Writer-director David Goyer brings some disturbing news for comic film fans. Over at IESB.net, Goyer related the following:
“A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while the figure out, they’re going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause on at the moment. It was the double header of both Iron Man and The Dark Knight coming out, so more than ever I think they’ve realized, I think DC was responsible for 15% of Warner Brother’s revenue this year, something crazy like that, so they realized that comic books, it’s become a new genre, one of the most successful genres.”
As Blog@ covered yesterday, screenwriter John August addressed the derailing of the Shazam! film at his blog. Between that and the sandbagging of the nearly-made-it-to-shooting Justice League film, it looks like DC live-action films will be having a substantial break.
Goyer’s new horror film, The Unborn, opens this weekend.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Are you sure they’re not just putting YOUR involvement on-hold?
How many movies can we have with a bomb strapped to someone’s body anyway?
January 8th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
What an untalented man. He had nothing to do with how good Batman was.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I’m cool with a slower, methodical release schedule.
Ever since IRON MAN I’ve been able to smell the smoke from the machinery that Marvel’s putting together to crank movies out.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
it’s just getting embarrassing a this point how WB/DC can’t get it done when it comes to getting properties on screen… at this point there’ll be a third Nolan Batman before they get another property launched… Shazam back burnered, Superman in limbo, Wonder Woman and Justice League canceled ~ WTH man????
Hopefully Green Lantern can pull off an Iron Man ~ i think it’s got a lot of potential (i tend to like GL much better on-screen than on-page)
January 8th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Nowadays, I’m looking more at DC’s DCUA DTV movies than its live actions films. Still though, I really want these guys to do the right thing in bringing these franchises back. Plus, have me invovled!
January 8th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
goyer wrote the story, and co-wrote the screenplay for batman begins. he also co-wrote the screenplay for the dark knight. untalented? i think not.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Geoff Johns should be writing stories & screenplays for warner bros. DC movies. Especially Green Lantern and Superman. They seem to have Batman taken care of.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Nah WB do have to realise just how important DC is to their livelihood now, but I hope they realise they don’t need to make everything darker just so they get another Dark Knight!
They just need to take the best bits from the comics and get someone with a bit of vision and understanding to see these things through.
WB should be using Geoff Johns Braniac story-arc and the setup of the current Superman continuity in the next Supes film. I mean it is basically an “Ultimisation” of Superman, which is what the rest of the upcoming “Marvel Heroes” films are riffing off. Are WB too stupid to see that?
January 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Marvel is resting on it’s laurels after the box-office smashes of Iron Man & Incredible Hulk, while the “pre-produce” the rest of the Avengers scripts (re-re-re-re-adnauseum-writes, same with vetting casts), and DC really should take this chance to get a couple of movies out there & make sure they have a presence in the theaters.
But if they fall behind, they have no one to blame but themselves.
January 8th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Jordan, only Christopher and Jonathan Nolan are credited with the screenplay for Dark Knight.
January 8th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
What a bunch of morons.
January 8th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Oh, this doesn’t bode well for the comic-side of DC. The only thing that can come of Hollywood noticing them is bad news…
January 8th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I hope this doesn’t mean goyer’s time is freed up to direct more horrible movies. I saw a screening of the unborn and… wow he is not good.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Dc is such an embarassment, they really need to develop an in house staff/creative team for adapting comics to film.
We had a crappy Superman movie, so fine reboot it again, but we for God’s sake we don’t need to see Lex Luthor in another Supes film for a long time. Get Gail Simone in a creative team for Wonder Wonder film adaptation for Christmas ’09. Follow that with Geoff Johns on a Green Lantern film for Spring ’10, culminating in a Justice League film with Christmas ’10 adding Flash, Manhunter, and Aquaman.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Why is this “disturbing”? I question that, and anyone else here slamming WB over this. Personally, I’d prefer seeing WB taking their time with any and all DC properties. I don’t want to see any more films like Catwoman or Superman Returns. I want to see GOOD DC movies, like the two Nolan Bat-films, like V For Vendetta was, and like I hope Watchmen (whenever it comes out) will be.
