After DC comic fans have waited for months to hear when the new “Justice League” film would be released, the news is in that it has been dropped as a project.
Even though no official word was out that the film would ever see the screen, rumors and reports from sources stated that the film could possibly be one of the largest produced in history. Claims that the film would be produced by Christopher Nolan, directed by Zach Snyder and would star Christian Bale and Henry Cavill were rampant. There were statements claiming that the only reason the film hadn’t begun production yet was due to the “Man of Steel” and a possible “Batman” reboot.
Warner Bros. has attempted to create other “Justice League” films. Before “The Avengers” supplied us with the imaginative war between good and evil, using the powers of several superhero characters, George Miller was set to direct a live-action “Justice League” film. The cast was lined up, the pre-production design work with Weta Workshop had begun and the project was canceled.
DC followers were disappointed (to say the least) that the film had been thrown in the trash can. Last year, on the set of “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” D.J. Controna spoke about the good and bad of being chosen to play Superman in the cancelled film:
That was a long slog. We were playing with that for about a year. That was during the writer’s strike time, it started, and it stopped. That was a big bummer. I was really, really excited to work with George Miller and the script was really, really good. The stuff that Weta was doing was amazing. It’s just a shame that we didn’t get to finish that because it was going to be really, really cool. It was a damn shame that we didn’t get to finish that. I promise you that it would have been amazing. It would have been incredible. The scale of this was fantastical. It was a ‘Lord of the Rings’ scale. It would have been really cool.
Armie Hammer was to play Batman in the “Justice League” release. Adam Brody was set to play The Flash, Common would play the Green Lantern, Hugh Keays-Bryne as The Martian Manhunter, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman and Santiago Cabrera would play Aquaman.
The WGA Writer’s Strike had slowed down the project’s momentum, although it was going to be interesting to see Weta Workshop’s involvement in the “Justice League” project. In “Avatar” and “District 9,” Weta was responsible for the costumes and physical creations, along with those in “Lord of the Rings.” It was indicated by Cotrona that the “Justice League” costumes were impressive.
It has not been stated as to why Warner Bros. dropped the project. Possibly the writer’s strike but there was pressure on the project from the beginning, especially after 2008 saw the rise of the Marvel films with “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” releases. The film was reportedly left with a $300 million budget but would come up against the already huge superhero films released.
(Update: A new version of the film is now in works in the studio, preparing for a 2015 release)
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