Justice League of America

From iesb.net:

“Justice League is indeed in danger of not starting production on time and maybe even getting scrapped altogether” is what a studio source told the IESB last week. “The concerns are that the script is not ready to go in front of cameras, and also that the budget is getting a bit out of control, the WGA strike has proven to be Kryptonite to Superman and friends.”

So while the cast is apparently locked, the studio has had to go back to the actors and extend their holds. IESB was told that at least two high level studio execs headed to Australia right before Christmas to try to resolve these issues and get the film get back on schedule.

Now the guys over at UGO claims they have the real script — or at least the first 14 pages of it, and according to them, it’s nothing like the version that was released. Hmm.. how the studio leaking all this “real” scripts to them?

Here’s UGO’s version of the script:

Superman walking on the rooftop of a cathedral. He is there as well as five other members of the Justice League (Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter) because they are paying their respects at a funeral, grieving over the loss of someone that we don’t know as of yet. If you’re thinking that the deceased is Batman because he’s not in attendance, you’re wrong. The funeral is a public event and as such Batman doesn’t show up until after all of the cameras have gone away. For now, the rest of the League is under the media spotlight, each of them showing their respects for the deceased by wearing black. For example, instead of the his traditional red and blue costume Superman is wearing an alternative black-on-black costume. Maybe it will be like the black costume that Superman wore after returning from the dead in the comic books.
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Here’s what UGO about the JLA movie:

• The characters of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and Martian Manhunter comprise the League. One name that I did not hear mentioned was that of Aquaman. Where’d the fish guy go? Good question.

• Story elements from the screenplay have been adapted directly from DC’s JLA comic book series.

• The man wearing the Green Lantern ring in the JLA film is John Stewart and not Hal Jordan (Earth’s first Green Lantern) or Kyle Rayner (who followed after Stewart’s run in the comic book continuity.) It should be noted that in the Justice League cartoon series John Stewart is the same character serving as Earth’s Green Lantern.

• The Flash is the youngest member of the JLA. He has a crush on Wonder Woman.

• Wonder Woman is portrayed as the member that acts as defacto humanitarian and face for the League. Our source told us that the best way to describe how she is written in the script is to “think of Angelina Jolie and her relations with foreign countries.”

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IESB is now reporting that the film might actually be created using motion capture/performance, the same technology that was used for Polar Express and the upcoming Beowulf. This would make a lot more sense. Miller used some motion capture technology on Happy Feet. And the resulting 3D animated superhero team-up film might be better received by the mass audiences. The bad news is, if true, the film won’t hit the big screen until 2010, or may-be even 2011. But again, this gells with the current production timeline, as it might give some breathing room for the Batman and Superman sequels.

One of the things I’ve not liked about motion capture thus far is that it has been used mostly in films that didn’t make complete use of the technology. Polar Express for example: If you can film it using real kids on a train, and you’re just going to make Tom Hanks look like Tom Hanks, than what’s the point? A MoCap JLA film would be different because superhero characters are sure to have some very cinematic sequences that couldn’t be filmed in 35mm without massive special effects. A 3D animated world might add realism to the superhero effects that might otherwise seem out of place in a realistic environment. The technology might also allow a streamlined conversion to IMAX and RealD 3D.