'Aquaman' Movie Moves Forward with Two Writers Penning Scripts

Was Zack Snyder doing more than just rushing to defend Aquaman last week when a Detroit radio station was slamming the underwater hero? Was he maybe teasing a major announcement he knew would be coming? He didn't officially reveal the character to be in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but with Warner Bros. moving forward on a solo Aquaman film it seems more than likely.

A pair of screenwriters have been hired to write parallel scripts for an Aquaman movie, but the surprising news may be the studio's choices. One is Will Beall, the Gangster Squad scribe having written an early draft for Justice League that was rejected, leading to Chris Terrio (Argo) and David Goyer taking over. The other choice is Kurt Johnstad, who has worked with Snyder on 300 and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire. They will write competing drafts that the studio, and presumably the eventual director, will select from. This has become a recurring practice for studios working on major projects because it gives them some flexibility, and if need be the leftover script can be utilized in a sequel.

This is probably the first of many such announcements as Warner Bros. has revealed an ambitious slate of release dates stretching through 2020. Aquaman will now apparently be filling one of those slots, with Jason Momoa expected to take on the role, although that has yet to be confirmed.  [THR]

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'Justice League' rumors: Christian Bale out, Christopher Nolan in

We got hit with a pretty gigantic rumor yesterday, and like so many of them have recently it involved Warner Bros. flailing attempts to get their superhero house in order.  It went that they were turning to their old pal Christopher Nolan to produce and oversee their entire line, including the developing Justice League film, and that he'd be bringing along Man of Steel director Zack Snyder, with Christian Bale again putting on the Batman suit. Basically, it was nearly everything most fans could have asked for, which makes the news highly suspicious at best.

One of the writers over at Comic Book Movie has tapped into their own source, whoever that may be, who confirms Nolan's involvement, as well as that of Snyder, both as producers. Snyder is still being looked at as possibility to direct if all things go smoothly with Man of Steel.

It looks like Christian Bale is out, though, with plans moving forward to recast Batman in a whole new story. That sounds like no chance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt coming back as Bat-Robin or Nightwing or whatever he would have been called. Will Beall's script is reportedly still in play, even though it was said to have been thrown out and rewritten by David Goyer. The source says "If Bale is coming back and Goyer is penning, it's news to Warner Bros.".

Do I believe this "confirmation" even in the slightest? Not really, no. The story goes on to say that the source is "noticeably uncomfortable" because the film isn't even in pre-production yet, but that apparently hasn't stopped him from babbling about what the plans could be. I still think the Nolan aspect is the most likely to pan out, but not because of anything this latest report has to add.

The gossip is going to keep flying fast and furious until Warner Bros. gets off their butt and comes up with an actual plan, so expect more on this soon.

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Has Will Beall's 'Justice League' script been thrown out?

Mark Millar is probably laughing his ass off at this rumor. Warner Bros. hired Will Beall (Gangster Squad) to hammer out a Justice League script a year ago, and so far details on it have remained almost completely under wraps. Makes sense, especially with the studio searching for a director and trying to figure out exactly what the approach is going to be, or if it will happen at all. But now a story has emerged which indicates there may be some trouble behind the scenes, at least on Beall's end.

Bad Ass Digest says they've heard from multiple sources that Beall's script has been thrown out, and the search for a new writer has begun. If you'll recall a few weeks ago we heard a rumor that David Goyer (The Dark Knight Trilogy) had taken over rewriting duties, but this makes it sound like a totally new draft is in the works. The reason for the change? The general consensus is that the script was "terrible", and suffered from studio meddling which involved heroes beyond the core five(Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman, The Flash) being dropped and added at will. Last we'd heard, Beall's script involved the team gathering to battle the threat of Darkseid, so it remains to be seen if that aspect stays in play.

All of this rumor for now, but supposing it's true, this would go a long way in explaining why they're waiting until after Man of Steel hits before making a final decision on Justice League. It's also probably a reason why they've been unable to secure a director. Right now it's looking like that 2015 release date is nothing but a pipe dream.

