If you recall, last month there was some disagreement between Warner Bros. and the Australian government regarding the shelving of the Justice League movie. In addition to the now-resolved writers strike, the studio cited tax-break complications. However, the Australian government quickly denied that claim, and pointed a finger solely at “creative issues.”
But now The Sydney Morning Herald reports there is a financial hang-up after all — one that could send the $200 million production (!) to Canada.
According to the newspaper, the dispute centers on the movie’s eligibility for the government’s new incentive for film production, which offers a 40-percent rebate for Australian producers. Wary of Hollywood studios exploiting the program, some producers want the break limited to films costing $30 million or less.
Although director George Miller is Australian, the newspaper reports some producers think Justice League “is not Australian enough,” and should only qualify for the 15-percent rebate for foreign films.
Completely unrelated to the financial back and forth, but potentially interesting nonetheless: The Morning Herald initially refers to the movie as “Justice League Mortal.” It’s unclear whether that’s simply a mistake, or if it lends credence to rumors that the script opens with the funeral of a major superhero.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:31 am
And that’s how the JLA became the Justice League of Australia, so the studio could get a bigger rebate.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I have a simple solution for WB — Kill this ill-advised, JLA 90210.
Kill it now, and save yourself the money, the time, the hassle, and focus instead on keeping the Nolan Bat-franchise strong, rebooting the Superman franchise with a Supes for the 21st century more like the modern-day comics, and create an epic adventure truly worth of the character.
Then, take your time and look into solo films for Wonder Woman, GL and Flash. Maybe even Green Arrow. But get some of the better comic scribes involved with these projects. Hell, just crib some of the better stories already in existance for those characters. Using Year One as a basis for Batman Begins turned out pretty damned good, didn’t it?
February 25th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Shaun?
Seconded.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
IF they do decide to go forward with the JLA movie, I think filming in Canada would be an excellent idea!
Many films have had a lot of success filming here. Much of the X-Men franchise was filmed in Toronto and Vancouver. The new Hulk filming had some work done in Toronto. Resident Evil 2 was shot there as was the Dawn of the Dead remake. I also believe Toronto now has a new filming studio that can accomodate a project on this scale. There is a reason why Canada is being hailed as ‘Hollywood North’.
Can you tell I am a shameless Canadian trying to attract some foreign investment?
February 25th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
JUSTICE LEAGUE AUSTRALIA could be good, I dunno.
Then again, so could JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
That picture is funny. The layout is in the shape of an “X”. Reminds me of another venerable franchise that has found great success at the box office lately …
February 25th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Count me another shameless Canuck who’d love to see a League movie filmed here. Throw in one or two scenes where Canada actually gets to be Canada on-camera, and I think the relevant federal and provincial agencies could get on board.
(Only half-kidding about that last point.)
February 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am
The “Mortal” in the title will be in reference to an already dead Superman. Batman has been kicked out of the Justice League and Superman has died in an epic battle with Doomsday. All of this will make sense as Warner Brother’s moves forward with Justice League:Mortal and Superman, The Man of Steel. Like it or not Bryan Singer is on board(I believe he is the right director for Superman) and Warner’s has signed him for the next Superman movie and writers are hard at work pitching their version to Warners. Justice League:Mortal has been pushed out to a 2010 release and I believe it is because Superman, The Man of Steel will be released first in 2009. Tie this in with The Dark Knight being released this May and Warners has the making of three super hero block busters three years in a row with a sequel to Justice League:Mortal coming in 2011. That Justice League sequel will include Christian Bale and Brandon Routh in their respective roles as Batman and Superman.