Justice League Film Gets Greenlighted

Posted on September 24, 2007

The long-delayed Justice League movie is back on track. Director Frank Miller (Mad Max, Happy Feet) is on board to direct. But Christopher Nolan is pretty mad - he thinks the project will hurt the next Batman film, Dark Knight, especially if Justice League plays it campy.

George Miller, the Academy Award-owning Aussie auteur behind such diverse flicks as the Mad Max trilogy, Babe: Pig in the City and last year's Best Animated Feature Oscar winner Happy Feet, has signed on to helm Warner Bros.' live-action version of DC Comics' Justice League of America. The 62-year-old Miller has been given the go-ahead to begin shooting the movie in his native Australia for a targeted 2009 release, according to Variety.

Featuring a screenplay by Kieran and Michele Mulroney (the brother and sister-in-law of Dermot Mulroney), Justice League has been shrouded in secrecy, but is expected to feature five superheroes from the original comic: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Flash

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Per Variety, Warners is taking heat from Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan. The filmmaker is petitioning the studio to postpone JLA until after he's finished with the Caped Crusader projects he has in development, including The Dark Knight, which is wrapping production in Chicago for release July 18, 2008. The director fears that a separate (and possibly campier) film featuring Batman could hurt Nolan's successful reboot of the DC franchise. His star, Christian Bale, has expressed similar sentiments and won't reprise the hero for Justice League.

Then there's the Man of Steel. Industry scuttlebutt suggested Warners would complete its planned sequel to 2006's Superman Returns. But the follow-up is on hold until director Bryan Singer completes work on his World War II drama, Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise. Like Bale, Supes alter ego Brandon Routh is not attached to JLA.

We think that the concerns about the Superman and Batman movies are legitimate. It's certainly going to confuse moviegoers who aren't assiduously following the Justice League film saga.

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