JLA movie news


Missy

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From IGN:

JLA Casting Update

And is it going to be a motion-capture film?!

by Stax

August 22, 2007 - It appears that Warner Bros. is moving ahead with their planned live-action Justice League of America movie, with casting reportedly set to commence shortly for an early 2008 start date.

According to Moviehole.net, "Brandon Routh and Christian Bale won't be starring as Superman and Batman, respectively, in the Justice League movie -- but they will both still be starring in the stand-alone Superman and Batman sequels. So don't fret fans, there will only be a new Bats and Supes for the team-up movie."

Bale informed IESB.net that he hasn't been approached about playing Batman in JLA, adding, "It'd be better if (JLA) doesn't tread on the toes of what we're doing, though I feel that it would be better if it comes out after Batman 3."

Moviehole also reported that a "casting director for the movie will be onboard next week and it's then that they'll be going after their tighted strongmen."

UPDATED: IESB.net reports a rumor that JLA could very well be a motion-capture film a la Beowulf, Avatar and The Polar Express. This could explain the recasting of major characters such as Batman and Superman, as well as the reported early '08 production start. As the site points out, however, mo-cap films take a long time so a 2009 release seems highly unlikely now.

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I think he's right, actually. The characters should be fully established in their individual films before being grouped into a team-up flick. Plus, releasing JLA before Nolan and Bale have finished their Batman trilogy could force the director into using characters / elements he doesn't want anywhere near his third and final movie, thus compromising his vision.

And frankly, I don't want to see Batman in a JLA movie. He shouldn't be on a high-profile team. Ever. As the leader of the covert ops Outsiders? Sure, that makes sense. In the spotlight with the Justice League? No thank you.

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A point you make clear at every turn you can. How you think they can just cut out one of the biggest members of the JLA and not have a huge backlash I don't know.

Quite frankly I think Batman is a great leader when need be. The clash of his personality and the other members of the group is one of the main reasons I ever got into JLA. It's a great foil to the other members and causes a lot more depth than just "we're all super friends who all get along!".

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A point you make clear at every turn you can.

Batman's a myth. He's something criminals fear because they don't even know if he's real. Take that away, push him into the light, and he loses his biggest advantage: mystique. If DC ever had the balls to actually do a hard reboot of their universe, not only should criminals not know of his existence, fellow heroes shouldn't either.

How you think they can just cut out one of the biggest members of the JLA and not have a huge backlash I don't know.

The JLA has survived without Batman in the past. Fans will accept a JLA team without Batman lurking about.

Quite frankly I think Batman is a great leader when need be.

I said as much, but if he's going to lead a team it should be one that works in the shadows.

The clash of his personality and the other members of the group is one of the main reasons I ever got into JLA. It's a great foil to the other members and causes a lot more depth than just "we're all super friends who all get along!".

Guy Gardner and Orion would provide the same friction. Batman isn't the only jerk in the DCU.

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Meh, I'd rather they used the JLA characters for individual films and then they could do a 1940-50 era JSA film that fit the overall continuity. I have no idea why they woud want to try and ruin all this with a team film right now. I want the individual franchises off the ground before the JLA comes into it. Green Lantern, Flash and Wonder Woman all need thier own films. Then in the film itself the Martian Manhunter can unite the league and they can bring in Aquaman if they like.

Marvel could pull off the Avengers because only Thor, Iron man, Captain America and a version of Ant-man are worthy of thier own films and in the case of Cap he's better off with an Avengers spinoff than starting on his own. The JLA is too star studded to be anything more than a letdown. Besides, JLU was already the perfection of that group.

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  • 2 weeks later...
According to Obsessed With Film, casting directors are now listed at Showfax in New York, Toronto and Vancouver for Warner Bros.' live-action Justice League of America adaptation, which George Miller (Happy Feet) is expected to direct.

The roles listed with the casting calls do not specify which characters they are in the film. Reports have said that the superhero team-up movie would include Batman, Superman, The Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern. Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and Brandon Routh (Superman, Superman: Man of Steel) are not involved.

Warner Bros. has yet to make an official announcement about George Miller's attachment or any casting info.

Now it's back to live action? I wish they would make up their mind.

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Ugh, it's Superman Returns that Routh was in, not Superman. Don't confuse a cool CBM with a poor CBM.

As for JLA, I can see *why* the WB cleared it (success of the cartoons, Batman Begins, profit on Returns) BUT they really should have optioned a different DC character/group to make into a franchise. THEN, as Bale says (and I back him to the hilt), they can do a JLA film, be it with or without Batman. That said, under no circumstances would they risk doing it without Batman. The bad/mediocre reviews Batman Begins got? They were from people wanting the Joker right there and then. Not giving the crowds a Batman, even one that isn't Bale, would be a profit suicide that producers aren't going to take.

I'm pretty sure that that Batman will suck, though.

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The reason I don't back Bale in that is that he is doing the beginning, and the JLA is a long time after that. They have nothing to do with each other, and the character is completely different by the time they form the JLA. I don't want Bale in it. It should be an older, harder Batman by then.

True enough. Just try telling the casual moviegoer that. Many people thought Begins was a sequel rather than a reboot.. But I agree, the JLA BAtman shouldn't be Bale, even if he did want to be involved. For that reason, I wouldn't want to see Tom Welling play Superman here, no matter what his actual age is.

