Recently a lot of “will they wont they” discussion has been aired about the possibilities of a Justice League movie; ideally recruiting Christian Bale as Batman and Brandon Routh as Superman – amongst others. These rumors were originally fuelled by two Variety articles, the first revealing that Warner Bros. were looking into the movie’s development,

“The Justice League of America has been a perennial favorite for generations of fans, and we believe their appeal to film audiences will be as strong and diverse as the characters themselves.”

And the second entitled “Justice League film gets script“.

Husband-wife writing duo Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney turned in a first draft that had Warner Bros. suits actually smiling

How would this filming schedule work in-between TDK and Man of Steel? Would the correct cast be present? These are the questions being asked. The IESB had a chance to talk to Christian Bale, he stated categorically that he was not involved in the adaptation and nor had he been approached. And later Moviehole confirmed that the WB are looking for an all new cast and that the movie was “full steam ahead” with casting starting immediately. They also mentioned an assigned director, George Miller (Happy Feet meets Mad Max).

All this seemed a little confusing until the final and fitting piece of the puzzle unearthed, how this could be possible without dismaying fans and whilst aiming for an early 2008 production schedule. The IESB have a number of somewhat reliable sources stating that the JLA movie shall in fact be a CGI/Motion Capture film (e.g. similar to The Polar Express or more recently Beowulf). This still needs some closure but it all makes perfect sense. These films traditionally take slightly longer to create so we could see a late 2009, summer 2010 release.

Brain over at the Blue Tights forums was lucky enough to bump into Mike Dougherty, screenwriter for Man of Steel. This is what he had to say,

I asked him if he was a part of the sequel because everything I have seen says Singer and Harris are writing the script and that he isn’t mentioned. He confirmed that he is writing it with the two just like the last picture. I then expressed to him that I was hoping the delays of Superman: The Man of Steel weren’t true. He said that they were on track and that the goal is still to have the movie out in the Summer of 2009. He seemed a little hesitant about it but did his best to try and reassure that it will get done by then. I asked if he could give any more info on the film. He responded, “There are TWO villains,” and he smiled.

In July this year Variety reported that Kevin Spacey would return as Lex Luthor in the latest Superman movie. This confirmation was made as Singer pitched The Man of Steel, as scripted by Returns writer Michael Dougherty, to Warner,

Spacey hopes to shoot his Luthor role in a six-week block, as he did on “Superman Returns,” after he completes his run in David Mamet’s “Speed the Plow” in April.

“At the end of this film we see that there is so much more to explore.” said Brandon Routh at the end of Superman Returns; inevitably opening up the franchise for a second modern sequel.  In August 2006 , in an interview with the LA Times,  Alan Horn, Warner president, announced that they were hoping to complete a sequel to Superman Returns for a 2009 release. Bryan Singer, director of Superman Returns and other cult films such as X-men and Usual Suspects, echoed these sentiments at the 2006 San Diego Comic Con.

And in an interview with SuperHeroHype he said,

I’d like to build on the seeds that are planted, you know, expand upon relationships, you’ve now got a child, you’ve got these other elements, but also have the opportunity to have the characters more established to bring in some more action and have some more stuff going on. 

As of October 2006 a deal between Singer and Warner was agreed.

Welcome to this fledgling blog that shall discuss, inform and divulge all the latest Superman movie details as they are unveiled, exposed or released. This site was launched on August 14th 2007.