So how did Wise Guys happen? How did a film that is expected to cost between $40 million and $50 million, that literally nobody at Warner Bros. wanted to make, and that doesn’t really conform to the standard for films that Zaslav himself espoused to investors not three weeks ago, end up as the first real greenlight of the new Warners era?
According to three sources familiar: Early one morning in May, Zaslav called up Winkler, whom he’s known for years. (Between this project and Sylvester Stallone’s recent attacks over Rocky ownership, Winkler hasn’t enjoyed this much press in years.) Zaz asked how they could work together, and Winkler mentioned this Wise Guys script by Nick Pileggi that Warners, among others, had passed on. Turns out Pileggi and his late wife, Nora Ephron, have been close Hamptons friends of the Zaslavs for years, a fact that Winkler presumably knew all too well. One source even told me Pileggi had discussed the project with Zaslav before the Winkler call, which would explain his exuberance. (A rep for Zaslav declined to comment.)
So Zaz called Emmerich, and Toby apparently explained why a movie like this might not be on-strategy for Warners, meaning it wasn’t gonna do enough business in theaters to justify a marketing campaign, and it would probably be too expensive for what Zaslav wanted to spend on films for streaming. Zaslav didn’t exactly demand that Emmerich do the movie, but he certainly made it known that he thought it was a great project and he’d love to see it made, despite the reservations. So the greenlight process started.