WB, Miller pushing Justice League for 09

[The Mike]

Justice League of America has Been Delayed!

Interesting....Check this out:

Justice League of America has Been Delayed!
Written by Robert Sanchez
Monday, 07 January 2008
Justice League of America will not start shooting as originally planned.



I get the emails daily from our readers asking what is going on with JLA, yes there has been an incredible amounts of delays and there wasn’t much of answer coming from our sources, until today.

There hadn’t been much of a slowdown as preparations were still underway over at Australia's Fox Studios as artists, set designers and other crew were busy prepping the film before the Holiday break but why hasn’t the cast been officially announced?

“Justice League is indeed in danger of not starting production on time and maybe even getting scrapped altogether” is what a studio source told the IESB last week. "The concerns are that the script is not ready to go in front of cameras, and also that the budget is getting a bit out of control, the WGA strike has proven to be Kryptonite to Superman and friends."

So while the cast is apparently locked, the studio has had to go back to the actors and extend their holds. IESB was told that at least two high level studio execs headed to Australia right before Christmas to try to resolve these issues and get the film get back on schedule.

“George Miller really wants this movie to be way big but the cast is 100% unknowns,” our source continues.

Another problem we are hearing is that some upper level execs including the new big boss Jeff Robinov is not too sure if the timing is right for JLA. Most of it has to do with the Nolan camp not being happy with the decision of moving forward with the JLA film considering the positive buzz surrounding The Dark Knight.

So what is going to happen? “The cast for Justice League is mediocre, the execs know it's mediocre, it's going to go down to wire on this one, this movie cold be huge but right now it's plagued with a couple of big issues and the WGA strike isn’t making things easier,” our source tell us.

So what's the final verdict on Justice League? I was having dinner this evening when I got a call from one of our moles over at Warner Bros. who told us, "Justice League has been pushed back to at least April or May and possibly a start date as late as June or July…that is of course if the movie doesn't get scrapped altogether."

So there you go, our first update of JLA of the year. On a side note, I was really pumped for this film last year but now I am waiting eagerly for the day WB decides to go in a different direction and cancels this production.

This cast does not inspire anyone and really makes you wonder if Warner Bros. is that desperate for cash that they would be willing to risk destroying a franchise in the making. We have all talked about the poor choices for Superman and Batman. Really? "C & D" list actors for the greatest Superheroes that have ever been created? With the exception of Adam Brody, Teresa Palmer and Common this cast sucks 100%. I have one question to everybody over at Warner Bros., how in the name of Zeus' butt hole did Jay Baruchel get cast as Maxwell Lord? Really? I mean, really? Skinny, dorky Jay Baruchel? Don’t get me wrong, he's a great guy and a hilarious actor. He's great in Fanboys as the geeky friend…but Maxwell Lord? Ummm, I don't think so.

I'm done, I want to go slit my wrists the more I think about the **** that studios like to do in this town. It literally boggles the mind, well, what I have left of one.

 

[Darklord Dave]

You misunderstood Dave, what is perplexing is that by casting a blonde to play Lois what the agents are implying is that of all the brunettes available or out there none of them made the mark and the best person was her.....that is unbelievable.

There are at least a dozen brunettes I can think of that would be a better Lois than her. That is my point. Unfortunately same goes for MJ, Gwen and Sue...

My point is that hair color should not even be considered when casting. You go for whoever has boxoffice appeal, has good karma with the studio, who is a friend of the director, who's on a hot streak and then how right she is for the part. Hair color doesn't enter into it.

And that's depressing about JL. X-Men was mostly D grade actors too when it was first made. A couple of them broke out afterwards like Jackman and Berry. But it's not celebrities that people go to see in a superhero film.

 

[pjam]

WB puts Project on hold

https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117979189.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

 

[The Mike]

There is about a 82% chance that we never hear about this project again.

 

[IrishJedi]

Agreed. This was rushed simply as a tentpole movie to help fill the post-strike void.

I'm betting this flick is dead in the water now.

If only Paramount would do the same with G.I. Joe.

 

[Sachiel]

I hope this flick dies, because it could mess up other DC movies.

