If you have a favorite DC Comics superhero you were hoping to see on the big screen any time soon, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer.
David Goyer, screenwriter on The Dark Knight, told IESB that currently, most of the comic book adaptations being developed at Warner Brothers based on properties from corporate sibling DC Comics are currently on hold.
A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while they 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.
Among the projects on hold include Goyer’s own scripts for The Flash and Green Arrow: Supermax. Other spandex heroes who have been in development include Green Lantern. Warners had been developing films based around the Wonder Woman, Shazam and Justice League comic, though they have appeared dead in the water these past several months.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the only superhero adaptations in active development at DC are a third Batman film to follow up the box office behemoth that was theis past summer’s The Dark Knight and a new direction for Superman, following the underperformance of Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns in 2006.
So what kind of thinking is going on inside Warner Brothers right now? Well, we know that back over the summer, some Warner execs met with some of the brass at DC Comics about the best way to bring their classic superheroes to the big screen. It looks as if Warners is still mulling over the best way to accomplish that. Will it be in a manner similar to how Marvel Comics has seen several of tehir superheroes being brought to the screen, in films that are slowly revealing an intertwined, shared universe?
Franchise management is something that studios have neglected to engage in for the longest time, instead only focusing on the quick dollar to be had in the current release of a film. I have to wonder if the growth of long form storytelling on television, starting with the classic series Babylon 5 and currently being practiced by such series as Lost and Battlestar Galactica, have shown that audiences are ready to invest in a story for the long term. In addition to what Marvel is doing, the James Bond franchise has been allowing their storylines to carry over from Casino Royale (2005) to the recent Quantum Of Solace to the inevitable next film in the series. Such continuance is one of the reasons ticket buyers will return to the box office for each new installmment.
Hopefully, Warners is cooking up a great master plan for their superhero movies and we’ll start to hear about their intentions soon.
Too bad, was enjoying the DC lineup. Still, we have the Marvels to enjoy.
One point on 007. Although nothing is definite for Bond 23, all indications via interview with Wilson and Craig indicate 23 will branch off in a new direction and not form any sort of “trilogy”. Sure, elements and the use of QUANTUM may occur, but that is no more a continuation of the storyline than having multiple SPECTRE stories in the 60’s.
Time will tell for sure…………………………..