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Friday, July 24
DC is finally taking steps to make movies about their Justice League characters the way Marvel has been making ones about its Avengers. THR reports that DC partner Warner Bros. has brought in three DC comics writers to help consult on several titles, notably Geoff Johns, who has written both The Flash and Green Lantern comics. He's prepared a treatment to guide screenwriter Dan Mazeau's use of the characters. Johns will also produce the movie, which still has no director attached.
Johns spoke about the movie adaptation at the San Diego Comic-Con, though his words were brief. The movie is apparently about, well, speed:
We're caught up in a world that's obsessed with speed these days. Texting, faster downloading… We're always looking for ways to speed things up, it can be hard to slow ourselves down.
As a very popular Green Lantern writer, Johns was happy to give the Ryan Reynolds casting his seal of approval:
It's great, he's got the swagger for early Hal [Jordan, a.k.a. Green Lantern], definitely. And Martin Campbell directing ... I'm psyched about it.
With Reynolds' current zeal for superhero roles, and the fact that he was cast in the part in 2005, he could take the role of Flash as well.
Aquaman has less development to report, but, considering the superhero's usual exclusion when discussing DC movies, was a happy surprise. Thus far, the closest thing to an Aquaman movie has been the brief, fictional Aquaman "movie" scenes shot for HBO's Entourage series, but with Warners searching for a good aqua-story and Leonardo DiCaprio's production company working on it, signs are positive that a real Aquaman will be made.
While DC's progress is hardly in line with Marvel's definitive slate of Avengers movies, it is a step in the right direction. Until they arrive in theaters, however, comic fans can only dream of a day when both Justice League and Avengers movies battle for box office dominance.
Posted 7/24/2009 by Ryan
Related: Martin Campbell | Green Lantern | Ryan Reynolds | Justice League: Mortal | The Flash | Dan Mazeau
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Friday, July 17
Supposedly, a Justice League movie is going to be made, eventually. The O.C.'s Adam Brody was set to play Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash, in George Miller's adaptation of the famous superhero team. Brody flew all the way to Australia, Miller's home country and the movie's filming location, when everything fell apart. It wasn't totally unexpected, especially with Armie Hammer cast as Batman. Brody told Movieline:
We were in Australia, so we were halfway there, but sets hadn't beenbuilt yet, things still felt on the fence. So it wasn't a big shock to me when it didn't go. Before it, even, I totally understood the reasons for doing it and not doing it. I got both sides. At the time, I was like, "If [Warner Bros. doesn't] want to do this and they don't want to mess withBatman, their golden goose, then I totally get that and that's probably the right call."
That said, cut to this summer, and it would probably be coming out this week. I'm like, [groans]. That'd be so exciting. I probably miss it more now than I did then. I'm curious: Armie Hammer, who's like the real-life Bruce Wayne, if he would have played Batman, would that have gotten in the way of Christian Bale's [performance]? I don't know. Would it have diluted Batman 3 a little? Not sure.
As for his own character, Brody claims he did get to try on a Flash costume:
I had it on, but it was only kind of halfway there, you know? It was a preliminary version. There's some pictures somewhere of me making funny poses in a half-done Flash outfit.
Brody remains positive about Justice League, calling it "a totally positive experience," even if he does wish it could have been made:
After seeing the movies this summer, it could have been great. [Screenwriters Kieran and Michele] Mulroney did a really good job, and George Miller — I was so curious. I think everybody couldn't wait to see what he was gonna do.
Brody may yet get his chance. Actress Teresa Palmer (Bedtime Stories), who was cast as villain Talia Al Ghul — the daughter of Liam Neeson's character from Batman Begins — is still attached to the movie as of last month.
While he waits to see if Justice League will ever get off the ground, Brody has kept busy shooting Kevin Smith's A Couple of Dicks and Jennifer's Body, the horror comedy starring Megan Fox that opens September 19.
