'Superman: Legacy' is to blame for the cancellation of CW's 'Superman and Lois'
Superman and Lois
Katie Yu/The CWLooks like DC is coming Superman: Legacy film is responsible for The CW's cancellation Superman and Lois.
According to CW president of entertainment Brad SchwartzWarner Bros. decided. eventually the Man of Steel had to hang up his cape with a small screen to make room for the James Gunn-directed film, despite the fact that Superman and Lois is The CW's second most-watched program.
“They don't want a competing Superman product on the market,” Schwartz said The cover in an interview on February 16. Superman: Legacy will hit theaters sometime in 2025.
Starring Tyler Hoechlin And Bitsie Tulloch in the titular roles, Superman and Lois premiered in February 2021 and serves as one of four scripted shows to continue with The CW following the network's acquisition by Nexstar Media Group in October 2022. The shortened 10-episode season is currently premiering alongside All American: Homecoming sometime in the fall of this year. (All American And Hiker are scheduled for premieres in spring 2024.)
Getty Images (2) The DC cinematic universe returns to its roots with the new film Superman: Legacy, set to hit theaters in 2025. The film was announced in January 2023, just a month after Henry Cavill said he would no longer be portraying Superman. “I just had a meeting with James Gunn […]
“The company we inherited has lost a lot of money. Maybe it did very well for Warner Bros. and CBS, but the actual company itself was losing money,” Schwartz said The cover of the reasons behind the ownership shift. “That's no one's fault. That was the model.”
While most of The CW's lineup was canceled last year, All American and its sister show, Homecominghave consistently ranked as the most watched series in the adult demographic. Hiker And Superman and Lois ranked as the network's largest in terms of total audience, earning them each a renewal.
“We can't keep losing the amount of money we made from the shows,” Schwartz continued. “By working really well together, everyone came together and we moved these four shows forward.”
Despite Superman & Lois' Last season, which reportedly saw massive cuts, Schwartz promised that fans will be happy with how the story ends.
Superman and Lois
Colin Bentley/The CW“I watched the first episode last night and it will make you cry,” he teased, adding that the premiere was postponed because the series would ultimately be “wasted” in the summer season. “So let's post it in the fall so we can pre-sell it, and we can really, really talk about it.”
Going forward, The CW will move to more unscripted content, but Schwartz noted that if scripted shows continue to generate strong ratings at their current price, “there's no reason why you shouldn't keep doing them.”
However, superhero shows likely won't be featured on future lists. In May 2023, Schwartz noted at Network Upfronts that while the genre has long been a “hallmark” of the network, they no longer “operate linearly” when it comes to profits.
“Superman & Lois are very strong creatively,” he said. “It does well in broadcast, it does well in digital… but it's expensive [and] doesn't make us any money. And we don't own the rights to the previous seasons. You must have a library [for people to find a show] …and so are the previous seasons [on Max].”
After having to postpone their traditional fall 2023 primetime TV lineups due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, networks promised an even bigger 2024. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike ended in September 2023 after nearly five months, while the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) reached a […]
As regards Superman: LegacyThe film marks the launch of DC Studios CEOs Gunn and by Peter Safran new DC universe and we'll see David Corenswet to replace Henry Cavill as Superman. Rachel Brosnahan will play Lois Lane, Skyler Gisondo plays Jimmy Olsen, Nicholas Hoult will appear as Lex Luthor and Anthony Carrigan will be Metamorpho. The film follows the titular superhero as he reconciles his alien heritage with his life on Earth.
While viewers are taken back to the early days of Superman's story, Safran clarified in January 2023 that Legacy is not classified as an “origin” film.
“It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing,” Safran explains The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “He is the embodiment of truth, justice and the American way of doing things. He is kindness in a world that thinks kindness is old-fashioned.”