I hope Green Lantern will still be pretty much on track, but I’d also prefer they take their time to make that one good too. They should definitely take their time with the Superman reboot. Let’s see an epic, cosmic thrill ride with Supes, but let’s also see a good story, good casting, and NO Superkid.
And as for Goyer… Based on his other work, I’d say the Bat-films have succeeded in spite of him. As Abe said, maybe it’s just HIS work on DC properties that’s on hold. That would be OK… I still think a take on Green Arrow: Year One is a much better idea than “Supermax” is.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Oh, and not rushing into ill-advised productions hopefully means that George Miller’s JLA 90210 is also not happening.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
GORDON… i stand corrected. Goyer co-wrote the STORY for The Dark Knight, not the SCREENPLAY.
(Plus he wrote the story, and co-wrote the screenplay for Batman Begins)
January 8th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
SHAUN… i agree. Green Arrow: Year One would be better than what Super Max sounds like it’s gonna be.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
“Marvel is resting on it’s laurels after the box-office smashes of Iron Man & Incredible Hulk” I’m sorry but can someone explain to me how Ang Lee’s Hulk was a “failure” when it had an estimated budget of $137 million and made just over $132 mil, while last years Incredible had a est. budget of $150 mil and only made $134 mil and was a “smash”. WB is going to be cautious because of the Watchmen fiasco.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Better to take the time necessary to make the projects actually good than rush things to the screen. Can you imagine how abominable the JLA movie would have been had they gone through with the pre-strike rush-job they had planned for it?
January 8th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Curtis, there’s a little thing called “international markets and DVD sales,” and with them included, Ang Lee’s Hulk grossed around $306 million total while Incredible Hulk has grossed over $348 million as of yesterday.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
psh. Last we heard Alan Horn (i thinkt hat’s the name) said Green Lantern is next in line. HE’S the president of WB. i’ll believe him first.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
wait, what is he saying exactly. he said “many”. What does that include? his flash and super max movies are prob the only ones they talked to him about . this means nothing to me
January 8th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
An alcoholic chimp can handle the production of DC’s movies better than Warner Bros.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
What do you want, speed or accuracy?
Putting the brakes on all the comics movies in the pipe MAY not be a bad idea. If they’re taking their time to make sure they’re the best they can be, that’s great news. If they’re trying to make sure they come up with a good release schedule and not just shotgun them all over the calendar, that’s also a good move.
It’s possible (remotely possible, but still) that they’re realizing that the genre might need and deserve some care and respect. The last thing we heard was they thought the solution was to make everything, up to and including Superman, all grim like dark knight was. Now they’re putting on the brakes from that plan, and we’re STILL complaining.
No two comics films can or should be written, produced and marketed the same way. Batman is a different animal from Green Lantern. Captain Marvel is different from Metal Men. They are not all “comic book movies”, and as such get put in the same machine to crank them out.
Jonah Hex is a Western that happens to be a comic. Green lantern is a science fiction story that happens to be told in a comic. Challengers of the Unknown can be a disaster film, an adventure film, or even a political thriller, depending on what story they write.
They are taking their time, presumably to make sure they don’t do a Spirit. It’s possible. This may not be the end of the world.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
This is ridiculous! Batman makes (almost) half a BILLION dollars and what does WB do, pause making more comic book movies?!?
With rationale like that, they really don’t deserve to be in the movie business…
January 8th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Now, hold on, people. Maybe the WB wanted to hold off on new films to re-access their properties and not destroy the genre with films like Thomas Jane’s Punisher and Speed Racer. Maybe Shazam was gonna be a joke of a kiddie movie and, after the success of The DK, they wanted to make it more serious.
