Jayson Tatum’s Achilles Injury Halts Promising ‘Superman’ Movie Campaign

Whoa. So, get this—Jayson Tatum, yeah, the big deal from the Boston Celtics, ended up tearing his Achilles and, bam, just like that, he’s out, and there goes the whole Superman promo idea with him. Seriously, it’s like Hollywood had to scramble, like fast.

Picture this: there he was, ripping open a shirt in this ad (classic Superman style) showing off that iconic “S.” The whole spot’s set around the idea of Superman taking a day off. Weird timing, if you ask me, considering Boston was in this grim face-off with the Knicks, down 2-0. Then, poof, the ad campaign’s on ice. A little birdie—okay, a source—spilled that’s because of his injury. Who knew that could unravel such chaos?

What really got people buzzing? The ads popped up everywhere, gaining a ridiculous 37 million eyeballs according to some expert numbers…$495,000 in value or whatever. Honestly, movie-meets-basketball promos are all the rage around playoff time, right? But when you’ve hitched to a superstar who’s suddenly out of commission? Uh-oh.

Now Warner Bros.—and their Superman summer dreams—had to think fast, tossing out a fresh trailer without the Tatum charm. They’re in deep, dollars and all. Huge budgets! Like, $200 million and counting. Enter David Zaslav, giving the big rally cry to the troops at Warner, all hands on deck to push our caped friend.

And Tatum? Well, he’s keeping mum. Nike was in on it too, with these kicks that screamed “Superman” at the start of the playoffs. Yeah, now someone else might have to fill those, er, shoes. As for Tatum’s deals, he stacked up $14 million, pretty neat, though he’s got this rule going where NBA checks are just chilling there untouched, while he lives off side gigs, thanks to a pact with his mom. Smart, huh?

Now, someone else needs to sweep in, not just on the court but in the ad game too. Superman needs saving, yet again.