With DC Comics about to have another hit on their hands when Watchmen premieres in theaters on March 6th, a lot of movie blogs/news sites have been pondering where DC/Warner Bros. should go from here.

With all the hype surrounding Watchmen, and all the internet chatter about  DC Comics’ uncertain cinematic future, I found myself wondering: Why hasn’t DC had as much success at the box office as rival company Marvel?

In an attempt to answer that very question I came up with this comprehensive guide to how DC Comics SHOULD be making movies.

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In an IESB interview for The Unborn, director/writer David Goyer says all DC properties are currently on hold for the time being in regards to film development. This comes as confirmation of what we’ve previously suspected.

When probed about Supermax and Justice League, Goyer had this to say.

“A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while they figure out, they’re going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause at the moment.”

Including the two movies mentioned, Superman and Green Lantern would also be on hold. With an across the board freeze, Warner Bros. may be looking to create a cohesive DC Universe.

It has been a long time in coming, but it now appears that Warner Bros. has finally decided to make use of their stable of DC Comics characters.

Following the financial and critical success of The Dark Knight Warner Bros. has realized that they are sitting on a gold mine – not only from box office receipts, but also from DVD, television, video games and other sources of revenue.

Last month the company held a strategy meeting in an attempt to figure out what was needed in order for them to match Marvel Comics in the comic book movie stakes, and it would appear that they have finally come up with a plan.

The guys over at Slash Film were reviewing the latest issue of Production Weekly and came across an interesting bit of news: the previously rumored Green Lantern movie seems to have been given an official green light, and is on the fast-track to light up screens in theater near you.

…Only to tell us more of the same.

In a recent interview, Superman Returns star Brandon Routh said that the next chapter in the Superman-reboot will indeed start filming in 2009, and that a script is still being worked on as we speak (thank you WGA strike.) Let’s pray that if the filmmakers choose to dive back into the continuity established by Superman Returns, they spend the very first scene of Man Of Steel killing off that stupid ‘Son of Superman’ character. I’m seeing a Kryptonite canister placed in a child’s inhaler… (cue the sinister laughter.)

It started as a simple question, ladies and gentlemen.

Devin Faraci (i.e. the well-known and spoken writer for CHUD) asked producer Joel Silver just how Wonder Woman would be affected by the much-rumored-about Justice League movie.

Simple, it won’t be – because Justice League “has been tabled.”

“Tabled” is basically an official, politically correct way of saying, “It ain’t gonna happen.”

In what could be the utter, complete, and truly final nail in the coffin of any chance of the Justice League movie being any good whatsoever comes this rumor:

Hayden Christensen will play Superman in Justice League.

On the bright side (I suppose), this is about as deep into the level of rumor as you can get, but hey, it’s so much fun on even just a speculative level that I had to share it.

Cinema Blend has reported that it was overheard (are you ready?) in a Canadian bar that Christensen would be playing the iconic role in the trouble-fraught movie.

How’s that for the ultimate source for a movie rumor?

Many years ago I had a Hall Of Justice play set, the place where the Justice League would hang out and wait for a disaster to take place, the kind of disaster that could only be solved by DC’s finest. Or maybe the X-Men, but that could get complicated, and Stan Lee might want a piece of the back end.

Anyway, I’m glad that I held on to that play set (it’s in the attic somewhere), because now it looks like The Justice League film or Justice League Mortal as the working title would have it called is looking for a home… not only a home but a continent!

It would seem that the Justice League is just too American for Australian tax breaks.

Now there’s the ultimate super villain: The Tax Man!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the studio!

With the writers’ strike finally over, Hollywood must have thought that it was business as usual. However, where there are workers, there are unions. Where there are unions, there are strikes. Where there are strikes, there are signs of upheaval.

Now it’s time for the Screen Actors Guild to renegotiate their contracts in June, and just in case they have the same problems as the Writers’ Guild, the studios have decided to try and protect their tentpole films without having to cancel them or pay through the nose to bring them to the big screen.