January 8th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Ummm… What Vinne said.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Dude, you have to take time with these things to make them good otherwise you get the same fanboys who are clamoring for them to make more turning into the same ones whining about and bashing the movie if it doesn’t meet THEIR standards.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
SMART. figure it out and do it right. best thing i have heard for a while. see what works in comics and try to figure out what works in film. Not everything translates exactly and tones need to be set to make things believable.
Honestly, why does everyone look at this as a race to see who wins? we all win when we have a year with a batman, wanted, and iron man.
I love when comics are represented correctly . I think watchmen and Jonah hex and a few others off the radar coming will be awesome.
Goyer is smart, talented and knows what he is doing. we all have hits and misses and we learn.
I see this as a smart thing.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Not sure if Warner Bros is making a Wonder Woman movie cause its going to get ruined no matter who plays her whether it caucasian, hindu, african-american, what have you. On the other hand they’re going to ruin the character anyway in her own comic, so by then the point becomes totally moot.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Although I’m disappointed that the Green Lantern film is on hold, I think this “delay” is a sign that someone does have some common sense at Warner Bros. They do need a well thought out plan at how to tackle all of these ideas. However, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND why WB dose not take more interest the potential movie/TV/video games that VERTIGO could offer. Yes I know about “Fables (TV), Exterminators (TV), and a potential Preacher, Losers, WE3 & Y: The Last Man movies. But how about some reassurance that those movies are going to happen and will be good? ANYWAY for those of you blasting David S. Goyer PLEASE SHUT UP! If it had NOT been for this man writing the original Blade (YES Trinity sucked!)WE probably would have NOT even seen The Dark Knight, or the Marvel films.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
UGH!!!!
Comics are NOT a genre! Comics are a story telling MEDIUM. Super-heros would be considered a genre.
the Tiki
January 8th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I think that’s the smart move – they’ve seen what Marvel is doing and realizing the path to take.
If they can get a movie where Superman fight a train that would be cool also. I like things.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Why do I have the feeling everything’s going to be retooled with that darker more realistic Dark Knight feel?
I really hope I’m wrong about that.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
In my opinion of Superman, WB will reboot the Superman franchise, and they are gonna make it dark as well, but does that mean Superman will be dark in the movie?
January 8th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
@Shaun: “Why is this “disturbing”?”
I’ve read the words “edgier” in a couple rumor stories about DC/WB properties now, which is cause for concern and possibly even disturbing (if true). I don’t think the tone of Dark Knight should be applied to every comic movie (like a GL or Shazam…) which is a possible reaction from the execs who see the returns on Dark Knight.
January 9th, 2009 at 1:05 am
>Comics are NOT a genre! Comics are a story telling MEDIUM. Super-heros would be considered a genre.<
Not all Comics based movies have Super Heroes in them… Comics Based movies have in fact become a Genre even if the general public aren’t always aware of the stories origins.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:38 am
I think SuperMax sounds amazing. How many more dang origin movies do we need?
January 9th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Justin, Superman Returns was not a “crappy” Superman movie, and Lex Luthor was a driving role in the show. Both Kevin Spacey and Gene Hackman were excellent portrayers. Michael Rosenbaum from Smallville would make a great new Lex Luthor.
If DC is capable of showing the Hal Jordan Green Lantern with all the psychological drama he developed in the 90′s, we will have a show equal to Batman.
January 9th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I wish Marvel would do these maybe then they would not of file for chapter 11
January 9th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
There’s nothing in the article that says Green Lantern is “on hold”. Or Jonah Hex. Or the next Batman film. Or Vertigo’s properties. “A lot” of properties are on hold, not all, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The article basically says, WB isn’t wasting people’s time by having them work on DC superhero films without a definitive direction at the moment. And they’re trying to figure out that direction. What’s wrong with that?
People are always complaining about WB having no direction. Now, when they pause to figure out a direction, people complain that they’re pausing. So, which is it?
