Hollywood history is littered with bad investments, but one of the most galling examples in recent years it the mammoth development deal J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot signed with Warner Bros., which was rumored to be valued at a bare minimum of $250 million.
While the company has been responsible for a slew of box office hits and widely popular TV shows, it would be a stretch to say that the studio has gotten anywhere near its money’s worth out of the contract. In fact, the filmmaker has been accused more than once of stealing money after plunging a number of projects into the works, with very little to show for it.
Since putting pen to paper, Bad Robot has seen Lovecraft Country canceled, while his ambitious plans for an expanded Justice League Dark universe swiftly fell by the wayside, not to mention the fates of Batman: Caped Crusader, Demimonde, his Superman reboot alongside Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Zatanna all being tossed onto the scrapheap or going completely radio silent.
Ironically, Bad Robot’s episodic reinvention of Constantine was also scrapped, but Abrams will at least be bringing a DC property to life at long last after it was confirmed by screenwriter Akiva Goldsman that the Star Wars and Star Trek alum is involved in the long-gestating sequel to Keanu Reeves’ 2005 favorite.
A solitary comic book adaptation out of the many to have been announced and then dropped isn’t a stellar return to put it lightly, but it’s about damn time Bad Robot started putting its mouth where all of WB’s money went by delivering completed productions that don’t end up being axed.
