Justice League WB Is Still Carelessly Running Their DC Projects Into The Ground

[DarthDorranceBane]

Saw this from the Man of Steel boards.

http://www.cinematallica.com/holy-i...ly-running-their-dc-projects-into-the-ground/

The Joker is apparently not the only agent of chaos residing at the home of the Brothers Warner. It seems the studio brass are just as psychotic. Everyone knows about the Batman vs. Superman movie that was announced at Comic-Con a few weeks ago. Zack Snyder & Co. rolled out with their surprise and ever since the ‘net has been buzzing with rumors and speculation. But what is ACTUALLY going on with the project? And how did it come to pass that the Man of Steel sequel turned into a team-up film, instead of another stand-alone Superman adventure? The answer to the latter query is simple: It’s what the studio heads want.
The information coming in from our studio sources is that this decision blindsided not only the fans, but Zack Snyder and David Goyer as well. In the lead up to Comic-Con, they were merely under the impression that they would be teasing fans with their plans for an actual Man of Steel 2 and their goals for the franchise in the long run. A Superman & Batman: World’s Finest or Superman & Batman: Public Enemies (both are titles currently under consideration) film was absolutely NOT on their minds. At least not until a mandate came down from the brass right before Comic-Con. Word is that Snyder & Goyer are none too pleased about this torpedoing of their original trilogy plans (with a team-up film happening afterward), but will remain on board and just roll with it. Neither wants to give up the good home they have for themselves at WB over this, so they’re just going to hope for the best.
How about all of this talk of Frank Miller’s involvement and an actor shortlist for Batman? Well, the first item on that list is pure hokum. Not only have Frank Miller and the other creators of the classic The Dark Knight Returns comic NOT been contacted yet about using that material or even consulting on the film, but there is no script in place for this project at this time. Not even an outline has been turned in, though I’m sure the duo are feverishly trying to work one out. Production will likely need to be in full swing in about six months or so in order for this proposed film to make its Summer 2015 release, so I’m sure they’ll be working their butts off over the next few months.
What of that shortlist though? Well, one DOES exist, but not in the form that you might think. You see, WB still plans on landing Christian Bale and are doing everything in their power to make it happen. Offer after offer has been turned down thus far, with the latest reportedly setting somewhere around $50 million. Bale has yet to cave and word it that it is highly unlikely that he will change his mind…no matter how high the offer goes. So where does that leave them? Joseph Gordon-Levitt? While I know some think that WB would never be willing to give us a Bruce Wayne-less Batman movie, they aren’t as against it as some fans are. An offer was actually on the table for JGL a few months back.
You recall those Batman Beyond movie rumors that surfaced before Comic-Con? Well, WB was (and possibly still is?) hoping that Levitt would agree to topline a run of films in the cape & cowl under that title as the Caped Crusader. Why haven’t we heard more about this? Because JGL is leery of following in Bale’s footsteps and not too keen on signing a huge franchise contract obligating him to possibly as many as six films. I’m told that he has currently moved on and (rumor has it) is now being wooed by Marvel to take on one of their own superheroes. It seems Joseph would rather entertain the idea of his own superhero franchise, as opposed to someone else’s sloppy seconds, and who would blame him? Certainly not us.
So who IS on the shortlist? Brolin? Gosling? Hammer? Possibly. The name we are hearing that has caught Snyder’s eye off of said mystery studio list is a whopper though…and not in the way that fanboys might think or hope. Who is Zack’s pick if Warner Brothers cannot convince Bale to return? Orlando Bloom. I could carry on about how wrongheaded I think this decision is, but I really don’t see the point. It is blatantly obvious at this stage that Warner Bros. still has no clue how to handle their DC properties and would rather just steamroll over the few that they’d managed to at least get mostly right over the past decade in a misguided effort to beat Marvel at a game that was already over 15 months ago. And before you attack us with claims that WB would never cast Bloom or someone similar as the new Batman, I would kindly like to remind you of the cast of the Justice League movie that was weeks away from going into production only six years ago…
- D.J. Cotrona as “Superman”
- Armie Hammer as “Batman”
- Adam Brody as “The Flash”
- Megan Gale as “Wonder Woman”
- Santiago Cabrera as “Aquaman”
- Common as “Green Lantern”
- Hugh Keays-Byrne as “Martian Manhunter”
- Teresa Palmer as “Talia Al Ghul”
- Jay Baruchel as “Maxwell Lord”
Hammer and Byrne (The Toe Cutter!) aside, that’s one head-scratchingly odd cast. The fact that ANYONE thought it was a good idea to cast Flint from G.I. Joe: Retaliation as Brandon Routh’s successor is disturbing. And having Baruchel play the villain that requires the combined might of these heroes to defeat? Really?!? As much as I love George Miller, there’s no way that Justice League: Mortal would have been anything other than a colossal trainwreck. The current iteration of a Justice League film is reportedly on track for a Summer 2017 release and I’m said to say that a decade on, things aren’t looking any better. At this point, don’t be surprised if WB continues their bull in a china shop routine and cheaply brings their television heroes (Stephen Amell’s Green Arrow and whoever CW ends up casting as Flash & Wonder Woman)* to join Henry Cavill (and Bloom?) along for the cinematic ride in four years.
I have been told that Christian Bale’s main reason for refusing to come back is that he feels that this project is beneath him. And you know what? He’s right.