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Ian's right, the average moviegoer is oblivious. If the JLA movie premiers before Batman Begins 3 they won't get that it's supposed to be set later in Batman's career. And to back up what you said, Ian, I know a woman who turned to her husband during Phantom Menace and yelled, "Where the fuck is Leia?" Right there in the theater she blurted that out. Sigh.

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Its stupid to do the JLA film now. The money they make from it now will be peanuts compared to what it would be if they lauched the first film in the Flash and Wonder Woman series first. That way they actually could combine the Bale/Routh versions. Its very confusing to the public to have parallel franchises featuring different people as the same characters. If the do the JLA film now it also stunts the effectivnes of the individual screen debut of characters like WW, Flash and Green Lantern. All three have very specific origins that should be taken seriously in individual films when they debut. In particular the Green Lantern needs his origin told on screen.

The best way to do a JLA film would be to build it around a rookie Green Lantern. Have him recieve the ring from Abin Sur and then have some alien race working with Lex Luthor or something attempting to capture the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. The Justice League forms to try and protect the new Lantern and as they risk thier lives doing so he becomes more and more confidant in using the ring.

I really hope they get the Flash film out before all that though.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Warner Bros. is moving aggressively ahead with the big screen adaptation of DC Comics' Justice League of America, with George Miller (Happy Feet) on board to direct, reports Variety.

The project, which is in the initial phases of casting, is a pre-strike priority for the studio, which needs a superhero tentpole in 2009.

Still, making all the pieces fit has been complicated by overlapping superhero projects in the pipeline, since "Justice League" features a pantheon of superheroes, including Superman and Batman.

Batman and Superman are active properties for the studio, though the next installment in the Superman franchise has taken a backseat to "Justice League" in part because Warners is so keen on the "Justice League" script by Kieran and Michele Mulroney.

"Justice League" will likely feature the characters of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and Aquaman.

The project is so complicated -- and casting dependent -- that even those deeply involved in the project are holding their breath until production begins.

"They're working very hard to get it to happen," said one party close to the project. "But there are so many characters it's complicated."

http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=6321

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Stolen from Newsarama:

BIEL "IN TALKS" FOR WONDER WOMAN IN JUSTICE LEAGUE FILM

Variety is reporting in their Tuesday edition that actress Jessica Biel (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Bade: Trinity) is “in talks” to star as Wonder Woman in Warner’s fast-tracking Justice League of America film. The George Miller-directed ensemble adaptation is expected to feature Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, and Superman and Batman (but without Brandon Routh and Christian Bale).

The studio is reportedly looking to begin production before any potential Writer’s Guild strike, but that likely hinges on the studio's ability to assemble a cast of superheroes in a small window of time.

According to Variety, Warner’s declined to comment on the Biel talks, telling the Hollywood trade it prefers to announce an entire cast rather than piecemeal deals.

Justice League is being written by Kieran and Michele Mulroney, and it could potentially kick-start producer Joe Silver’s long-in-development Wonder Woman solo film.

And in other DC film news, Warner’s production of director Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight - which of course does star Bale – has applied for local permits to shoot in Hong Kong for nine days this November.

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I brainstormed a number of column ideas when I started writing Comic Reel-lief articles, and one of them was about actors taking on more than one comic book role. Now granted, Abigail Whistler is not, to my knowledge, in any comic book, but I'm still unsure on dual CBM roles - the main reason I haven't written that article yet!

There's something VERY screwed up in WB's priorities if they're pursuing this Justice League film over the Superman Returns sequel, trying to cast a non-Bale Batman and gazumping the Wonder Woman movie. And if this is being rushed before a screen writers strike (and if Zak Penn gets involved, my hopes for this film get even lower) I can only applaud the WB for rushing back to the formula that made Batman & Robin so successful. Oh wait....

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Jessica Biel Passes on Justice League

Entertainment Weekly has learned that Jessica Biel has decided to pass on playing Wonder Woman in Warner Bros.' live-action Justice League. The former "7th Heaven" star had been in early talks to play the Amazonian princess.

George Miller (Happy Feet) will direct the big screen adaptation. Kieran and Michele Mulroney wrote the script.

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The plot and other spoilers have made their way the latest issue of EW.

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_c...8&Itemid=99

What we have seen remains faithful to the comic book that first appeared in 1960. All seven original members of the Justice League -- Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter -- are featured in an origins story about the superhero conglomerate. The plot revolves around

villainous businessman Maxwell Lord and involves cyborgs called OMACs (One-Man Army Corps), who can take over humans and turn them into killing machines. There are epic battles between Superman and Batman, as well as Superman and Wonder Woman.

They also decided to include

the Hall of Justice

. It sounds to me like they should have just made an animated movie.

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The Hollywood Reporter says that a slew of young actors are testing for the roles of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter in George Miller's big screen Justice League adaptation. The director is seeing 35-40 actors for roles in the Warner Bros. comic book movie from Sunday through Monday.

Included in the casting sessions are: Adam Brody ("The O.C."), Joseph Cross (Running With Scissors), D.J. Cotrona ("Windfall"), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Grindhouse), Michael Angarano (Sky High), Teresa Palmer (The Grudge 2), Max Thieriot (Jumper) and rapper Common.

The trade adds that the cast of NBC's "Friday Night Lights" is well-represented as well, with Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki and Scott Porter also among those testing for parts.

Miller is reportedly looking for the young actors to grow into their roles over the course of several movies. The director is due to present his findings to the studio midweek.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=6403

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