And it would seem that some of Screen Rant’s favorite upcoming films are present in the contingency plans!

Like some denizen of the world of the undead, this movie just keeps coming back at us like some costumed zombie.

When I read that the Justice League movie had been given CPR yet again, and now that the writers’ strike is over, apparently for sure, I had the same idea as my pal Brad Brevet over at Rope Of Silicon:

Why in the hell don’t they let this project die?

Virtually every movie site I read on a regular basis is of the opinion that this movie should just not be made – at least not in it’s currently pending incarnation.

After being shut down due to script issues (and the strike), among other things, Justice League may be coming back to life, but without two major characters. But reports, rumors and more are making it difficult to figure out what really is going on. I hope I can set the record straight. Well, as much as possible.

As we all know, the decision to make JL without Christian Bale as Batman and Brandon Routh as Superman, set off a storm in the fandom world. Plus, Bale and The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan expressed their displeasure with the movie going forward.

Soon enough, director George Miller found his new cast to fill the heroic shoes (or boots), but ran into major script trouble, and with the writers strike still on at the time, no re-writes could take place. Add to that major issue that the start of production rapidly was approaching, Warner Bros. pulled the plug in Australia, where the film was to shoot.

But there may be new life in the project.

Looks like the Justice League met its match against the most powerful of all villains, the “indefinite hold.” The official reasons are, of course, script and budget concerns. Director George Miller wanted things to be big, and the budget was out of control, plus the script needed more work.

Does that mean the producers will try to get the cast and crew back together when the writers strike ends and the script can be fixed? Maybe, but I doubt it. We never did see Superman Lives, which would’ve starred Nic Cage as Superman, nor did we see Batman vs. Superman: Asylum, so I doubt will see this.

Lots of movie news bites for you all! Let’s start out with what’s happening with Justice League, which seems to be a dream film for fans, but with Warner Brothers’ decision to not use Christian Bale or Brandon Routh as Batman and Superman, respectively, fans aren’t happy. The script isn’t up to snuff, so according to Superhero Hype!, and a final decision on whether they’ll strike ahead vs. waiting for the Writers Strike to end will be made for a major re-write. We may know as early as tomorrow, January 15th.

In related news, it looks like Bryan Singer and Routh are still onboard to bring us the action packed sequel to Superman Returns, Superman: Man of Steel. (Why not just Man of Steel, like The Dark Knight?) The release date was pushed back to 2010, and there isn’t an iron-clad guarantee Singer will be back. It looks like producers learned some lessons, and the movie will feature more action, a super-powered villain and less romantic stuff. Hey Spider-Man producers, are you reading this?? Original screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty won’t be returning, plus the Writers Strike is delaying the start of scriptwriting on the sequel. Source: Superhero Hype!

More news after the jump.

It’s on, it’s off and it’s on again. What is the craic with George Miller’s Justice League? For those of you that are wondering “craic” is an Irish term for news or gossip.

Superherohype has posted a story from The Dominion Post via stuff.co.nz that indicates Weta Workshop is already building the costumes for DC’s superhero team-up film.

One of the film’s producers, Barrie Osborne is quoted as saying:

“They are doing all the costumes and they’re doing a brilliant job”.

This quote implies that they have indeed started building, or at least designing the costumes – but the article also mentions that no budget has been announced and we know that no filming date has been set, so what is the score?

It’s being reported that Bryan Singer won’t be returning to the Superman franchise, as he’s busy editing Valkyrie, his film opening this summer and starring Tom Cruise, and will segue into The Mayor of Castro Street, which tells the story of famed San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milk, though there’s another movie about Milk going into production soon.

Too bad; unlike others, I liked Superman Returns a lot, and was looking forward to Singer’s sequel, which he promised would be “Wrath of Khan-like,” which means he could make a killer sequel, much like Khan was.

See why Justice League is being delayed after the jump, plus news on a third Batman film.

