Justice prevails for Warner Bros.
Studio eyeing DC superhero team feature
By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
Batman may meet up with Superman on the bigscreen after all -- along with Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash and all the rest of DC Comics' biggest names.
Warner Bros., with its major appetite for fresh franchises, is looking to make a feature based on super team the Justice League of America, hiring writing duo Kiernan and Michele Mulroney to pen the script.
It's the first major action the studio has taken on the project.
Feature film is bound to include some combination of DC's most iconic superheroes, although the studio wouldn't confirm which ones they might be. It's unlikely that the studio and DC Comics, a division of Warner, would opt to feature second-tier characters.
Since its inception in 1960, JLA has featured almost every major hero in the DC Comics universe, although the core team has largely remained the same: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter.
The heroes typically band together to fight alien menaces or groups of supervillains.
"The Justice League of America has been a perennial favorite for generations of fans, and we believe their appeal to film audiences will be as strong and diverse as the characters themselves," Warner prexy of production Jeff Robinov said in announcing the hiring of the Mulroneys.
In taking on the ambitious project, Warner faces several conundrums.
Warner Senior VP Dan Lin will oversee for the studio.
Now that the Batman and Superman film franchises have been revived, does the studio go after Christian Bale ("Batman Begins") and Brandon Routh ("Superman Returns") to star in a Justice League pic? Studio is also trying hard to bring Wonder Woman to the bigscreen.
To a large degree, casting will depend upon the story arc for the JLA feature and at what point in the superheroes' lives the plot takes place.
Warner also must deal with myriad producers working on the Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman franchises.
Studio dropped its efforts to make "Batman vs. Superman" in order to focus on relaunching "Batman" and "Superman" as individual properties, which it has done.
Filmmakers Chris Nolan ("Batman Begins") and Bryan Singer ("Superman Returns") are each on board to helm the next installments in the two respective franchises. Nolan's "The Dark Knight" is eyeing a 2008 release and the next "Superman," 2009.
The potential payoff of bringing JLA to theaters can't be ignored by Warner, which turns out more tentpoles than any other studio.
Comicbook fans have long clamored for a movie version of JLA, and word of the Warner project is certain to be a hot topic at New York Comic Con, which unspools today in Gotham.
JLA has spawned several cartoon TV series, including 1960s and '70s show "Super Friends" and current Cartoon Network skein "Justice League Unlimited" from Warner Bros. Animation.
The Mulroneys -- Kieran is the brother of thesp Dermot Mulroney -- caught the attention of studios around town with their rewrite of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" for Fox.
Other screenplay projects include "On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction," "Paper Man" and "Worst Case."
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
Could be fun!
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
hmm, are they really going to be able to get both christian bale and the superman dude? maybe the superman guy because he's got nothing to do, but i dont know.
the only way this works is if the get bale and routh, whoever is going to be in the WW movie (charisma carpenter, please) and who ever will be playing the flash (ryan reynolds hopefully)
The only way this will work is if a) WB is willing to front about $500 million to get this made the way it needs to be. You don't cut corners with Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Aquaman, GL, and Martian Manhunter. Not to mention what villains they're up against. The FX budget alone would top $200 million.
and b) If they get a director who can handle a massive project like this and do it (pun intended) justice. i mean, this isnt the X-men, this is the JUSTICE LEAGUE.
The only way this will work is if a) WB is willing to front about $500 million to get this made the way it needs to be. You don't cut corners with Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Aquaman, GL, and Martian Manhunter. Not to mention what villains they're up against. The FX budget alone would top $200 million.
and b) If they get a director who can handle a massive project like this and do it (pun intended) justice. i mean, this isnt the X-men, this is the JUSTICE LEAGUE.
Prediction: this will never get made.
i hate to break this to you, but xmen is every bit as big as jla, and the xmen franchise has grossed what, 500 million, ?
The only way this will work is if a) WB is willing to front about $500 million to get this made the way it needs to be. You don't cut corners with Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Aquaman, GL, and Martian Manhunter. Not to mention what villains they're up against. The FX budget alone would top $200 million.
and b) If they get a director who can handle a massive project like this and do it (pun intended) justice. i mean, this isnt the X-men, this is the JUSTICE LEAGUE.
Prediction: this will never get made.
i hate to break this to you, but xmen is every bit as big as jla, and the xmen franchise has grossed what, 500 million, ?
I didn't mean that, I meant in terms of the powers of who the Justice League is made up of, and the money that it will take to bring those powers to the screen. The superhero-ness of JLA far outweighs that of the X-Men. As much as I love X-Men, you can accomplish a believable X-Men on-screen adventure with a relatively small budget. I think with JLA, expectations are quite a bit higher, and meeting those expectations is going to cost alot of money.
