Yesterday Cathie gave us the rundown on the Justice League movie finally being put on hold. Today, I’m going to take it a step further.
We knew it was coming, and it hasn’t come as a surprise, but many of us breathed a sigh of relief when the Justice League movie received its official “on hold” notice from WB. The movie hasn’t been cancelled, with reports saying that Warner Bros. is still hot on making the film; just not at the moment.
Following up on that however, the Hollywood Reporter and Variety are both reporting that Warner Bros. have let the options lapse on the young cast picked by George Miller. Apparently the roles were cast back in November, with Superman played by Scott Porter, Batman by Armie Hammer Jr., Wonder Woman by Megan Gale, the Flash by Adam Brody and the Green Lantern (Jon Stewart) by rapper Common.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the actors’ holding deals had already been extended once, and that extension is what has just run out. This now opens the actors (I use that word lightly, by the way) to roam the pickings once again. However Warner Bros. has said that they still want to make the movie with this cast.
So what was it that broke the camel’s back? Or, in this case, broke the camel’s back, trampled it, ran over it with a tank and then threw it off a bridge?
There seem to have been two things that have just made this an untenable solution – more than just a horrible cast (can I remind you that Adam Brody is the only name there with any pulling power!).
First of all is, obviously, the writers’ strike. This has been the biggest problem for many movies, as we’ve mentioned, and though Warner Bros. was happy with the script written by Kieran and Michele Mulroney, there was apparent need for touchups. Thanks to the rules of the game, no one but the original authors of the script (as far as I’m led to believe) are allowed to make such touchups.
Second, and less publicized, was questions of tax-breaks from shooting in Australia. I’m not sure of the minutia of it all, but I do know that shooting in Australia is a cheaper option for many American studios, just as shooting in Canada is. Apparently the studio was left hanging, with question marks over whether the incentives would be provided. This, naturally, led back to the script writers, because if the discounts weren’t applicable, the script would have to be rewritten to minimize the cost.
The majority of you have already heard my opinions on why I don’t like this movie, and what I think is wrong with it. But for those who haven’t, head along here and read my blog post on the matter. It’ll follow on from the rest of this one, so just jump down a few paragraphs.