Green Lantern, The Flash announce directors :: Film & TV News :: Articles

We've been hearing about the (supposedly) upcoming Justice League film for ages now, with actors and actresses dropping in and out as the Internet's rumor-pundits guess on who might be in next. This made it a big surprise when, at the end of last week, Warner Bros. announced not one, but two separate spin-offs based in the same world as that superhero super-band, while the main Justice League feature remains in limbo.

First it was learned by the MTV movies blog that David Dobkin, best known for his work with Wedding Crashers and, to a lesser extent, Fred Claus, had signed on to replace Shawn Levy. As far as which version of the Flash he's planning on filming, Dobkin told them "Wally West." While the film has been dancing around production for a while, this new announcement by Dobkin makes it look like the film's production is set to kick off soon.

Following on that announcement's footsteps, a press release in Variety revealed that Greg Berlanti (The Broken Hearts Club) is working on The Green Lantern. Berlanti told the Hollywood Reporter, "To me, this was the last great comic book movie that hasn't been made. It was a comic book with a real mythology that you would see in a lot of space operas and the sci-fi books. The best part about it, anybody can become one of the Green Lanterns because anyone can end up with that ring." A strong endorsement for the film's concept, but still no explanation for why he's in charge of it.

Warner seems to be forgetting a bit why Batman Begins was so successful - and it wasn't because of how much money they pumped into it. The film worked because of a strong directorial vision, compared with the revival of Superman Return. With these directorial choices and the likelihood of the inclusion of George Miller, whose only action film experience is the Mad Max trilogy, in charge of the series' centerpiece, it's yet to be seen if the whole Justice League project can be pulled off. Nevertheless, Warner seems more determined every day to make it a franchise.