If JL is shelved, what should WB's plan be? World's Finest?

[Rorschach2012]

Originally Posted by kguillou

Well, it could be a much cheaper, much less head-ache inducing alternative if they cannot piece together a live-action one for the time being. If they market it as a kids film that all ages could enjoy like Toy Story or any other Disney/Pixar film, then it could potentially be a huge hit commercially and financially. For the record, I know they're not going to do it, but I think a full length movie DCU Online style would be supremely awesome.

Well the problem theyre having with bringing Justice League into a live action film is the script. Making the film animated doesn't solve that problem. I really don't see any advantages to making it animated. It would make less money thats for sure.

[Airwings]

Originally Posted by Rorschach2012

Well the problem theyre having with bringing Justice League into a live action film is the script. Making the film animated doesn't solve that problem. I really don't see any advantages to making it animated. It would make less money thats for sure.

And people will be less interested in it. They WANT it done live action, that's the draw of JL

[A&W]

honestly I think they should have a sequel to MOS, a flash movie, WW, and then a justice leafue movie with batman as the main character. then come out with a batman movie a year or two later.

[BH/HHH]

I really hope WBs do get David Goyer in to help them create a shared universe. Cause it's very clear that what DC on film needs right now is a Captain to steer that ship.

I still think doing a JLA Year One without Batman & Superman is a good way to kick start things, have either in the same year or year after the Worlds Finest film where the JL meet Supes and Bats, then in JLA 2 have the full team take on Darkseid.

[godisawesome]

World's Finest would be a good ice breaker.

And someone please put Bruce Timm in charge of script and world-building duties.

[BH/HHH]

Originally Posted by godisawesome

World's Finest would be a good ice breaker.

And someone please put Bruce Timm in charge of script and world-building duties.

No thanks I had enough of Batman making Superman look stupid in the DCAU.

Also Timm has said many times he's not interested in live action.

[RachelDawes]

Originally Posted by The Guard

I really think this whole "competing with Marvel" thing needs to be dropped.

If WB wanted to "compete with Marvel", they could do it with ANY major action/sci-fi franchise.

But there aren't a lot of action/sci-fi franchises whose characters are household names in the same way a lot of superheroes are. Besides, Batman and TA proved that superheroes are big business. I can't right off-hand think of any action/sci-fi movies that have made as much money. Outside of Avatar, that is.

WB could probably really care less about competing with Marvel. They just want a piece of the booming superhero movie business. They're not neccessarily directly competing for it.

If that were the case they could just make solo films for each character. It would certainly cost less and be stretched out across more films.

[dnno1]

Worlds Finest would be even more rushed than Justice League. First off, there is no script and we are supposed to be seeing a new Batman come the 2017 time frame. What are we going to do in 2015/2016 until then? It would just be better to take the Will Beal script and rework it into something more appealing to the suits at the studio.

[Juicy J]

Originally Posted by The Guard

I really think this whole "competing with Marvel" thing needs to be dropped.

If WB wanted to "compete with Marvel", they could do it with ANY major action/sci-fi franchise.

WB could probably really care less about competing with Marvel. They just want a piece of the booming superhero movie business. They're not neccessarily directly competing for it.

It's hard to argue they aren't competing with Marvel when they announced they were putting JL into production with a 2015 release date and a new screen writer just one month after the Avengers premiered to immense success.
Also, the booming superhero business is pretty much Marvel outside of one franchise. So yes, whether directly or indirectly they are going to try and get in on some of that action.

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Originally Posted by Juicy J

It's hard to argue they aren't competing with Marvel when they announced they were putting JL into production with a 2015 release date and a new screen writer just one month after the Avengers premiered to immense success.
Also, the booming superhero business is pretty much Marvel outside of one franchise. So yes, whether directly or indirectly they are going to try and get in on some of that action.

I think he means that they're not competing in the sense that they are trying to steal away some of Marvel's business, or that their goal is to make 'more money'.

It's just about making as much as they can, not about making 'more', or a share of a limited pie. Why would DC care if Marvel makes more money if the amount they get is still the same?

It's not like Apple vs Microsoft, where consumers have to choose between one and the other, and one business entering the market means trying to take away the business of another.

[The Guard]

Exactly.

