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WB Wants 'Man of Steel' Box Office Before Moving on 'Justice League'

by Ethan Anderton
January 29, 2013
Source: Variety

Well, this is pretty much a no-brainer, but we figured it's worth covering for a couple of reasons. First of all, Kevin Tsujihara was just recently named CEO of Warner Bros. Entertainment, and it sounds like Jeff Robinov might be up for a job as the new president of Universal Pictures as Ron Meyer prepares to exit. However, currently the two are mulling over progress on Justice League, and Variety reports that the studio is waiting to see how Man of Steel performs at the box office to determine whether or not the DC Comics superhero ensemble will be a good idea. After all, the project doesn't have a director yet. Read on!

In part of the article assessing Robinov's work at Warner Bros. and the future of the studio, Variety had this to say on the prospect of Justice League actually arriving in theaters in 2015:

"Further out, the studio's planning a 'Justice League' tentpole -- encompassing DC Comics mainstays Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and the Green Lantern -- on the order of Marvel's 'The Avengers.' Will Beall is scripting but no director has been attached yet.

Stakes are high for 'Man of Steel.' Other than Nolan's Batpics, Warners has not been able to effectively exploit the DC library. Its 2011 'Green Lantern' underperformed, and a 'Justice League' film wouldn't likely be in theaters before 2015, as Warner's top brass has indicated that they are awaiting the results of 'Man of Steel,' which opens June 14, before moving further ahead."

That's not a surprising move, but since Man of Steel has been on plenty of lists looking at the most anticipated films of 2013 (including our own right here), and the first full trailer was more than impressive, I'm pretty sure Warner Bros. will choose to move forward with Justice League this summer. In addition, one other tidbit that lies within that assessment may include confirmation of a recent rumor. Just last week we learned what the final line-up for Justice League might be, and considering all five of those names are mentioned in Variety's article, Latino Review (who scooped the story) are taking that as confirmation of their story. However, considering that's the traditional line-up, it could just be a coincidence. We'll see.

Find more posts: Development, Movie News

16 Comments

So would Chris Nolan be DC's Joss Whedon? The one pulling all the concepts together? Oh and we will be getting more movies before JL, right?

福赐天上 on Jan 29, 2013

I think they're looking at releasing JL right after Man of Steel. And Nolan is overlooking Man of Steel and possible future DC films, so he is like Whedon, just not directing.

Isildur_of_Numenor on Jan 29, 2013

Um, no and no, I would say. Outside of being a producer on Man of Steel, I don't think Nolan is going to be involved any further. Whereas Whedon was a writer/director on The Avengers, will be a writer/director on it's sequel, and is in a sort of 'advisory/overseer' type of role for the next 3 years in helping them make sure the films jive together. I don't think Nolan is going to be nearly as involved. Also, I'm pretty sure than any stand alone Wonder Woman or Flash films, and any new Green Lantern film or Batman reboot won't happen until AFTER Justice League.

Chris Groves on Jan 29, 2013

Unless Snyder is involved in some way, I don't think Man of Steel's success will be a great barometer for interest in Justice League, just since DC's movies are so fractured already. We have no idea what we'd be getting; certainly not the way we did when Avengers was announced.

OfficialJab on Jan 29, 2013

Yeah, it's just a mess. I mean...word keeps going back and forth on whether or not Ryan Reynolds will play Green Lantern. Obviously because they want the sort of 'heroes from different films teaming up' angle, but the first GL film was bad...so they don't really want to acknowledge it. And they need to use a NEW version of Batman(unless they have JGL playing Blake as Batman) and etc. They also want to rush and go right to the team up movie when it's best to build it.

Chris Groves on Jan 29, 2013

Snyder and the continued involvement of the Nolan team.

Steven on Jan 29, 2013

And this is why the DC movie universe will never hold a candle to the Marvel one. No balls and no Kevin Fiege.