 

[Darklord Dave]

It's probably dead, especially if Dark Knight does as well as expected. I was really looking forward to it too. The guy who directed Babe and Road Warrior doing a superhero movie? Seemed like a slamdunk to me.

 

[IrishJedi]

Replace Tarantino with Chaplin and that is perfect.

 

[tomandshell]

UPDATE: Both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have confirmed that Warner Bros. Pictures let the options lapse on Tuesday for the cast members, which included D.J. Cotrona, Adam Brody, Anton Yelchin, Common, Teresa Palmer and Megan Gale. The studio cited script issues as the one of the causes and the other is that the project needed tax breaks from shooting in Australia.

So goodbye to the cast.

 

[The Mike]

So goodbye to the film. Unless Miller picks up helming an individual film where he could cast one of his choices, I guarantee we don't hear about them playing heroes again.....Rumors are that Wonder Woman and The Flash are being looked at to try and fill the Superhero gap that will exist for Warners after TDK is released but nothing solid can be done until after the strike.

 

[Sachiel]

They should just keep doing the Solo movies for now. It was stupid to even start this in the first place. Who knows what it could have screwed up with Batman and Superman even. Let alone others who haven't had their own movie yet.

 

[The Mike]

The real issue here came with trying to turn the Justice League cartoon and present day incarnation into the film canon incarnation. What should have been done is go back to the roots Brave and Bold 28 and do a Justice League film with its originators Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern. No worries about continuity, you could cast whomever you wanted because in reality, the JL could realistically predate Superman and Batman's origin because neither were charter members. Even in Smallville the creation of the League or the League in its roots occurs far before Clark dons the cape and in the most recent Batman cartoon the League was already established before his joining as well.

Problem Solved. Go with this:

 

[IronFingaz]

Replace Tarantino with Chaplin and that is perfect.

Didnt think i would find this in here.

I had thought about Chaplin and Howard Hawks and John Ford and a few others but with limited space, i had to choose And i'm a bit bigger fan fan of Q.T.

 

[Darklord Dave]

So the Justice League isn't dead! I know I'm in the minority opinion, but I think this is good news.

Today's Variety:

Warner Bros. is hoping for director George Miller to begin lensing superhero extravaganza "Justice League" in mid-July. The project has been off-and-on in the last several months, as the script needed work.

The minute the strike was over, scribes Kiernan and Michele Mulroney began rewriting the "Justice League" script. Studio is hoping to get a draft in the next six weeks.

 

[pjam]

Yeah, I saw that too, although most Studios aren't lensing anything that won't be completed before June 30 due to the SAG Negs...

 

[gdb]

After having rewatched Road Warrior on Blu-ray recently (how much does that movie rock?!), I am now excited about seeing this movie. But Attack of the Show's news crawl Monday said that Miller wanted to move the whole thing to Canada to double up Happy Feet 2. I could be reading into things but that says to me that he really wants to do it but that there's more studio holdup.

 

[The Mike]

With the writer's strike over and Warner Bros. hoping for a comic book tentpole project for summer 2009, it seems the Justice League of America has been put on the fast track. According to Variety, Director George Miller (Happy Feet, The Road Warrior) is working quickly on pre-production; and several stars, including Adam Brody (Flash), Common (Green Lantern), Megan Gale (Wonder Woman), and Arnie Hammer, Jr. (Batman) have been told to begin training regimens in preparation for their physically demanding roles. The script also is on a final polish and should be returned to the studio shortly in hopes of setting a start date for shooting.

Fans may remember that the JLA film project was placed on indefinite hold due to the writer's strike in January; but given the millions in development already spent by Warner Bros., it is not surprising that they have decided to renew the film.

Source: Variety

Interesting that they're telling folks to start training.....looks like things are moving quickly...

 

[nash]

havent kept up with this....any word on who will play supes?

 

[Buttmunch]

-A bunch of unknown actors
-Rushed pre-production
-Little known to general audiences about anyone other than Batman and Superman
-Rushed production
-Rushed post-production

All I can say is that this is going to be a serious bomb. Marvel knows what they are doing: seperate films to introduce EACH superhero and THEN make the Avengers movie. DC's only good film of the century has been Nolan's Batman.