'Justice' On The Big Screen

According to Variety, Warner Bros. Pictures has hired Kiernan and Michele Mulroney ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith," "Paper Man") to write the script to bring the Justice League to the big screen.

Recent successes of "Batman Begins" and "Superman Returns," along with the popularity of the JLA animated series and the critically acclaimed "Smallville" episode, the interest level for a JLA movie franchise has risen tremendously, studio officials said. Still there are major obstacles to overcome to make such a movie. The core superheroes that have made up the JLA since it was first introduced in DC Comics in 1960 are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter. On top of the sheer expense of making such a movie are the issues of how to include all seven iconic heroes at a time when most of them have, or will have, their own individual movie franchises.

Barriers may include legal allowances to include the likes of Batman and Superman. "Smallville" has encountered such roadblocks in trying to bring Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman into Clark Kent’s world. In "Smallville," the Flash character had to go by the name of "Impulse" so as not to infringe on the production rights of "The Flash" movie.

Other issues include whether the studio will make offers to actors Christian Bale and Brandon Routh to play their respective roles in the project, and whether a JLA story would interfere with story arcs for the other DC superhero movies.

The last attempt to have more than one DC hero share movie billing was the much-anticipated "Batman vs. Superman." That project was approved for development in 2002, but was plagued with so many problems, including high turnover in writers and directors, that plans for it have since halted.

The recent departure of fan-favorite writer/director Joss Whedon from "Wonder Woman," and dismissal of "Batman Begins" writer David Goyer from working on "The Flash" indicates that even the productions featuring an individual superhero are not so easy to get off the ground. That a studio can manage to successfully produce a movie about seven of the most famous superheroes in DC Comics history remains to be seen.

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