The only way this will work is if a) WB is willing to front about $500 million to get this made the way it needs to be. You don't cut corners with Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Aquaman, GL, and Martian Manhunter. Not to mention what villains they're up against. The FX budget alone would top $200 million.
and b) If they get a director who can handle a massive project like this and do it (pun intended) justice. i mean, this isnt the X-men, this is the JUSTICE LEAGUE.
Prediction: this will never get made.
i hate to break this to you, but xmen is every bit as big as jla, and the xmen franchise has grossed what, 500 million, ?
I didn't mean that, I meant in terms of the powers of who the Justice League is made up of, and the money that it will take to bring those powers to the screen. The superhero-ness of JLA far outweighs that of the X-Men. As much as I love X-Men, you can accomplish a believable X-Men on-screen adventure with a relatively small budget. I think with JLA, expectations are quite a bit higher, and meeting those expectations is going to cost alot of money.
i dont know, 500 million seems like way to high a budget, i would imagine it can be done for around 300 or so. any higher youre risking not making much of a profit
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:52 pm Posts: 6822 Location: NY Gender: Male
I don't see them pulling in Bale, Routh, or any other actor who has portrayed these characters in other films. I don't think that will necessarily ruin the film, either, as long as they do cast capable actors/actresses.
The only way this will work is if a) WB is willing to front about $500 million to get this made the way it needs to be. You don't cut corners with Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Aquaman, GL, and Martian Manhunter. Not to mention what villains they're up against. The FX budget alone would top $200 million.
I would 100% prefer they go the alternate route, and not make this a special effects bonanza in any way, shape, or form.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:52 pm Posts: 6822 Location: NY Gender: Male
McParadigm wrote:
diaglo wrote:
The only way this will work is if a) WB is willing to front about $500 million to get this made the way it needs to be. You don't cut corners with Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Aquaman, GL, and Martian Manhunter. Not to mention what villains they're up against. The FX budget alone would top $200 million.
I would 100% prefer they go the alternate route, and not make this a special effects bonanza in any way, shape, or form.
The problem with that is, the vast majority of JLA storylines would entail huge special effects to pull it off.
The only way this will work is if a) WB is willing to front about $500 million to get this made the way it needs to be. You don't cut corners with Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Aquaman, GL, and Martian Manhunter. Not to mention what villains they're up against. The FX budget alone would top $200 million.
I would 100% prefer they go the alternate route, and not make this a special effects bonanza in any way, shape, or form.
The problem with that is, the vast majority of JLA storylines would entail huge special effects to pull it off.
But then the minute Hollywood agrees to a big special effects budget on an action film, they inevitably throw out the idea of any kind of interesting plot, dialogue, or character development, and instead you're left with a steaming pile of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
The only way this will work is if a) WB is willing to front about $500 million to get this made the way it needs to be. You don't cut corners with Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Aquaman, GL, and Martian Manhunter. Not to mention what villains they're up against. The FX budget alone would top $200 million.
I would 100% prefer they go the alternate route, and not make this a special effects bonanza in any way, shape, or form.
The problem with that is, the vast majority of JLA storylines would entail huge special effects to pull it off.
But then the minute non-creative studio executives agree to a big special effects budget on an action film, they inevitably throw out the idea of any kind of interesting plot, dialogue, or character development, and instead you're left with a steaming pile of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Like I said, get the right director. And writer. A studio executive who understands the importance of character-driven story helps as well. If the visual FX serve the story, and not the other way around, then things are in good shape.
Yeah, we're talking about a complete alignment of the planets, stars, and galaxies here.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:52 pm Posts: 6822 Location: NY Gender: Male
diaglo wrote:
McParadigm wrote:
Go_State wrote:
McParadigm wrote:
diaglo wrote:
The only way this will work is if a) WB is willing to front about $500 million to get this made the way it needs to be. You don't cut corners with Supes, Bats, WW, Flash, Aquaman, GL, and Martian Manhunter. Not to mention what villains they're up against. The FX budget alone would top $200 million.
I would 100% prefer they go the alternate route, and not make this a special effects bonanza in any way, shape, or form.
The problem with that is, the vast majority of JLA storylines would entail huge special effects to pull it off.
But then the minute non-creative studio executives agree to a big special effects budget on an action film, they inevitably throw out the idea of any kind of interesting plot, dialogue, or character development, and instead you're left with a steaming pile of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Like I said, get the right director. And writer. A studio executive who understands the importance of character-driven story helps as well. If the visual FX serve the story, and not the other way around, then things are in good shape.
Yeah, we're talking about a complete alignment of the planets, stars, and galaxies here.
Exactly. It can be done. It just likely won't be and we'll be stuck with some awful tripe.
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