Posted 7/17/2009 by Ryan
Related: Adam Brody | Teresa Palmer | Justice League: Mortal | Armie Hammer
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Thursday, July 9
With Marvel's Avengers characters getting their own movies before combining forces in 2012, is it possible that DC has the same plan for its Justice League characters? Right now Green Lantern is the only league-related movie currently in development, so MTV asked Green Lantern screenwriter Marc Guggenheim about the possibility of cameos from Superman or any other DC character:
Honestly, it changes on a daily basis. Whatever information I gave you today would be obsolete in a week, and maybe come back again in two weeks. And even if it wasn't in flux at the script stage, it would still be constantly in flux because you can film it, put it in the original cut, and eventually it could end up on the editing room floor. I will say, all the Easter eggs and the cameos that I put in, I couldn't even begin to predict at this point which ones will stay and which ones will go.
So the answer is a definite "maybe." Guggenheim has previously admitted that he thought the Robert Downey Jr. cameo in The Incredible Hulk was "awesome." And if DC does want to make Justice League movie, Green Lantern is where they need to start.
Posted 7/9/2009 by Ryan
Related: Green Lantern | Justice League: Mortal | Marc Guggenheim
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Tuesday, March 10
A Justice League movie has been off and on for years now, yet George Miller, the more frequently on again and off again director of the proposed movie, told MTV:
I’m still attached to the film. Warner Bros. is waiting to develop the other characters a littlebit and then bring Justice League together. After the success of[The Dark Knight], it’s well known that they will develop the othercharacters and then bring them together in Justice League. That’s afair way down the track.
So break out the popcorn and soda! Just put them back. Immediately. Then break them out again many years later.
Posted 3/10/2009 by Ryan
Related: George Miller | The Dark Knight | Justice League: Mortal
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Friday, February 6
Green Lantern has already been announced as "not on hold" by screenwriter Marc Guggenheim, but recent developments show the movie is getting close to being made. While co-screenwriter Greg Berlanti has previously been slated to direct, Variety reports that Martin Campbell, director of Casino Royale, is in talks to direct the movie instead.
Michael Green, the third co-screenwriter of Green Lantern, explains: "Warner Bros. doesn't do greenlights the way a lot of places do. They sort of always inch towards it, so there's never a day where they're like, 'Boom! Magic bomb! We're greenlit!' But we've had very good conversations with them. From what I'm told, they really like the last script we gave them and are hoping to find a way to make it, which would be thrilling," Green told IGN.
As for the script details, Green did reveal that the movie will concern original Green Lantern Hal Jordan. "I can't give too many spoilers, but the idea is to introduce a new character to an audience that is probably not familiar with him. So we start at the beginning with Hal Jordan."
Will Green Lantern tie in to the on-again off-again Justice League movie? Said Green: "The only mandate such as it is was, 'Any references you want to make to expand the DC world, we would enjoy,' which is one of the better notes you can get. It's like, 'Oh, more candy? Please!' They opened up the DC toy box on that, so it was fun. It's definitely tied to the familiar DC universe."
Which means that DC is still trying to set up a Justice League to rival the 2011 Avengers movie.
Posted 2/6/2009 by Ryan
Related: Greg Berlanti | Michael Green | Martin Campbell | Casino Royale | Green Lantern | The Avengers | Justice League: Mortal | Marc Guggenheim
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Tuesday, January 6
With the success of The Dark Knight and Iron Man, comic book publishers Marvel and DC have tasted movie success. Both have a long association with superhero teams and have put movie adaptations in motion -- Marvel with Avengers and DC with Justice League: Mortal.
Both companies want to dominate, but they have opposite strategies on how to get it done. What are those strategies? And more important, who will dominate this cinematic battle? We compare superhero movies in development in Marvel vs. DC: The Battle of Comic Book Movie Heavyweights in 2009 and Beyond.
Posted 1/6/2009 by reelz
Related: The Avengers | Justice League: Mortal