JLA movie in the works

[Tribal Warfare]

Justice League, the movie? Warner chief sets sights on team-up film and ‘reinventing’ Batman

Jeff Robinov is already thinking about DC Comics movies for 2013 and beyond, and he’s got “Justice League” and a reinvented Batman on his mind.

The president of the Warner Bros. motion picture group, who recently sat down for an extensive interview with The Times, discussed his long-term strategy for DC beyond movies already in the works, such as June’s “Green Lantern” and next year’s “The Dark Knight Rises” and Superman movie.

The first priority for the man with the ultimate say on what films get made at Warner Bros.: Finally getting the Justice League, DC’s team featuring all its top characters, on the big screen in 2013. The picture had been very close to production in late 2007 and early 2008, but was killed by the Writers Guild of America strike, tax credit issues in Australia, and concerns by some at Warner about presenting a competing (and conflicting) version of Batman while director Christopher Nolan’s films were breaking box office records.

But Robinov said a new Justice League script is in the works. Also being written for Warner are scripts featuring the Flash and Wonder Woman, who could be spun off into their own movies after Justice League. Though Wonder Woman is also in the works as a television pilot for NBC produced by Warner, Robinov dismissed that as a sticking point. “Wonder Woman could be a film as well, the same way that ‘Superman Returns’ came out while ‘Smallville’ was on,” he said, referring to the 2006 film that put Brandon Routh in the cape and the television show starring Tom Welling that is now in its 10th and final season.

Robinov knows that the most bankable part of his superhero empire has been Nolan and his Gotham City films – the studio has yet to deliver a 21st century superhero blockbuster hit without Nolan in the director’s seat. Batman will continue to be a centerpiece property beyond next year’s “The Dark Knight Rises” and Nolan’s departure from the franchise. “We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman…Chris Nolan and [producing partner and wife] Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is.”

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I'm sorry, that doesn't make it a "flop".

A "flop" is Battleship or John Carter of Mars. Actually earning a profit while enjoying decent DVD sales doesn't make it failure.

I guess it depends on how you define the word "flop" then.
If "flop" only defines a film that doesn't recoup costs, you're right.

But sometimes a film can have net losses and not be a flop.
I also think a film can recoup and still be considered a flop.

[Tribal Warfare]

[jspchief]

Good god. Are there really that many comic book fans to continue to feed this?

[ThaVirus]

I always find it funny when people say shit like that.

These days, with all the video games, cartoons, TV shows, and movies, you don't even have to be a comic book nerd to like superheroes. They're not some fad that's going to go away.

The Avengers and Dark Knight are in the top 5 all-time USA box office, Dark Knight Rises in the top 10, all three of the Spider-Mans in the top 25, Iron Man & Iron Man 2 in the top 35...

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Good god. Are there really that many comic book fans to continue to feed this?

They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk to their seats; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. And they'll watch the movie and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come jspchief. The one constant through all the years, jspchief, has been super heros. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But super heros has marked the time. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come jspchief. People will most definitely come.

[Micjones]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Good god. Are there really that many comic book fans to continue to feed this?

These films are being done in such a way that they don't need a large fanboy contingent. You don't need to be all that familiar with the source material anymore. I wasn't much of a comic book reader as a kid. I'm hooked on the genre though. Like everything else though, it'll ebb at some point. Just like the wave of martial arts films died out. They all have their moments within the "Action" umbrella.