Just a day after news circulated that Warner Bros. had bought another Wonder Woman script, Joss Whedon has announced he’s no longer involved with the movie:
You (hopefully) heard it here first: I’m no longer slated to make Wonder Woman. What? But how? My chest… so tight! Okay, stay calm and I’ll explain as best I can. It’s pretty complicated, so bear with me. I had a take on the film that, well, nobody liked. Hey, not that complicated.
Let me stress first that everybody at the studio and Silver Pictures were cool and professional. We just saw different movies, and at the price range this kind of movie hangs in, that’s never gonna work. Non-sympatico. It happens all the time. I don’t think any of us expected it to this time, but it did. Everybody knows how long I was taking, what a struggle that script was, and though I felt good about what I was coming up with, it was never gonna be a simple slam-dunk. I like to think it rolled around the rim a little bit, but others may have differing views.
Whedon, who was set to write and direct, was brought on board in March 2005.
February 2nd, 2007 at 6:52 pm
That’s disappointing.
February 2nd, 2007 at 7:22 pm
But is it a surprise, really? Whedon’s a cult figure with no box office credibility, and with Superman Returns’ disappointing box office, they can’t afford to take any chances on any of their other franchises not being a hit, especially not one as high profile as Wonder Woman. It’ll be interesting to see which direction they go in now, low-profile director/high-profile actress, a la Fantastic Four, is my gut feeling.
February 2nd, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Well, that sucks, because I’m sure I would’ve loved it.
February 2nd, 2007 at 8:49 pm
And David Goyer just blogged on his MySpace page that the same thing happened to him on the Flash. Hmmm.
February 2nd, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Whedon, as Buffy creator and director, would have done a fine job on Wonder Woman and pulled in enough moviegoers.
February 3rd, 2007 at 12:24 am
Superman Returns wasn’t a disappointment at all. It pulled in about even at the box office and made a killing on DVD. Don’t invent your facts.
People don’t go to see superhero movies for the director typically. Yes, Joss would have pulled in his army because he’s special, but that’s not a factor here.
I’m relieved for him. He had been slaving over the script, and now he can instead work on GONERS or his books or maybe a new TV show!
February 3rd, 2007 at 1:24 am
That sucks. I figured at least anything Joss did wouldn’t be completely offensive (like say the Catwoman movie). I personally think Wonder Woman is a hard sell in live action, to the younger generation that didn’t grow up with Linda Carter.
Joss is pretty good at balancing tounge and cheek homage mixed with complete emotional sincerity.
February 3rd, 2007 at 1:26 am
Here’s a really crazy thought: For the next director, how about a WOMAN? Enough with the Boy Geniuses of Hollywood.
February 3rd, 2007 at 2:55 am
I allways thought it was a waste of Joss talents to work on a Wonder Woman movie, i never really found her interesting at all
February 3rd, 2007 at 8:51 am
“That’s disappointing.”
Ditto.
February 3rd, 2007 at 8:59 am
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?p=3132409#post3132409
February 3rd, 2007 at 10:17 am
Peter, Superman Returns limped past the $200m barrier in domestic box office ($200,081,192) and barely surpassed Batman Begins’ worldwide take of $317m by $20m. These were not the results Warner Brothers was looking for and only the not-surprising DVD sales and mea culpas and budget compromises on Bryan Singer’s part are keeping the overrated director on the sequel.
As for Whedon, in light of Superman Returns, he was the worst combination of unproven and high expectations and it’s no surprise they decided to cut him. His reported prefence for the bland, relatively unknown Cobie Smulders in the lead role was probably the final nail in his coffin.
February 3rd, 2007 at 10:20 am
NOTE: That’s a typo in Batman Begins’ worldwide BO. It should be $371m.
February 3rd, 2007 at 11:51 am
but they are making a sequel…
February 3rd, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Superman was beleaguered by years of development costs from the start. The Warners may have wanted the next Star Wars but that wasn’t realistic. They got a solid money maker and a good start at future more profitable movies. Nothing wrong with that, but they may still be nervous enough with the close numbers on Superman and the Catwoman trainwreck to be carefully focusing their efforts on Wonder Woman and Flash.
February 3rd, 2007 at 4:25 pm
For where I sat, Superman Returns did ok like many movies that come out. They do ok, sell DVD’s and then seem to be forgotten. That is the problem, Superman Returns was and is a forgetable movie. Think about the disappointment when the return of one of the 80’s franchise giants failed to deliver a major boxoffice buzz and showing. It was overhyped and really was a flat movie.
Now Whedon might have done a great job, we will never know. Time Warner probably wanted a big name box office babe in the role and knew Whedon’s tendency to go with unknown’s. Whedon said he had not cast anyone. The name he gave is who was on his mind as a possibility, but it was not like she had talked with him about the job. More than likely the “suits” and Whedon were on two different planets creatively. Thus the end of the partenership.
I just hope we do not get another Catwoman movie. I finally watched that the other day. I was so glad it was Free Rental weekend. It stunk. Leonard Part 6 is a better film.
