if you go back to look at my hard
cover of it, there's tear [laughter]
drops. I [ __ ] up the pages. I was
crying. So
>> I mean,
>> so I'll cry if I read I'm not going to
do I would
>> most books that I've read I've wept
during I reading the the Roherim charge
and from Tolken I was crying during that
of Harry Potter this final Harry Potter
book I was college Eric was weeping
while reading Deathly Hallows for sure.
>> Yeah, everybody's Harry Potter book is
definitely wet.
>> It's water damaged. [laughter]
>> Oh man. Uh well let us know in the
comments below what book or movie made
you cry. Cry baby little Bonnie from Toy
Story. I'll try to read it unless it's
genuinely like the Sophie's choice. I'm
not reading it.
>> No. Uh, hey, this is great talking about
the state of DC Studios with you, Jess.
Follow Jess at Lulu Clements. You can
follow me at EA Voss. A special thanks
to one of our in our underground
subscribers, Justin Shonenrock, for
supporting us at the executive producer
level. You can get all of our exclusive
bonus content by clicking on the link in
the description below or going to in our
underground.supcast.com.
[music] I'm over annunciating because
I've realized in my recent videos I'm
kind of mushmouthing things and I'm like
I what's wrong with my body where I
cannot annunciate anymore. Thanks to to
Brian Kim who um tells us everything
that we say every anything that comes
out of our mouth. It came out of Brian's
mouth first. Uh and to Joshua Steven and
Abby Fel um and to all of our supporting
editors Eric Gord who edits a lot of our
podcasts. Big thanks to everyone at New
Rockstars. Thanks for watching and we'll
see you next week. Bye, sneaky peakers.
>> Bye.
[music]