[hammerhedd11]

I don't understand the argument that a JL film will be incoherent without standalone films preceding it. Did people watch the Dirty Dozen utterly confused as to the backstory of every single prisoner? What about Star Trek?
People say The Avenger's worked with this model, but obviously the film relied on many who had not seen all of the preceding films, based on the box office take alone. The Avengers itself works as a story without having seen all of them either. As it always does, the film working depends on how well it's told. We can have a bunch of standalone films, but if the JL film is crap, it won't matter if they have been introduced or not. What about the Justice League animated series? It did practically the same thing, to great success.

[Rorschach2012]

cbm posted an editorial about how WF should be WB's next move

[Sub-Zero]

Why not make movies to establish the shared universe instead of solo movies, then fnish that off with justice league?
Worlds finest with a Wonder Woman cameo at the end
Flash and gl team up, with aqua man cameo
Justice league with mm bringing everyone together to stop darkseid

Ground it in mos's "reality" and wb can see more $$ as if it were 2008 all over again.

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Originally Posted by hammerhedd11

I don't understand the argument that a JL film will be incoherent without standalone films preceding it. Did people watch the Dirty Dozen utterly confused as to the backstory of every single prisoner? What about Star Trek?
People say The Avenger's worked with this model, but obviously the film relied on many who had not seen all of the preceding films, based on the box office take alone. The Avengers itself works as a story without having seen all of them either. As it always does, the film working depends on how well it's told. We can have a bunch of standalone films, but if the JL film is crap, it won't matter if they have been introduced or not. What about the Justice League animated series? It did practically the same thing, to great success.

I think the reason it's not the same as Dirty Dozen, or any movie with a large cast for that matter, is because each character in Avengers/JL, just by looking at them and their crazy abilities, raises a question about their uniqueness. If one of the Dirty Dozen could run at the speed of Light, you'd want to know why the hell he was doing that.

Not necessarily questions about their personality, but questions regarding why this Flash guy is super fast, why Wonder Woman is super strong, etc.

Since we have Themyscira, Krypton, etc, thrown in the mix it's not even as simple as X-Men where the explanation for every character's powers is 'mutants'.

That being said. Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern are already taken care of.

For Flash you'd only need
A: a 15 second explanation (like how Coulson explains why Banner is the way he is in the plane to Cap)
or B: a 5 minute flashback/montage (like Dr. Manhattan)

For WW the same thing, and possibly option C: we get a 20 minute WW origin. Perhaps Supes/Bats can go to Themyscira and it can be a set-piece. So many options.

I don't see what the big deal is with this overloaded origins business.

[Kevin Smith]

World's Finest. Then Flash. I'd say WW but that may be asking for a lot, and honestly I'd take a rebooted GL over that.

THEN Justice League.

[Juicy J]

Originally Posted by FeedOnATreeFrog

I think he means that they're not competing in the sense that they are trying to steal away some of Marvel's business, or that their goal is to make 'more money'.

It's just about making as much as they can, not about making 'more', or a share of a limited pie. Why would DC care if Marvel makes more money if the amount they get is still the same?

It's not like Apple vs Microsoft, where consumers have to choose between one and the other, and one business entering the market means trying to take away the business of another.

True, I definitely concede to this point. I don't think they're trying to 'steal' Marvel's business at all, this market doesn't really work that way.
Plus its WB, one of the biggest movie studios. They're gonna get a piece of the pie no matter what, whether it's through superhero movies or otherwise. Either way they're gonna do their damnedest to make some $ off the genre.

[Zarex]

Originally Posted by hammerhedd11

I don't understand the argument that a JL film will be incoherent without standalone films preceding it. Did people watch the Dirty Dozen utterly confused as to the backstory of every single prisoner? What about Star Trek?
People say The Avenger's worked with this model, but obviously the film relied on many who had not seen all of the preceding films, based on the box office take alone. The Avengers itself works as a story without having seen all of them either. As it always does, the film working depends on how well it's told. We can have a bunch of standalone films, but if the JL film is crap, it won't matter if they have been introduced or not. What about the Justice League animated series? It did practically the same thing, to great success.

A major problem is that, without an appropriate backstory, a person putting on a colorful costume in order to fight crime would appear to be insane. Nolan, Raimi, Favreau and others spend a great deal of time during their superhero origin stories explaining why the character's behavior, which to the uninitiated may be the actions of a madman, are completely logical given the circumstances they find themselves in.

