While Warner Brothers tries to come up with some metric to prove that Watchmen is indeed a hit—a terrifying thought for the interested parties: Paul Blart could end up with a higher domestic gross—we figured it was as good a time as any to check in on the next wave of comic book movies that will disappoint their studios. Granted, we don’t have to look very far with X-Men Origins: Wolvervine hitting theaters in May, but what about 2010 and beyond? Here’s a peak at the latest rumors, gossip and innuendo surrounding four superhero franchises.
The Green Lantern: Don’t worry. We’re not exactly sure what the Green Lantern does either, other than possessing a magic ring that looks like something you’d find in a cereal box. No matter though, because come summer of 2010, we’ll all be plunking down $12 dollars to see this one. Casino Royale’s Martin Campbell is set to direct, and while it was reported for a hot minute that youngster Anton Yelchin was going to be the star, as of now no one has been cast. In a twist for DC Comics (the people behind The Dark Knight and Watchmen), The Green Lantern is going to be a more light-hearted affair. Producer Donald De Line (I Love You, Man) came out over the weekend and told fans that the tone would be more in line with Iron Man. If that means they’ll cast Paul Rudd as the lead, count us amongst the interested.
Iron Man 2: Speaking of Iron Man, it appears that Mickey Rourke’s on again/off again flirtation with the project appears to be switched into the ‘on’ position. When asked recently by a group of paparazzi about whether he’d appear, Mr. Rourke replied: “You bet your ass.” Sounds like a confirmation to us!
The Justice League: Hey, remember The Justice League movie that George Miller was going to direct with Adam Brody as The Flash and Common as The Green Lantern? Warner Brothers was so certain this film was going to happen, they even snuck a fake poster for it into I Am Legend. Then during the WGA strike everyone seemed to realize that combining every relevant DC Comics superhero (Superman, Batman, the aforementioned Green Lantern, The Flash) into one movie and leaving it in the hands of people like Seth Cohen was a terrible idea. Well, apparently it’s back! Mr. Miller told MTV that he’s still attached to the film and it will happen “a far way down the track.” Expect The Justice League to hit theaters sometime around never.
The Fantastic Four: If you’re looking for a sign of the apocalypse, allow us to introduce you to a reboot of The Fantastic Four. Though the first two films in the franchise, released in 2005 and 2007, pulled in a combined $620 million dollars worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox is in the mood to start over with a new cast—so long Ioan Gruffudd and Jessica Alba!—and a new tone. You guessed it: they want to make The Fantastic Four more like The Dark Knight or Watchmen. How original! Let’s just hope Zack Snyder doesn’t get a hold of this. We can just imagine a sex scene between Reed Richards and Sue Storm scored to “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge.