* – Whatever your personal views on Arrow and its pending spin-offs, can we not agree that it is said that CW is seemingly do a far better job at creating a shared universe for DC characters on television than their parent company is in theaters?

 

[DarthDorranceBane]

I think this will get more response in the DC Comics film section so I'm reposting it there. Can this one be closed?

 

[Project862006]

it is funny all these fans want a shared universe but the moment batman is gonna be in a superman film they get mad

hilarious

 

[Bludhaven]

"Well, WB was (and possibly still is?) hoping that Levitt would agree to topline a run of films in the cape & cowl under that title as the Caped Crusader."

 

[cleverusername8]

WB probably was disappointed by the drop off that happened in MOS's later months in theaters. I know my local theaters dropped the movie after about a month of showings because the demand just wasn't there. It began strong but tapered off after some time. I think this trend continued across the country because I checked Box Office Mojo every week to see how far along the movie had come only to be disappointed very often. They may be fearing for the sequel (especially after catching wind of Marvel's Avengers 2 plan) so they packed some heat by throwing their most popular character in the mix to possibly gather more interest.

I think the heads just don't have the right expectations about all of this. They were probably hoping that MOS would break a billion or at least 800 million. Though it didn't quite hit that height, it did better than many superhero origin movies internationally like Iron Man 1 which is arguably the most successful of the Marvel movie franchises. It even beat out Batman Begins. So the WB suits need to calm down and put things in a better perspective. This universe can work if they hop off of their impulses and just make a plan then stick to it.

 

[ЯɘvlveR]

everyone knows that they either don't care or they don't care. it sucks, but that's just the way it is. on one hand, they gave one guy the freedom to do whatever he wanted (in nolan) on the other, they're hand cuffing a guy because of either the critical response or desperation of wanting to make as much money as the avengers.

mos was a good way to start the universe and it should have had a chance to expand on the story with a sequel. if they're that eager to get a justice league off the ground, they should invest in the other characters so when the time comes to team them up it doesn't look like cluster****.

you'd think that would be as obvious to them as it is to us, but apparently it's not. Batman, should have been given a break. in fact, he should have been the last reveal before a jl film or in a jl film since he's the cash cow. they should have built him up. the time from tdkr till then would have been enough time to make the people for get about tdkt. they should have had a plan (it's obvious they don't, even today) in anticipation of man of steel's commercial success.


a MoS sequel followed by the flash and a wonder woman vs aquaman film (a way to introduce both of the characters) all planned for 2015 (I'm sure the hobbit will have ended by then) would have kicked it off into high gear, perhaps with the gl corps figuring into JL film, with batman remaining a myth through out all of the films revealed in jl would have been a good plan.

it's all for naught though. all we can do is hope that SvsB isn't a PoS.

 

[BH/HHH]

WB probably was disappointed by the drop off that happened in MOS's later months in theaters. I know my local theaters dropped the movie after about a month of showings because the demand just wasn't there. It began strong but tapered off after some time. I think this trend continued across the country because I checked Box Office Mojo every week to see how far along the movie had come only to be disappointed very often. They may be fearing for the sequel (especially after catching wind of Marvel's Avengers 2 plan) so they packed some heat by throwing their most popular character in the mix to possibly gather more interest.

