Veteran producer Charles Roven was here in Taormina this week to pick up an Achievement Award from the festival ahead of a special screening of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel which had originally played the event a dozen years ago.
Roven, whose long list of credits also includes Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and the filmmaker’s Oscar winning 2023 Oppenheimer, as well as Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys and David O. Russell’s American Hustle, got his producing start with Shirley Muldowney biopic Heart Like a Wheel in 1983 and tells us about that experience below in a quick-take reflection on a decades-spanning career, and shares insight into the state of the business.
Next up on Roven’s producing slate is Chris Pratt-starrer Mercy, due in January 2026 via MGM, and Guy Ritchie’s Road House 2 with Jake Gyllenhaal which Roven said, “should be starting in September.”
(The Q&A below has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
DEADLINE: Belated congratulations on Oppenheimer; I still find I can watch it again and again and learn something new.
CHARLES ROVEN: I’ve had a lot of people tell me that. It fills me with a lot of joy to have been part of making that movie and seeing it come to fruition… From beginning to end, my involvement with that movie was like it was just meant to be.
DEADLINE: You were also involved with Christopher Nolan on the Dark Knight trilogy, as well as a host of other DC films, what’s your take on the future there?
ROVEN: I’m interested to see what James (Gunn) does. I’ve known James for a long time. We started working together on the live action Scooby Doo movies. He’s a very talented man, and I know he’s in the process of trying to reboot the DC Universe to his own vision. And you know, the truth is going to be in the pudding pretty soon (when Gunn’s Superman releases next month).
I wish him the best, and I wish Warner Bros the best. I’ve done many movies with them. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when they break the company apart.
DEADLINE: Were you surprised by the news earlier this week that Warner Bros Discovery will split into two entities.
ROVEN: Not really, because I’ve known for a while, just tracking the business, that the cable companies, while they have a certain level of value… they do some content creation, but not a lot of content creation. They have a lot of revenue that’s generated by, you know, the downstream of those, of other things that are created for HBO Max or Warner Bros, or that ultimately come to them. So it may be a good thing.
DEADLINE: How are you feeling about the theatrical business in general these days?
ROVEN: I’ve seen theatrical ebb and flow, really, over the course of, I think I came into the business, I put the shingle up ‘producer,’ like in the 70s. The theatrical business was not doing well then, and they were just suffering from big losses on big tentpoles that didn’t make any money. And then they started making some, what you would call today an independent movie, and the business came back. And then, of course home entertainment… But then, boom, the theatrical business came back. And then we had COVID, which really hurt the theatrical business — maybe more than that disease needed to because, to be honest, I never heard of anybody getting COVID in a movie theater… So I’m glad that at least, in ’23 Barbenheimer helped the business, and I’m really glad to see that now in ’25 after a rocky start, there’s a lot of box office coming back and it makes me very happy — and the box office is happening both domestically and around the world. I couldn’t be happier, and I believe that the theatrical experience is one that people desire.
I’m not saying that streaming isn’t good for the business. Creating content is what our business is all about, but I think they can both thrive, and they both should thrive, and one of the things that I’m watching thrive right now is what Amazon is doing, both with their Amazon Prime, but with moving MGM forward. And now, not only have they done an expansion of their theatrical business since Courtenay (Valenti) took over, but also they’re moving back into international distribution.
DEADLINE: What would you say has been the most pivotal point in your career?
ROVEN: Certainly the first movie. I watched Shirley Muldowney, who was the first woman to ever win a world championship in car racing, and she did it in drag racing, and she did it by actually beating her boyfriend. And I got in my car, I drove down to Pomona. She was packing up all her stuff. I was in my mid 20s, and I said, “Hi, I’m Chuck Roven, and I’m a film producer and I’d like to option the rights to your life story.” She goes, “Honey, I just kicked my ex-boyfriend’s ass, but I’ll tell you, he was also my sponsor. Now I have no money for a ride, so if you can get me money for a ride, you can have the rights to my life.” And I managed her for 10 years…The first one’s always memorable.
And, of course, making movies with Chris (Nolan) and Emma (Thomas), the success we’ve had together is pretty remarkable. Also working with Terry Gilliam on 12 Monkeys. That was my first really big hit, and it was a very special experience. David Russell, working with him has been a special experience. James Gunn, I’ve been lucky. Zack Snyder, we’ve done some pretty good things together. Patty Jenkins, the first Wonder Woman — obviously, something that took a while to get made, but turned out great. When I think about Christian Bale, I’ve done three Batmans, American Hustle. I’m hoping to make another movie with him. He’s just amazing. Yeah, I’ve been really fortunate working with some really, really, very, very talented people in front of the camera, behind the camera.