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New Batman solo franchise to follow 'Justice League' debut?

I consider this rumor to be about as weak as they come, but there's no denying the Internet ha been absolutely buzzing about the prospect of it being true. The folks over at Batman-On-Film are suggesting that the next version of Batman we see on screen won't be in his own solo franchise, but will first debut as part of the Warner Bros. Justice League. Here's the crucial line from the story so you can see what we're dealing with here....

"The new cinematic Batman will be introduced in the JL film as opposed to a solo film. This would, according to my industry “FOBOF,” assure the new Batman film series will be part of a “DC Cinematic Universe.”

Hardly the most rock solid of statements, but in there you can basically see they're saying that a Batman solo film will indeed happen, and he'll be played by the same guy in the Justice League movie as part of an Avengers-style shared universe. That matches some of what we learned earlier this month about both Man of Steel and Batman being linked to Justice League...

"[Warner Bros.] will try to resuscitate Batman as a stand-alone franchise and/or as part of a planned Justice League ensemble that could connect to next summer's Man of Steel."

With Will Beall's script for Justice League already in place, Warner Bros. must have a good idea on the direction they intend to go with it, and must have some inkling of how to approach their solo satellite films. Still, it's important to remember that so far we haven't seen anything official from anybody saying that a shared universe approach is in play. The anecdotal evidence is there to support it, though.

Of course, this could all change depending on how Henry Cavill performs in Man of Steel. If the film is a dud and people don't take to him, it wouldn't be all that shocking to see someone else in the red and blue tights in the Justice League film. Nor would it be shocking to see Warner Bros. use that failure as a reason to do something wildly different with Batman, like possibly continuing on with Christopher Nolan's series in some fashion.

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Mark Millar says Will Beall's 'Justice League' will be "dark and mature"

The human misinformation campaign that is comic book scribe Mark Millar(creator of Kick-Ass) has been well documented in the past. He's been consistently wrong or proven to be wildly hyperbolic on so many things, mostly involving his comics being adapted, that it'd be tough to trust him if he said the sky was blue. He did prove to be dead on point about the start date for Kick-Ass 2, so maybe it's time to start giving him some leeway? Eh, probably not.

He's at it again with another potential whopper that may or may not be accurate, and this one involves Warner Brothers' Justice League film, which we just learned has Will Beall(Gangster Squad) penning the script. Millar took to his forum to discuss the script, which he apparently knows about through a guy who happens to know Beall. As always, take this with a grain of salt....

Miller: "A pal of mine is good friends with the new Justice League screenwriter and said his take on the team is incredible. Very real-world and not at all what you might expect. WB has a chequered history with their superhero characters. They’re great with their boy wizards, but less consistent with their DC stable. But my chum said that this could be a thing of beauty and has been in the works for a little while now, not just an Avengers knock-off. Best of luck to them. The tidbits I heard sound quite dark and mature, which isn’t what I expected. But word on Gangster Squad is great too, so I feel this is in really good hands."

I don't think anybody expected Justice League to be just like The Avengers. The two comics may both feature a ton of top shelf superheroes, but the tones aren't at all the same. Plus, a big reason why The Avengers was so light and fun was Joss Whedon's script, and Justice League won't have that. I've said in the past that Warner Brothers needs to start getting away from the "grim 'n gritty" comic book movies once The Dark Knight Rises wraps up, but Justice League isn't the right film for that to happen. Best to use their upcoming solo films, which looks like it'll include Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Lobo, to start showing the DC Universe as a place where everything isn't as dire as in Gotham City.

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Warner Brothers gets off their butt, hires Will Beall to pen 'Justice League' script

With The Avengers making out like gangbusters at the box office, and basically no end in sight when it comes to Marvel movies breaking the bank, Warner Brothers and DC have been way behind the 8-ball in coming up with their most powerful countermeasure. That, of course, would be a Justice League movie, which would blow out The Avengers in terms of name recognition without question. They're really in a tough spot, though, and are basically still in the starting gate if the goal is to somehow match their rival's success. Sure, The Dark Knight Rises is probably going to gross comparable numbers to The Avengers, but it's also the final part of the trilogy with nothing really set beyond it. Green Lantern was going to be their next big franchise with Ryan Reynolds the centerpiece, but obviously it didn't work out as planned. So what the heck has Warner Brothers been doing all this time? Why haven't they been preparing? Well, apparently they have.