February 3rd, 2007 at 8:28 pm
>>>>>>>>>>Here’s a really crazy thought: For the next director, how about a WOMAN? Enough with the Boy Geniuses of Hollywood.>>>>>>>>>
Kathryn Bigelow?
February 5th, 2007 at 1:43 am
I’m curious to those saying that Whedon has no box office cred. I seem to recall a TV show of his called Firefly being canceled and then having a film called Serenity produced. Now, there are some who say that it didn’t do well, but considering that he’s got one film down and a fanbase that doesn’t care all that much what he’s doing as long as he’s doing it, I think that it’s a rather pointless argument to make. I think it’s likely that things are as he stated; he and the others working on the project weren’t seeing the same thing. If you disagree, then please explain why you’re calling him not only an amateur but also a liar.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:44 am
Serenity didn’t quite surpass its budget (sans marketing) at the box office, and had to rely on DVD sales to make up the difference. Serenity made 10 mil in its opening weekend. As a comparison, Sin City pulled down 29.1 mil, roughly 3/4 of its budget, and Batman Begins scored 48.7 million.
Whedon may have nerd cred, but he doesn’t have the Joe Q Public cred that a Scorcese, Spielberg, or even Peter Jackson has. Having a fanbase is all well and good, but it is important for that fanbase to show and prove when the time comes to do so.
February 5th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Erik, Serenity’s poor box office put a nail in the Firefly coffin. Given that Firefly appears to be an internet/nerd supergoliath that people were expecting to be the next Star Trek (or at least Battlestar Galactica), that’s pretty much a major disappointment as far as the suits are concerned.
The problem is that while Whedon brings a whole lot of expectation with him (everyone has heard of Buffy), but he only brings a niche market within a niche market along with him as far as assured viewers (the upscale nerd market is a force to be feared on internet forums, but if you’re marketing a movie, you’d prefer to woo American Idol fans).
February 5th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Why is it that there’s any issue here, then? If Whedon has no public credibility, why even bother mentioning that he’s not on the film anymore? After all is said and done, this made the BBC livefeed. Not sure how many people notice, but that’s usually something saved for genocide or car bombings; a movie director being taken off isn’t the normal fare. Not saying that Whedon doesn’t have hardcore nerdcred, but Firefly is Amazon’s 36th best selling DVD product. There are a lot more people who use Amazon than there are hardcore nerds. His fanbase certainly isn’t limited to a small group, as is being implied David and Robert.
February 5th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Honest question, then– why did Serenity do so poorly in the box office and Firefly get canceled if he has these legions of fans who support him in all things?
Whedon is okay in my book. He has tons of internet fans, but that doesn’t always translate to real fans who buy his movie tickets.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Firefly got canceled due to purposeful mismanagement on the part of Fox. This isn’t ripping on Fox; they’re a company, they did what they thought was best. I’m glad they made what they did, though I wish they would have done more. As long as they leave House alone, I’m cool with them.
Serenity is an interesting case, to me. It’s something based off of a canceled show (not too common) by a company different from that of the show. Why did it get made at all, if the fans are this fanatic fringe nerd group? From what I’ve heard and seen, Serenity was made because the fans proved there was a market. Universal decided to capitalize on that, and I’m quite grateful for their actions. So Universal got Whedon and all and started making the movie. The original license is not the same as the Serenity license. Fox still has the rights to Firefly. Just going off of Serenity’s DVD case, as I don’t have a movie poster handy, there is no reference to Firefly. Basing the following on that, I’d assume that the movie’s adverts didn’t have reference to Firefly. Universal and Fox not being the same company and whatnot. That might all sound like a cop out; blame the companies instead of the fans who rightfully should have gone in to the theatres. If you’d like to take it that way, have at it. That’s trying to aim at my point from the wrong direction. Serenity was made at all. Universal has made quite some cash off of the DVD sales, whether or not the box office got them what they wanted. There’s money to be made by selling Whedon’s name.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Correction to that: there is reference to Firefly on the back under the BONUS FEATURES heading in the form of “Re-Lighting The Firefly.” Sorry for the mistake.
July 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 pm
this is very frustrating..i have been looking forward to this, catching up with every updates online, just to know when it will be filmed. joss whedon could have been the perfect guy to direct and write the film. it’s sad that to know that this will be something that will be placed on the shelves again..
September 29th, 2007 at 6:19 am
this is interesting. I must admit that i was against a movie being made, unless it’s rated ‘R’. Otherwise, no matter what you do, it will end up being a ‘TV’ movie on the big screen.
All the special effect from other comic to movies have been done, unless there is something new, this movie will have to rely on plot and acting.
the only actress who i think can fit the suit, without any stuffing in the chest area, would be Joely Fisher or Jennifer Love Hewit. I suppose, if she’s out of rehab, you could sign Lindsay Lohan, but very unreliable.
otherwise, forget trying to get a new actress who is not established or doesn’t naturally have the figure.