Jake on Jan 29, 2013

Pretty much. There is no sense of direction. Just like they were hoping Green Lantern would sort of launch the DC Film Universe...but then it sucked, and bombed...so everything died down for a bit. Now that The Avengers was a massive hit, they are scrambling to get that same effect...but the only reason it WAS such a huge hit was because they built to it properly. 5 films of anticipation and clear connective tissue between films. Not 'Lets do one, and if it's a hit, we'll do the big team movie, then spin them off on their own'...if they want to create the same insane hype and anticipation with Justice League, that's not how to do it.

Chris Groves on Jan 29, 2013

Marvel did the same thing with Iron Man. ASSHOLE

Kiba on Jan 29, 2013

The as***** word it's kinda out of place here. But, you are right about the point that Iron Man was the first step towards the Avengers, and if that movie would flop, then we never had the other ones. Avengers movie was fun and basically was "Iron Man and Friends". Let's no forget about that the Thor movie and the Captain America's they felt like they were made just to be trailers for the Avengers event. Those movies had pretty lame endings and they doesn't stand alone by themselves. It's true, also, that Time/Warner/DC Entertainment hasn't a "Kevin Faige" who can put together a group of remarkable people, needed now to make the great JLA movie they never could. We can only hope that DC and Marvel make great movies, way better than the crappy Green Lantern or the Thor/Captain America/Iron Man 2, ones.

capitandelespacio on Jan 30, 2013

I'm gonna call you "Hurry-up-and-wait."

Xerxexx on Jan 29, 2013

Part of me is looking forward to this, but a part of me isn't... I mean not because I personally grew up with more liking/exposure to Marvel, but because I don't see the makers of this movie as excited, passionate, or intrigued in creating a great movie, yes I know in the film industry money is probably the greatest power, but I mean look at Marvel Studios, specifically Kevin Feige when he talks about the films, story, and characters he seems so passionate and excited about the treatment of this movies because he wants to craft movies that are not only loyal to the comics but are just plain good, hell even the actors are really excited. I just don't see that for JL just yet... Warner Bros. shows no good sense of initiative or anything so far, I don't see that spark that made the Marvel Cinematic Universe so successful, and well I think we'll just have to wait, I hope we get something awesome out of JL and that it gets the right treatment.

Fidel Reyes on Jan 29, 2013

Unfortunately I just don't see this as being the best way for DC to proceed with their plans for a Justice League movie. Whereas Marvel took the time to lay an interweaving plot concept through the main story-lines of all their films, one that wove the reasoning for why these various peoples would have a means of teaming up it seems like DC is planning to just throw some shit against the wall and see what sticks. Sort of like they did with Green Lantern, and we know how well that stuck around. So if Superman has the ability to hold up, then they'll back some more cash into the process. Unfortunately for them, comic book fans, and geeks in general are hard to please. We analyze and pick over every little thing. And while they will most assuredly get money from the masses if they put out a movie with flashy effects and superheroes, it's the geeks/nerds/fanboys who keep coming back and paying that money multiple times that made Avengers and the Nolan Batmen all their cash. They did that because they saw the effort put in to making the movies "right". If DC wants to do that again with Justice League, I just hope they take the time and effort to tie it all together properly. Not just see what's left on the wall after the shit clears.

Thexn on Jan 29, 2013

GINA CARANO FOR WONDER WOMAN! thats all i got to say here

kash on Jan 29, 2013

Benedict Cumberbatch as the Martian Manhunter, please.

capitandelespacio on Jan 30, 2013

It would work if they casted it right. You don't need big name Hollywood actors to screw it up!!! I say do like Lucas did in '75, get unknowns who are excellent actors. Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern!!?!??! Seriously, that's almost as bad as casting Jamie Foxx as Electro!! First off, Electro is white not black!! Second, enough with this diversity bullshit!! Let's see Sylvester Stallone play MLK Jr. or Kris Kristofferson play BB King. Maybe Emmy Rossum as Rosa Parks, Emmy is a hot actress right now!! Also in this Justice League movie will Green Lantern be gay?? That's another thing, the queens are taking even our super heros from us now, first GOD's Rainbow and now GL!!!!!

Angry Lester on Jan 30, 2013

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