I look forward to the eventual documentary about Warner Brothers. Ideally, it will tell the story of how a studio pulled itself up from the hole it had dug and rebuilt its reputation. It put strong, caring leaders at the head of its storied company and helped sponsor a new age of studio-driven creativity for established and up-and-coming artists. This documentary would air on the newly renamed HBO. This documentary will (likely) never exist.
Someone will document Warner Brothers (currently Warner Brothers Discovery), that is for sure. However, it will be no success story. We will be presented with a post-mortem about a company that furthered its descent into oblivion by empowering people like David Zaslv and constantly burning bridges with creators. The company has a rich history and extensive library, and will likely be sold off to the first tech company to decide they need in-cell entertainment for their doomsday shelters.
Warner Brothers Discovery has become an embarrassment in the entertainment industry. Films have been fully completed and then shelved to save money on taxes. Shows have been removed from streaming services to avoid paying meager residuals to the people who worked on them. People openly mock the company’s CEO for being the living embodiment of a rich goober/parasite. People shouldn’t even know who he is! Still, David Zaslav isn’t the only rich white man embarrassing Warner Brothers Discovery.
Christopher Nolan was at Warner Brothers for a long ass time. You can say he’s done some of his best work there because he’s done the majority of his work there. Then, COVID happened. Nolan’s film, Tenet, was due to be released in theaters in July of 2020. It couldn’t hit its initial date but Nolan insisted it receive a theatrical release and not be pushed to streaming as Warner Brothers had been doing with other films. To secure the film’s release, Nolan agreed to forgo certain fees.
After fighting with the company, Nolan decided to end his relationship with Warner Brothers. He took his next film to Universal, and that little movie was called Oppenheimer. Ever heard of it?! It did well. Before it was released, however, the newly minted Warner Brothers Discovery attempted to win the Dark Knight director back to the house that Bugs built.
Variety is reporting that Warner Brothers wrote Nolan a seven-figure check, amounting to the Tenet fees he had waved as a way to get him to come back. Nolan took the money but did not return. In a long line of boners from the WB, this is high up on the list. They didn’t have to give Nolan that money, and surely they must have known he wouldn’t be bought so easily.
Again, Warner Brothers Discovery put hundreds of millions behind The Flash despite all of Ezra Miller’s… everything. They gave Todd Phillips $200 million to make a musical he was never equipped to make. They practically burn money! They won’t release Batgirl, but they’ll pull this horse ***. It’s a damn shame.