As Shazam! Fury Of The Gods bows in theaters to a somewhat muted reception, there are already eyes on the next DC movie on the docket. According to The Hollywood Reporter, none other than Tom Cruise is already a fan of The Flash, which isn’t due out for another three months.
Several sources told THR that Cruise met with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav back in February. The exec hyped up the scarlet speedster’s upcoming solo outing, presumably to distract from all those films and TV shows that are no longer being made thanks to his leadership. It worked well enough that the Top Gun: Maverick star asked to see the comic book adaptation, and a completed copy of the movie was sent to Cruise’s home for a private screening. (The picture has already been finished for several months.)
Cruise apparently enjoyed The Flash so much that he called up director Andy Muschietti to offer up his personal compliments. Per THR, his descriptions were along the lines of “everything you want in a movie” and “this is the kind of movie we need now.” It’s no “Big Movie. Big Screen. Loved it,” but it sounds like pretty high praise from Cruise, albeit without baked goods being involved.
Between the varying confidence in DC adaptations and star Ezra Miller’s misconduct allegations and legal troubles, The Flash was already fighting quite the uphill battle even without factoring in movie attendance being impacted by the pandemic. Still, nothing has deterred Zaslav from betting on the flick, though only time will tell if a Super Bowl ad and an endorsement from the A-list theatrical champion will translate to ticket sales.
The Flash also features the returns of Michael Keaton as Batman, Ben Affleck as another Batman, and Michael Shannon as General Zod. Sasha Calle will be making her debut as Supergirl.
The Flash arrives in theaters on June 16.