I think the heads just don't have the right expectations about all of this. They were probably hoping that MOS would break a billion or at least 800 million. Though it didn't quite hit that height, it did better than many superhero origin movies internationally like Iron Man 1 which is arguably the most successful of the Marvel movie franchises. It even beat out Batman Begins. So the WB suits need to calm down and put things in a better perspective. This universe can work if they hop off of their impulses and just make a plan then stick to it.

The annoying thing is if WBs dd their home work they'd see the drop was down to the competition.

 

[Mightyally]

Orlando Blom. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I rather have Bale even if the Nolan trilogy doesn´t exactly make sense to continue IMO.

Just pic a good actor and make a good MoS/Batsy movie. If it goes well then keep it going with Flash and then JL. If not, then drop it?

 

[Mr. Dent]

I don't think there has been a single bit of good news to come out about this movie since it was announced, starting with the decision to bring back Snyder and Goyer.

 

[Octavias]

If this project doesn't pan out, does DC/WB lose all credibility in the comic movie front?

 

[Mightyally]

The Superman/Batman movie needs to be better than MoS. I don´t see the problem achieving that since MoS was like 7/10. There is just bad news about this movie everywhere.

Take the freaking time needed and make a good movie. lay a solid foundation for The justice league and related movies such as Flash, WM, GL etc.

I know you can do it WB. Come on!

 

[cleverusername8]

If this project doesn't pan out, does DC/WB lose all credibility in the comic movie front?

Pretty much which saddens me

And the chance of WB selling the rights to the characters to a more willing studio is exactly zero. If it meant getting some sort of popularity for these characters, I wouldn't complain of they pulled a Marvel and let other movie companies take the characters that they're too afraid to try like Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, etc.

 

[Rowsdower!]

My reaction to the rumor that Bloom is Snyder's choice for Batman.

 

[Mightyally]

Haha you might have noticed but my was something like this

 

[Rowsdower!]

That works too.

And honestly, I don't even hate Bloom. He was great as Legolas and decent enough in the Pirates movies. But he's so wrong for Batman it makes me want to slam my head into a wall.

 

[ThePhantasm]

I disbelieve about 90% of this article.

 

[Mightyally]

That works too.

And honestly, I don't even hate Bloom. He was great as Legolas and decent enough in the Pirates movies. But he's so wrong for Batman it makes me want to slam my head into a wall.

Agreed! lol. But I do prefer acting skills over looks. Orlando is good actor but he isn´t a batman. And also, Orlando is going to cost them a fortune?

 

[Rowsdower!]

Does he have a big pricetag these days? I'm not really sure. Especially since I think everyone knows that the success of the pirate movies had very little to do with him.

 

[Mightyally]

I don´t know how it all ended but he was worth 1 million dollars in the hobbit. We are talking less than 2 minutes here.

 

[kguillou]

I barely believe anything this article says, because the honest truth is NO ONE knows anything about this movie yet, and that's including the people working on the film (Snyder, Goyer, Cavil and co). This project was just announced and Goyer is probably not even past page 30 of the screenplay. How can they start looking for a Batman already when they don't even have a semblance of a story going? These news outlets are just taking advantage of the post comic con hype and making stuff up as they go along. I guarantee you the only activity on this project so far is Goyer's fingers on his keyboard. That' it.

 

[Mightyally]

True dat. Let´s not take that bullcrap too serious. But it´s true that they encountered some issues, but nothing WB can´t overcome. If the movie budget is about the same as MoS which was expensive imo, they can make one heck of a movie for 2015!

 

[cleverusername8]

I'm still fearing the feeling of this movie ending up feeling really rushed. I don't think WB needs to scramble to get something out the same summer as Avengers 2. In fact, it might be in their best interest to wait instead of going up against (what will most likely be) the biggest comic book movie of the decade simply to prove a point (or whatever they think they're doing by pushing for Supes/Bats together on screen).

But what do I know? I'm just some guy that cares enough to wish that this movie does well so we can see the big fish (Justice League) before we die.

 

[Shikamaru]

I won't lie. That article legitimately gave me chills. The number of bad ideas in there....I have no words.

*sigh*

And just when I thought that WB would get their act together. I've completely lost all hope and excitement for not only Superman/Batman at this point, but all DC films coming out in the next few years.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

That article sounds like conjecture at its finest. It uses the misleading Bale rumor as any kind of solid evidence.