Here’s a summary of what’s going on today in the wonderful world of entertainment…

- Harlan Ellison debunks the rumor that Star Trek 11 incorporates the Guardian of Forever. We reported this AS rumor a month ago, so we don’t fall under the category of blogs that Ellison so colorfully refers. – TrekMovie.com (warning, lots of colorful language… it IS Harlan Ellison after all)

- AICN floats a supposed alternative title to the upcoming Justice League movie which I believe is utter and complete hogwash and there’s no way it’s true. – AICN

- The uber-classic sci fi film Metropolis is headed for a remake. This could be incredibly stupid and the odds are that it’s a bad idea. However there is a very, very slight chance that if done correctly it could turn into a modern day classic. – FirstShowing.net

In a second bit of casting news today, you’re looking at a teeny tiny picture of the guy who is supposed to be playing Batman in the upcoming Justice League film. His name is Armie Hammer, and no, I did not make that up. His birth name is Armand Hammer, but if you Google that name you’ll just come up with an industrialist who was born in 1898. BTW, believe it or not the little image above is about the only one I could find of the guy anywhere.

Hammer, (I can’t bring myself to refer to him as “Armie”) does not exactly have a ton of acting experience behind him. He’s appeared in the movie Flicka and in episodes of Desperate Housewives, Veronica Mars and Arrested Development, three TV shows I’ve never seen.

Little experience does not mean he can’t act, it just means he hasn’t had much opportunity. On the plus side, he’s got the build for the role: He’s supposedly 6′ 5″ tall.

Not much else to say about this one…

Source: IESB

Thanks to Adrian

According to Ain’t It Cool News the role of Wonder Woman in the upcoming Justice League film has finally been cast. After rumors of Jessica Biel and Teresa Palmer being considered for the role. Out of nowhere comes Australian supermodel Megan Gale as the woman who will wear the golden tiara, lasso and bracelets.

Palmer as it turns out is in the movie, but not as Wonder Woman. Instead she plays Talia Ghul, daughter of longtime Batman nemesis Ra’s al Ghul.

Gale has very little acting experience but at least she seems to have the screen presence to play the Amazonian warrior princess (it goes without saying that she’s beautiful). Megan is 5′10″ tall and 32 years old, and I’m happy to hear both of these stats. Wonder Woman should be played by a tall woman and someone about 30 years old instead of some 21 year old pixie.

For a couple more images see below.

It’s all but certain that the following actors have been hired to play the following characters in the upcoming Justice League movie:

28 year old Scott Porter as Superman

28 year old Adam Brody as The Flash

35 year old rapper Common as Green Lantern

21 year old Teresa Palmer as Talia Ghul (Daughter of Batman nemesis Ra’s al Ghul)

IESB reports that Warner Bros. has managed to cast ALL the lead roles in the Justice League movie without alerting the blogosphere. Neat trick, that.

Now the question remains: Who have they cast?

At this point no one outside the studio knows, but apparently all will be revealed by this weekend.

I just can’t seem to get fired up about this movie. I don’t know if it’s the choice of director, the “Teen Titans” casting rumors, the fact that it feels like WB is just trying to push this out to cash in on superhero movies before the genre goes out of vogue or what.

Source: IESB

Warner Bros. seems to be hot under the collar to get a batch of superhero movies out the door. Although the Justice League movie seems to be mired in casting hell and surrounded by rumors of being more like a Teen Titans movie, the studio has apparently locked in directors for movie versions of both The Flash and Green Lantern.

The word is that these are supposed to be spin-offs The Flash is supposed to be a spin-off of the Justice League film, so I can only assume that once they finally get that one cast that they’ll have their leads for one of these two movies.

Here’s a look at the young lady who is supposed to be playing Wonder Woman in the upcoming Justice League movie. Her name is Teresa Palmer and she is just under 5′ 6″ tall. I find this interesting since Wonder Woman is supposed to be an Amazon, and Amazonian women are supposed to be, you know… TALL.

Palmer is also all of 21 years old which seems to me to be a bit young for the character. I would think that she ought to be at least in her late twenties, but this falls in line with the (denied by the studio) rumor that they’re going to populate the film with a bunch of young ‘uns.

