Despite star Ezra Miller’s growing legal troubles, Warner Bros. is seeing big  numbers in the speed force for The Flash based on the extraordinary great buzz from early test viewings.

Variety:

The upcoming comic book adventure, which completed production in 2021 and is scheduled to debut in theaters in 2023, has been extraordinarily well received in early test screenings, according to sources close to the movie. Given DC Films’ inconsistent track record in fielding commercial hits, initial reception that “The Flash” could be a crowd-pleasing blockbuster is not only a relief, but a necessity to succeed at the box office.

And at a time when superhero adaptations are largely populated by straight actors, Ezra Miller, who stars in “The Flash” and is nonbinary and queer, feels like a refreshingly progressive choice to headline a big all-audience summer movie.

There’s only one glaring issue: Miller can’t seem to stay out of trouble. In recent months, the actor has been arrested or taken into custody several times for harassment, disorderly conduct and a traffic violation. Around the same time, two Hawaii residents filed a temporary restraining order against Miller after they allegedly broke into the couple’s bedroom and tried to steal their passports and wallets. Though the restraining order was later dropped, their continued behavior has prompted serious unease about the people they have endangered, as well as Miller’s own health and well-being. Those incidents took place nearly two years after footage surfaced of Miller appearing to choke a woman outside a bar in Iceland. It’s hardly the kind of attention that a studio wants for the star of a $200 million-budgeted tentpole.

Barring unforeseen developments, sources say, Warners is barreling ahead with intention to give the superhero film the full blockbuster treatment. “The Flash” simply cost too much money to scrap the project entirely and it likely will not generate the revenues needed to turn a profit without playing in theaters.

The way the studio sees it, “The Flash” is more than a standard superhero origin story. The movie, which begins as Barry Allen travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, cracks open the DC multiverse, paving way for Batmans from alternate realities (namely, Keaton and Affleck) to overlap with Miller’s Spandex-clad hero. Just think of the potential sequels, spinoffs and team-ups that could inspire.

“The Flash” also gives Warners another viable contender on its mission to keep up with Disney’s commercially unrivaled Marvel Cinematic Universe. DC has several properties on schedule in 2022 and beyond, including “Shazam: Fury of the Gods,” “Aquaman 2” and “DC League of Super-Pets.” But crossover events like “The Flash” have become especially exciting to fans, especially after 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” successfully introduced to mainstream audiences the concept of the multiverse — and blockbuster ticket sales for 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and 2022’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” confirmed that moviegoers really, really like the concept.

The Flash is scheduled to hit theaters June 23, 2023.