January 9th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
It could be worse look what Marvel doing their making a Avenger movie I mean COME ON how stuipd can you be
January 9th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
@ mrorangesoda: I read the “dark” articles last year too and I think people overreacted to it. The quote was something along the lines of “darker, as the characters allow it.” It never said they were going to make Superman into a dark, Batman knockoff for instance. Actually, if you want to get right down to it Superman Returns WAS pretty dark. Supes moped his way through the movie, being something of a creepy stalker dude. Too much angst, not enough action, super-heroics, or believing (or at least caring) that a man can fly. That movie misfired on pretty much all levels.
As for the rest… Why wouldn’t GL be a bit “dark”? Not TDK dark, but in more of a hardcore scienc-fiction way? If you read The Sinestro Corps War, you know that it wasn’t a day in the park. Hal Jordan ‘s a troubled life too. Shazam!, no that shouldn’t be dark. When DC’s tried to make a darker, heavier Captain Marvel it’s sucked (aside from Kingdom Come). I still think they need to cast Patrick Warburton as Captain Marvel, and I doubt he could even play “dark.”
It really all depends on the characters… Some lend themselves to “dark” quite well, others less so. But forget the word “dark” for a moment… How about the word “serious” instead? I want to see comic book films taken seriously, with serious, intelligent stories that don’t devolve into camp. And good actors who look like adults. It’s hard enough to overcome the silly costumes, but good movies like TDK or Iron Man cause you to mostly forget about that.
Maybe that’s really what WB’s going for? Just rethinking their strategy about what they’re doing. TDK changed everything, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I don’t want every film to be a TDK clone, if TDK’s success means more properties done with care, and fewer crap-fests like Superman Returns, Spidey 3 or Fantastic Four. Or that planned JLA film that will hopefully not happen, at least not with the cast they wanted.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
@ Mike: Sorry, I gotta disagree. Superman Returns was dreadfully bad. If you got about an hour, I’ll tell you why sometime… WAY too much for me to into here. But Luthor? Why has he been in almost every Superman movie made? Lame. Especially since it’s always been a dull, jokey, unimposing Luthor. Honestly, the guy’s never been a legitimate threat to Superman on screen. Not without really dumbing Supes down, at least.
And as for Hackman and Spacey… Two great actors, two lousy Luthors. I can forgive the 1978 Luthor since it was what it was for its time period. Hackman was pretty weak in that he wouldn’t go bald, but whatever. Spacey should’ve been an excellent Luthor, but he was saddled with a horrible script and Singer’s foolish decision to make sequel/homage/ripoff of the Donner films. So instead of the ruthless, powerful buisnessman of the comics, we got a petty crook with delusional real estate schemes (again). Yippie.
I am SO glad WB’s rebooting Superman. Maybe they’ll finally get it right next time.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Saying that comic books are a genre is like saying iPods are a genre.
January 10th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Good idea. I want to see a streamlined mythology for DC movies. It would be better than the convoluted mess the comic DCU is right now.
January 11th, 2009 at 2:46 am
The thing is Warner Bros. has always been a mess.
Mergers after mergers after mergers made this some sort of melting pot of differents companires that doesn’t mix. It got worse when it became “Time Warner”. It got even worse when they bought Ted Turner’s Empire. And it got even worse when AOL bought the whole thing. I heard horror stories about those different companies hating one another when the fact that they are so many various entertainment fields merged into one outfit should be a strength. Not so, so far. All the companies are at war with one another, they won’t cooperate with one another. They’re lucky that individualy they did a decent job(Warner Bros has been one of the few studios making money). But when comes the time to make something work they want to be left alone. And it’s bad for everybody when they could be something far greater. It’s only now with something extreme like a Batman movie making 1 Billion that these idiots finaly realise that “eh maybe Warner and DC could be good partners”. And even with that it remain to be seen if Warner does this properly if they will ever even consult the folks at DC.
January 12th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Used to be there was such a thing as striking while the iron is hot. However, it isn’t like people are going to forget about DC’s big name heroes.
More direct to video stuff in the interim would be great though.
January 17th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
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