Variety reports that the studio has hired red hot scribe, Will Beall, to pen a Justice League movie script. Apparently, the studio began the process last year in anticipation of The Avengers' success, bringing on Beall in secret and keeping it under wraps all this time. He hasn't turned in a draft yet, but you know it's going to be top priority now. Beall has been a WB favorite for awhile, having written the script for Gangster Squad, and also being hired by the studio to write the Logan's Run remake.  An ex-cop turned writer, Beall is also hard at work developing a Lethal Weapon relaunch.

So what does this mean for a timetable? Eh, it's hard to say. As you probably remember, a Justice League film was in the works with George Miller(Mad Max) as director, but it fell through for a number of reasons. It would have starred a newbie Armie Hammer as Batman, Adam Brody as The Flash, and rapper Common as Green Lantern. Warner Brothers has been angling to give it another try for years, but nothing has been concrete. At one point 2013 was looking like the year it would happen, but I would guess 2015 is more realistic. That would give them time to continue developing the solo projects that have been in the pipeline.

For one, we've known that The Flash has been in development for the past two years. Greg Berlanti was hired to direct, with Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green writing the script. Michael Goldenberg was brought on to start a Wonder Woman script, with Brad Peyton recently signed to direct a Lobo flick. There are also Shazam and Aquaman films that have been rumored in the past, so if even half of these projects pan out, Warner Brothers could find themselves in a pretty sweet position.

Zack Snyder told us last year that his upcoming Man of Steel and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises will be totally separate from a Justice League movie, so the chances of seeing Christian Bale or Henry Cavill are slim. The jury's still out on Ryan Reynolds.

So, it looks like we can start kicking around those casting calls. Who would you want to see cast in a Justice League movie? Got any ideas on a director?

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Sure Shots: Logan's Run; The Expendables 2; James Franco

* Logan's Run is a movie I never wanted to see remade. Sure it's got some mold on it, but I think the themes and ideas are still as relevant as ever. However, if it's going to be done anyway you'll hardly hear me complain about the choices of Nicholas Winding Refn(Valhalla Rising) directing and Ryan Gosling starring. Alex Garland hammered out the last script for the film, but apparently Warner Brothers wants to try something a bit different, bringing in Will Beall to draft a new one. Beall has been on fire lately, especially with WB, who love him right now over his script for Tales From the Gangster Squad.

* Grab your Geritol™, folks! Sylvester Stallone's sequel to The Expendables may not have a director yet, but we do know when it'll explode into movie theaters. The David Agosto and Ken Kaufman scripted actioner will open on August 17th, 2012, going head-to-head with exactly nobody at this point. The only competition right now comes the week before from the GI Joe sequel.  So far all we know about the film is that Stallone will be back. So will Randy Couture, but nobody else is locked in. There's a chance we'll see Bruce Willis and the newly animated Arnold Schwarzenegger return, while Jean-Claude Van Damme has also been rumored. The Expendables earned over $270M worldwide last year.

* James Franco doesn't appear to be slowing down one bit. While he seems to be dipping his toes in every aspect of the film industry right now, he's still taking time to line up future projects. He's just optioned Zeroville as a possible directing gig, but the lead role seems perfect for him as well. The Steve Erickson novel follows Ike Jerome, a 24 year old film fanatic who travels to Hollywood in 1969 to get into the movie business. His shaved head features tattoos of Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in "A Place in the Sun", Ike becomes a successful film editor whose journey ends in tragedy and horrific discovery. The book features appearances by numerous notable celebrities, like Robert De Niro, Ryan O'Neal, Ali McGraw, and Brian De Palma. Thanks to Variety for details on this story.

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