George Miller Continues to Hold Out Hope for ‘JLA’

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 5, 2008

I’m growing tired of this George Miller guy. First it was the dancing penguins in Happy Feet, who were fun for a while but ultimately they were annoying. Then it was the ridiculous penguin-esque garb that he wore to the Oscars in 2007, seen below to the left with Cameron Diaz in his arms. He annoys me. I want Mad Max George Miller back.

Then of course, there is the whole situation around the film Justice League: Mortal, which most likely the root of my annoyance at this point. We’ve been reporting on this film since last fall, when casting was said to have begun. From there, it has been a roller coaster of ups and downs for the production, with casting rumors running rampant, production issues all over the place — heck, they even got kicked out of Australia, Miller’s home country — and ultimately Warner Bros. chose to put it on the back burner, taking it off the board for 2009. Making the situation worse was the fact that Marvel, DC Comics’ mortal enemy, had struck out on their own and found success with both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, leading to the announcement of a live-action Avengers movie for 2011. This had the higher-ups at WB scrambling for a way to better utilize the DC Universe. They have since announced absolutely nothing. But to their credit, The Dark Knight is doing alright.

Now, as the success of The Dark Knight pushes the superhero genre into what could be its golden age, this ugly beast that is Justice League: Mortal has once again reared its ugly head. In a recent interview with the Herald Sun, Miller apparently “conceded production had been moved offshore, with a plan to resume filming next year.”

As well, actor Jay Baruchel, who was originally cast as Maxwell Lord in the film, made some comments to the gents over at JoBlo regarding the production, saying that while no progress has been made, he would be ready to drop everything if production should once again ramp up:

“Well it’s been postponed indefinitely. And it keeps getting postponed. And each time it gets postponed, the chances of it getting made seem to decrease…It’s never been officially over. So there’s always that. In a heartbeat I would drop whatever I had going on to do that. That movie and what I get to do in it is like nothing I’ve ever seen or would ever get a chance to do again.”

It appears that we have conflicting statements from different parties. Then again, the word of the director is usually the one we go with in a situation like this, as they are more closely tied to the production. And by that logic, it would seem that George Miller (at least within his own mind) is gearing up to shoot some sort of Justice League movie next year, placing a release somewhere in 2010 territory, possibly going head-to-head with the likes of Iron Man 2 and Thor.

And even if you believe all of this, that still leaves us with a production that was a complete cluster to begin with. There are still plenty of other production hurdles to overcome, including continuity issues with the current Batman and Superman franchises, as well as the upcoming Green Lantern production that Greg Berlanti is working on.

Here is my solution to this problem: Ditch a Justice League movie. It is clear that Warner Bros. was not prepared for this, otherwise the damn thing would be in production already. George Miller commented that actress Megan Gale (pictured right) absolutely blew him away in her Wonder Woman screen test, so why not use that to its fullest potential. Why not just make a damn Wonder Woman film already? Boot up that franchise, combine it with a kick-ass Green Lantern flick and then someday down the road, maybe in 2012 or 2013, rock our worlds with a Justice League movie. Is that so hard? Personally, I would rather see two quality franchises get started than see one big one become the epic failure of the next decade. Then again, that is just one fan’s opinion.

Anyone else have an opinion they’d like to share?

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