JLM: To Be, Or Not To Be

Nobody knows what is going on with this movie, except maybe Alan Horn and Jeff Robinov, and I bet they are laughing at us while sitting on a pile of "Dark Knight" money.

Peter Sciretta over at "Slashfilm" delivers and article which states that JLM is in pre-production...

Last we head, a big screen adaptation of Justice League might not be as dead as we first believed. /Film reader Alex Litel stumbled across the website for Dr. D Studios, a Australian-based “digital media company” formed by Omnilab Media Group and filmmaker George Miller. The website not only lists Happy Feet 2 as being “In Production” and Babe 3, Fury Road and Justice League of America being in “Pre-Production”. The company is actually at the Siggraph conference this week “actively hiring” for “several large scale film projects with a growing team of top talent from Australia and beyond.” The following quote also appears in a press release for the company’s Siggraph booth

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/08/13/happy-feet-2-in-production-babe-3-mad-max-4-and-justice-league-in-pre-production/

Rob over at IESB is saying that his sources are telling him George Miller is off the project and it is dead because of the success of Dark Knight...

Changing gears for a sec, let's see what's currently going on with Justice League of America. Last week there were reports that the movie is finally moving forward. Guess what - that's not what we heard. IESB found out the complete opposite from various sources at WB -- the movie will not move forward in its current incarnation and a lot has to do with the success of The Dark Knight. Warner Bros. is not willing to risk pissing off Christopher Nolan or Christian Bale and their intent would be to move forward with a third Batman film instead of introducing another Batman in a JLA film.

Officially WB is stating that Justice League of America is on hold due to the potential SAG strike. We have been advised from various sources that the truth is that George Miller has been pulled off the project. We have contacted all parties involved including Kennedy/Miller and other producers but they have declined to comment at this time.

So does that mean that Miller is out of a job? Nope, we have been told that some execs over at Warner Bros. would like Miller to take over The Green Lantern project. Any truth to the rumor? Only time will tell but one thing is certain in my purest fan boy opinion - this script totally kicks ass!

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5319&Itemid=99

My buddy Matt received a bulletin on Myspace from DC Comics which states the film is going into production in 2009.




What does this all mean? It means the Green Lantern script sounds tight.

Green Lantern Given The Greenlight?

According to Production Weekly The Green Lantern is now moving forward and will grace movie screens sooner rather then later. I for one hope this is true. I think this can be a "Bond-like" franchise in which the sky is the limit so to speak.

STATUS - Development PRODUCER: Donald De Line - Andrew Haas WRITER: Greg Berlanti - Marc Guggenheim - Michael J Green DC COMICS 1700 Broadway New York, NY 10019 WARNER BROS. PICTURES 4000 Warner Blvd. Burbank, CA 91522-0001

Each sector of space is protected by a Green Lantern, possessing a power ring that uses a powerful green energy to do anything within the limits of the user’s imagination and will power. When the Green Lantern assigned to this sector of space finds himself dying on planet Earth, he tells the ring to find a suitable successor. The chosen replacement, hot-shot test pilot Hal Jordan, finds himself with a new job he never expected.

http://www.productionweekly.com/

The question is, will this take it's toll on a Justice League version of Green Lantern, which was originally going to be played by Common?
George Miller doesn't think so, but I guess he "didn't get the memo". Pun intended.

Initially slated to be filmed Down Under, Miller conceded production had been moved offshore, with a plan to resume filming next year.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24109597-2902,00.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.

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