November 12, 2009

The Future of DC Entertainment


To compete with the large amount of Marvel projects flooding into theaters in the next three years, Warner Brothers has developed DC Entertainment. This is keep the amount of producers on projects limited to DC. It's a move to get properties developed on a quicker pace than they have in the past. Producer Joel Silver has been a major developer of the Wonder Woman film for years but has been asked to leave the project. Silver's Dark Castle will still handle production on less popular DC properties.


THE LOSERS (April 9th 2010): After being betrayed and left for dead, members of a CIA black ops team root out those who targeted them for assassination. I'm not sure if this will be s violent s the comics but Sylvain White is directing so it will look mzing. White is also in talks to direct Frank Miller's Ronin, so I'm excited to see how The Losers ends up.


JONAH HEX (June 18th 2010): Hex is one of the lesser known characters from DC Comics but his story will make for an entertaining film. Of course being a western rather than a traditional superhero movie. Written by action junkies Neveladine/Taylor (Crank, Gamer), starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox. I'm unsure how much changes have been made since pre-production. When the original directors were replaced. I'm hoping for gritty and violent shoot em up western.


GREEN LANTERN (June 17th 2011): The film is proposed to be DC Comics' version of Iron Man, starring Ryan Renyolds (Adventureland) as Hal Jordan. Casino Royale director Martin Campbell will helm the film which gives it a lot of credibility. I expect this to become the next franchise for Warner Brothers if it comes together properly. I think this might be the experiment to see how far they could go with the next Superman film.


LOBO (2010-2011): Guy Ritchie will adapt the alien/biker/bounty hunter/anti-hero along with producer Joel Silver. Many fans re upset with the thought of the character could be put into PG-13 film. One of the original writers has come out nd said watering down Lobo would go ginst everything they tried to do with him in the comics. The chalk white skinned alien was fouled mouthed and brutally violent. It will be interesting how timid they make him. Jeffrey Dean Morgan who is already starring in two DC Comic adaptions Watchmen and The Losers is hoping for the Lobo role.


SGT. ROCK (2011-2012): They have hired director Francis Lawrence, who recently directed both Constantine and I Am Legend. Along with a new script written by Chad St. John, who wrote the remake of Outlander. Sgt. Rock is originally set during WWII and it seems that the plan is to have the film set in the future. Originally Guy Ritchie co-wrote the script and was going to direct.


BATMAN III (2011-2013): The threequel is still in early stages as Christopher Nolan is focusing on his originl film Inception. Apperently Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer are sharing notes with Christopher while they start writting the film's script. The only thing is that Nolan has yet to officially sign on to direct the film. Any informtion at this point is speculation.


FRANK MILLER'S RONIN (2011-2013): The comic tells the story of a masterless samurai reincarnated in the hard sci-fi world of a future New York City. Mixing manga influences, cyberpunk stylings, heady philosophical themes and Miller's signature brand of rough-hewn art, the book has long been in development as a film. It will be directed by Sylvain White (The Losers). Director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem For A Dream) was once involved in the project.


DEADMAN (2010-2012): Danish filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel is set to tke over directing duties. Guillmero del Toro (The Hobbit) was originally going to direct, he left the project to focus on other films. Yet has stayed on as the film's producer. It follows a circus tightrope walker who is murdered and returns as a ghost with the ability to inhabit the bodies if others in order to find his killer.


SUICIDE SQUAD (2011-2012): The film will feature a mix of well-known and unknown villains recruited by the government to accomplish a task deemed too dangerous for superheroes. The historically independent operators must bury their own interpersonal conflicts and agendas to form a cohesive unit to take on a singular task. It will be produced by Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes) and Justin Marks (Greyskull, Hack/Slash, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea) has been hired to write the script.


WONDER WOMAN (2011-2012): The project has been in development with Joel Silver and Silver Pictures since 2001. Silver hired many writers to create scripts for the film but never decided on one, Joss Whedon the creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer was one. A treatment by Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland had the film set during WWII. It would later be passed by Silver because he wanted the film to be contemporary. Considering Captain America will be a period piece it might not be such a bad idea now. Another script which was rejected by Silver was written by Shutter Island and Ghost In The Shell screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis. It's very tricky to make female superhero film properly. Studios usually end up putting more effort into the look and sex appel rather than solid character development or story. The list of bad films includes Elektra, Catwoman, Aeon Flux and Supergirl.


SUPERMAX: The working title of the Green Arrow film that would have the hero locked in a supermax prison with many of the villains from DC Comics. Arrow has to work together with the inmates to insure his escape. A great concept but if it doesn't have an origin story I don't know how people will react to Green Arrow. One interesting aspect is that the script has Lex Luther and The Joker teaming up with Green Arrow. David S. Goyer wrote the script so there is promise for it.


THE FLASH: Geoff Johns who is also co-writting Shazam will work on the script. Johns is an in house writer for DC Comics. Dan Mazeau wrote a script previously for Warner Bros.


BIZZARO SUPERMAN: Bizarro is a supervillain with similar powers to Superman. He resides in his own Bizarro World, where he's a superhero, not a villain. The film has been written by David Howard and Robert Gordon. The pair previously wrote the sci-fi action comedy Galaxy Quest.


CONSTANTINE II: Keanu Reeves will be back but director Francis Lawrence won't be. Lawrence will act as producer along with Lauren Shuler Donner (X-Men Franchise). The sequel talk has been around since 2006.


SHAZAM: This one is going back to the drawing board with new writers. Peter Segal (Get Smart) is still attached to direct.


AQUAMAN: Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way is developing their pitch for Warner Bros. I feel the only way for this film to be taken seriously is be a straight up fantasy film set in Atlantis. The sea-based superhero has the ability to live underwater and communicate telepathically with sea creatures. He also lives in the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, where he becomes king.


ADAM STRANGE: Strange is an archeologist who is suddenly teleported from Earth to a planet called Rann, where he has been called on to protect the planet from “extraterrestrial threats.” The concept is a cross between John Carter of Mars and Flash Gordon.



SUPERMAN MAN OF STEEL: Superman being my least favorite DC character, it's hard for me to want to see a sequel to Superman Returns. I did enjoy some elements of Bryan Singer's film.lthough it felt too much like an homage to the Richard Donner films. It was anything but unique, besides the display of new special effects. The performance from Brandon Routh was great, the involvement of Lex Luther as the villain yet again ruined the whole movie. I expect they will want to go a little darker with the story. There had been rumors of re-envisioning Godfather style trilogy with Mark Millar (Wanted, Kick-Ass) writing and Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Stardust) directing. The concept was ultimately passed by the studio.

I'm tired of Superman having to go up against Lex Luther in every film. I'd love to see the return of General Zod, or some evil Kryptoians. Or even better yet having Doomsday finally make an appearance in the movies. The overuse of krypton as a weapon against Superman is dull. Let's see some intergalactic wars, battles or even have the whole thing set on another planet. I have feeling the Green Lantern film will open up the DC universe for Superman, Green Lantern and possibly Lobo to interact with each other.

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