Another Nail In The JL Coffin?

Chud caught up with Joel Silver at the Speed Racer Junket and he did his best to put the final nail in the seemingly long closed coffin of JL...M?

I'm in Long Beach at the Speed Racer junket and I briefly cornered producer Joel Silver to ask him how the Justice League movie would affect Wonder Woman. The answer: it won't. According to Silver, who would be in the know, Justice League has been 'tabled.'That means a lot of you can breathe a sigh of relief; while 'tabled' doesn't mean the film is officially canceled, it's likely that it won't be happening any time soon, and likely without that cast.As for Wonder Woman, Silver said it takes time to get these films made - he had Speed Racer in development for twenty years. He's still trying to get DC's Amazon on the screen but doesn't have much else to report right now.

http://chud.com/articles/articles/14429/1/JUSTICE-LEAGUE-DISBANDED/Page1.html

JL(M) Is A Go For 2009

According to the juggernaut that is Variety "Justice League Mortal", which is the rumored new title, is fast tracked to drop in 2009. This is a almost a complete 180 to recent news floating around the internet the last couple days speculating that JLM might be pushed back to 2010 and moved to Canada. Even George Miller, the JLM director, called the movie's status "precarious". Exerpts from the Variety article below:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117981504.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Now that the writers strike has been resolved, Warner Bros. is pushing ahead with its plans to make "Justice League" in time for a 2009 debut. Warners tried to get "Justice League" into production earlier, but put it on indefinite hold in January, allowing the cast options to expire. At the time, the studio said it didn't want to move ahead until the scribes had another shot at the script.

Scribes Kieran and Michele Mulroney are busy polishing up the script, which is expected back at the studio in several weeks, and the cast has been advised to keep training for their superhero roles. Director George Miller is in pre-production in Australia.

Now from all reports Adam Brody is playing The Flash, Common is playing Green Lantern, Megan Gale has won the role of Wonder Woman, and Arnie Hammer may or may not be playing Batman. What about Superman? As of now the actor who is supposed to strap on the cape as Superman seems to be shrouded in mystery. DJ Controna and Scott Porter seem to be the front runners to pull on the tights but I can already hear the Welling Rumors being whispered in my ear again.

What does this mean for Man of Steel, the sequel to Superman Returns? I assumed this might mean that a sequel to Superman Returns is completely dead. From what I am hearing that might not be so. There are now rumblings that Man of Steel may have finally found their writer(s). Interesting.

JLA: Death of Superman Arc?

Rumors are circulating that the Justice League script features the Death of Superman by the hands of Doomsday! I for one am shocked that WB would be using this storyline after it just dropped as an animated film, in fact, I have been saying for years that there is no way WB would return to this story arc. Isn't my face red.

The Artistic Underground

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the Dark Knight to be released. Looks like "Babycakes" of The Hype can't either.




http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=13822039&postcount=14312

Justice League Delayed

I will let Variety do the talking...

Warner pulls plug on 'Justice League'
Cast options lapse; spring start scrapped

By DIANE GARRETT, MICHAEL FLEMING

"Justice League" is no longer moving faster than a speeding bullet.
Warner Bros. has let the options lapse on the young cast that director George Miller chose to play DC superhero staples. The move made it clear that the project is no longer eyeing a spring start. It most likely won't get underway until late summer or fall at the earliest.

Castmembers were informed late Tuesday that their options would not be exercised, but they were also told that the studio is determined to make the film, with them in it. Unfortunately, there were insurmountable problems that made a delay the best option. The studio's reasons included not getting the official response it needed on tax breaks from shooting in Australia. And while WB execs like the script they got from Kieran and Michele Mulroney, it would benefit from a little more work, something that isn't possible because of the writer's strike.

Some were surprised that the studio didn't exercise cast options anyway. The deals gave WB the flexibility to exercise the deals immediately, or in July, and the actors will be making salaries in the low six-figure range. While Adam Brody, cast as The Flash, has a track record, most of the cast is comprised of newcomers like Armie Hammer Jr., who plays Batman, and Megan Gale, who will play Wonder Woman.

The studio now risks losing them to other film jobs. But it is likely most if not all of the cast will make sure to be available starting late summer and fall, just in case. That's because of the starmaking potential of "Justice League."

Studio had set this week as the deadline to greenlight the superhero tentpole, which it was racing to get into production for 2009 release. That was always considered a dicey proposition, particularly when the writers went on strike, and because the film needs to be completed before the SAG deal expires in June.

With "Justice League" on indefinite hold, the studio has a superhero gap on its 2009 slate, for the status of the next "Superman" pic is also uncertain.

Truth, Justice, and the Hollywood Way?

Superman! Batman! Wonder Woman! All of them together on the big screen? Sounds like a fanboy dream but it seems that it might be a nightmare for Warner Bros. George Miller's Justice League of America has yet to be "officially" announced but comic book fans all over the country have sure had a lot to talk about in relation to the project. The biggest discussions and debates swirling around on forums across the internet has involved casting, the biggest question, who is going to be playing the Man of Steel?

The first bomb was dropped by Rob over at IESB on G4's Attack of the Show, where he announced that Tom Welling "most likely" will be Superman and was "pretty confident" in his sources. Click the first link below for video the announcement and the 2nd link for the article at IESB.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9cZvKOZaXg
http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_ezine&task=read&page=1&category=1&article=3138

What happened next can only be described as "Kingdom Come" as fans of Tom Welling rejoiced while fans of Brandon Routh were feeling the disappointment of their Superman being passed up for the role. Rob's announcement instigated some heated debates among fans as well as an explosion of rumors debunking the Welling announcement and rumors that further supported Rob's information.

Although the first most of us heard about Welling being up for Superman was from Rob's announcement there were those claiming that a poster from Countingdown had beat Rob to the punch long before his announcement on G4. The poster, known as Emijayne or Jayne, made her appearance on IESB to contribute what she knew about Welling and Superman and her following from Countingdown multiplied. You can check out her blog below, some believe she is a fraud, some swear by her information, but one thing is for sure she has turned herself into an internet celebrity by no fault of her own. I have given Jayne a little bit of heat from time to time indirectly on some of the forums, but she is definitely tied into the movie industry. Judge for yourself.

http://theinfamousemijayne.blogspot.com/

Some of the more recent news out of Hollywood is now pointing to Justice League being delayed or even canceled with a report today suggesting if the movie is not greenlit by Jan 15th, then it will be revisited after the strike.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/01/and-justice-for.html

If this movie doesn't end up happening or if Tom Welling is not cast as Superman, it is not because of lack of support from the fans of Smallville and Tom Welling. They have stormed every major website and every major poll showing their support for "their" Superman. Check out the poll below for a sample of this devotion to their hero.



Special Thanks to Mike22 & OobeDoobBenubi of The Hype for the above manip.
http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=13217106&postcount=217