Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Zack Snyder might be line to direct Justice League

Warner Bros' superhero franchises need a savior. The studio's relatively recent non-Batman movies, Superman Returns and Green Lantern, took a beating at the box office despite top dollars being spent on their production. But no, that savior won't be Christopher Nolan because, after directing three very successful Batman movies, he may not have any creative juice left for another costumed-hero movie.

However, that person may be Zack Snyder, the director of Watchmen and the forthcoming Superman movie, Man of Steel. Warner Bros seems to be placing all its superhero movie hopes on him because if his Man of Steel does well, he will be asked to direct Justice League, according to Empire (via Joblo).

Per the article,
"Warner Bros.' long-term view has been revised to embrace this new vision , just as the Dark Knight films resisted the com-modification of Marvel. Whether we get a Justice League, they say, depends on Man of Steel. If we do, they say, Zack Snyder will be asked to direct."

As we know, Man of Steel will set up the world in which all the WB's superheroes will reside, so its success is will determine if there is going to be a Flash movie, a Green Lantern movie, and so on.
And then there's Justice League, the studio's answer to Marvel's The Avengers, or what comic book author Mark Millar calls "an excellent way to lose $200 million."

WB has been trying unsuccessfully to get the right director to come on board to take it across the finish line, but nothing became of the studio's efforts. Ben Affleck, Brett Ratner, and the Wachowski siblings have all been rumored to have kicked the tires on the movie.

Turns out that director the studio is looking for is Snyder, but only if Man of Steel does well.
As to whether or not a successful movie can be made of WB's other superheroes, those who are not Superman or Batman, well, that's another discussion.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Dodgeball sequel in the works


The sports comedy DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story is finally getting a sequel, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn are expect to return to reprise their roles.

In the first movie, Vaughn stars as Peter LaFleur, the owner of a small gym who's trying to prevent his gym from being taken over by a larger, more successful gym owned by Ben Stiller's White Goodman. In order to get the funds need to save his gym, he forms a team to enter a Las Vegas Dodgeball tournament for the $50,000 in prize money.

In the sequel, Stiller and Vaughn will have to team up to take on a more threatening foe. Obviously, there will be more dodgeball action. Clay Tarver, who has one produced screenplay in the 2001 thriller Joy Ride, is writing the script. According to THR, Tarver "has spent much of his time in the comedy world and has a familiarity with niche, subculture activities" so he's not exactly an out-of-left-field hire.

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story was generally well-received by the critics when it was release, scoring a 70% at RottenTomatoes. The movie also made over $167 million at the global box office on a $20 million budget.