The JL series worked because it was animated, many of the characters had been previously introduced to TV audiences, and because Timm & Dini had the time to reveal the character motivations over the course of a series. Batman 89 worked, in part, because the Gotham setting provided by Tim Burton was completely fantastical. Other superhero films, like Watchmen, embraced the mental instability aspect of the characters.

I think we've gotten a bit spoiled in recent years - it is very difficult to translate superheroes for the big screen. But I think a World's Finest film would be a great move on the part of Warner Brothers.

[Rorschach2012]

I really think we need solo films. Itll be a huge task for the writer of the JL film to completely "get" all the characters on the team. I think if these characters were developed individually, then brought together for JL, that itd be a much more solid film, with more developed characters.

(Winter 2015) World's Finest
(2016) MOS2, Wonder Woman
(2017) The Flash, Batman
(2018) Justice League

After that, do sequels to MOS, Batman, WW, and Flash, and do a soft reboot of Green Lantern, and start an Aquaman franchise

[Mr.M]

Justice League isn't the platform to re-introduce Batman. You can't go from Nolan to Justice League and expect audiences to just go with the flow. It doesn't work that way. Too many people like the fact that the character is very plausible in a realistic setting, and the whole superpower angle would alienate a lot of those viewers. As with Superman, outside of his villains and back story, he exists in the real world. He's been ingrained with audiences long enough that people have accepted him as a plausible fictional character that needs no introduction (even though MOS is providing that). Not the case with the other Justice League members. They have a lot less credibility with the masses and main stream pop culture.

I think you do a WF film next, to introduce the new Wayne and Lex Luthor. If MOS is a hit, I may hold off and do a sequel, but WF is guaranteed TDK money if it is executed correctly. Would Nolan still be up for producing the film? Could he get Bale involved? It doesn't have to be a sequel to his Batman series, but just to have a credible actor in the role of Wayne. I doubt it. But that would be the way I would go. Have it out by 2015 or 2016.

I think the other Justice League characters need cameos or references in Superman sequels and WF films. I don't think solo movies would be successful going forward after GL.

[Zarex]

The quickest and easiest way to re-introduce Batman is to showcase the Batcave in the reboot. Shots of an updated suit, revamped Batmobile, giant penny, oversized playing card and dinosaur sculpture will let the audiences know quickly that there is a new sheriff in town.

[Juicy J]

I agree with Mr. M, a worlds finest movie would be the ideal situation. I think WBs best bet overall is to maybe make another MOS movie to come out in 2015, and then at the end introduce batman. Have a 'nick fury at the end of iron man 1' type moment, only one that would effectively lead into a worlds finest movie. Cause I think that a WF film, if done correctly and marketed successfully, could make 600-700 million worldwide and wouldn't be biting off more than they could chew. Cause releasing a JL movie right after MOS is to much to handle, I think.

[HR-PUFF&STUFF]

you need to do the big three Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. They all have great origins that you can build from. After that you can do Green Lantern and the Flash leading into the Justice League.

[cleverusername8]

Originally Posted by HR-PUFF&STUFF

you need to do the big three Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. They all have great origins that you can build from. After that you can do Green Lantern and the Flash leading into the Justice League.

I agree. In fact, I think a trinity movie would be the best way to introduce Wonder Woman to the general audience. As much as we fans may want to deny it, the GA really doesn't care much at all for Wonder Woman despite knowing generally who she is. A solo movie for her probably wouldn't do much better than Thor did and WB would undoubtedly see that as a failure.

If they put her in a trinity movie and tell the story from her point of view including Supes and Bats, that's gold. The World's Finest duo could carry the notoriety and sneak WW in to build interest (like the way Spiderman got popular). Then, if the box office results are good, they can move forward with a solo movie for her.

And as said earlier, a Flash movie is imminent regardless of whatever else happens. WB has wanted it for so long and it's now or never for him.

[Rorschach2012]

Why the hell are they not doing that Nicolas Winding Refn Wonder Woman movie? That idea reminds me of a pre Batman Nolan coming to WB with his Batman pitch. Please WB take advantage of the fact that a director wants to adapt your property, since you obviously have no idea creatively of what to do with your superheroes.