As to the height issue, I suppose that considering how short so many actors seem to be, they could just populate the cast with guys who are 5′ 6″ and shorter and just build slightly under-sized sets (like they used to do in old westerns). That way she would look proportionally tall compared to the rest of the cast.

IESB had a pithy comment regarding the actors who were called in for auditions for the Justice League movie: Is this casting for the Teen Titans or Justice League?

This weekend director George Miller held a casting session that included as many as 40 actors and actresses. Some of the more notable ones included:

28 year old Adam Brody (The O.C.)

35 year old rapper Common

19 year old Max Thieriot (Nancy Drew)

21 year old Teresa Palmer

21 year old Joseph Cross

22 year old Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Live Free or Die Hard and Grindhouse)

20 year old Michael Angarano (Sky High)

I’ve read some rumors from trusted sources online that the JLA movie will be called Justice League instead of Justice League of America. I think Nikki Finke’s tongue-in-cheek reaction said it best:

“[N]o doubt its proper name Justice League Of America would be too jingoistic for the foreign market.”

Why do studios keep doing this? I have commented that a Captain America movie may end up being called Captain UN or Captain International to remain politically correct. And don’t forget, G.I. Joe won’t be a “real American hero” anymore, instead a real “international hero.” Sigh…

In related news, JLA, er, JL is rumored to only feature four superheroes, according to Finke. Why not all seven?!

According to Entertainment Weekly, Jessica Beil has decided not to play Wonder Woman in the Justice League movie. On the bright side, I was able to use the photo on the left one more time.

Although she’s extremely attractive I get the sense that most of you actually didn’t want to see her playing the Amazonian princess in the movie, so you can keep your hopes alive that whichever favorite hottie you have in mind still has a shot.

You know, sometimes the most difficult part of writing a post for this site is coming up with an image to attach to the article. I have to say this was a tough one. There were one or two other images I really wanted to use, but I do try to keep this site at about a PG-13 level.

Anyway, word is out that the first superhero to be cast in the upcoming and rushed into production Justice League movie will be Jessica Biel as Wonder Woman.

Variety reports that:

“…the first piece of casting to emerge from the DC Comics-based ensemble project, which is expected to feature Superman, Batman, the Flash and Aquaman in addition to Wonder Woman.”

In the “old news is good news” department, yesterday Variety confirmed what’s been reported on movie sites (including this one) for quite a while, which is that George Miller (who directed the CGI penguin flick Happy Feet) is now officially onboard to direct the Justice League movie.

Warner Bros. wants to fast-track this and get production rolling ASAP for a 2009 release. Presumably it’s so they can get it well into production before the maybe-happening WGA strike next July.

I’ve got to hand it to the folks over at IESB… they ARE well connected (anybody feel like dropping me a scoop just use the Contact link in the upper right, folks!). Although according to Supermanhomepage.com Smallville producer Al Gough has told them flat out that Tom Welling has not been approached, IESB is swearing up and down that they’re getting a completely different story from multiple sources.

According to them (and yes, this is rumor at this point), Tom Welling (who plays super-powered Clark Kent on the CW series Smallville) is the guy who’s been tapped to play Superman in the recently announced as moving forward Justice League movie.

So, now Harry at AICN is saying that Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Deep Rising) is back on G.I. Joe after all. Heck, I Googled G.I. Joe and saw more news reports of this. The rumors of him leaving are based on the fact that the script for the film is bad, not financial reasons.

So, why the rush to get this into production? It’s probably for the same reason we’re seeing Thor, JLA, and other films rushing to go before cameras recently…

So… How’s THAT for a convoluted title?

The rumour is that George Miller may be the man to direct the live action movie version of Justice League of America (aka as the less U.S.-centric sounding JLA). However IESB just posted that there may be another in line for the director’s chair on this project… Are you ready?

McG.

Yes, the man that brought us the deeply moving and entertaining Charlie’s Angels movies has a chance to take the reins of a superhero movie populated by the most iconic heroes on the planet.