“Justice League” movie talk heating up

It’s been rumored for months now, but in the past few weeks, the stories about a Justice League of America (JLA) movie -- very few of them confirmed -- have been coming in fast and furious, mostly from genre movie news site IESB.net. The only thing that appears to be certain about movie is that neither Christian (Batman) Bale nor Brandon (Superman) Routh will appear in the film, though the characters they play will.

One of the hottest rumors is that Superman will be played by none other than young Clark Kent himself – Tom Welling from Smallville. The TV show’s producers, however, deny this is happening due to his Smallville contract for this season (and next?).

The movie is reportedly being fast-tracked for a 2009 release, which means it will likely debut before the next Superman movie, thought not before The Dark Knight, scheduled for next summer. According to the LA Times (registration required):

... even a roster of superheroes may not have enough special powers to repel the nastiest villain on Hollywood's horizon: an impending labor dispute that could devastate the local economy. JLA is but one of many projects caught in an industrywide scramble to assemble films that can be completed before a potential talent strike shuts down film production next summer... Warner Bros., which declined to comment, needs to hire a JLA director immediately to guide any further rewrites and attract actors. As it is, numerous directors have been passing on the project, although Happy Feet's George Miller may end up in the chair.

The plan is for the movie to serve as a launching pad to individual hero films, such as Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, all of which have been in various stages of development at some point. This plan is similar the X-Men movie franchise, which is now spinning off Wolverine and Magneto into their own films. The movie will likely feature as villains the OMACs and Max Lord, in a twist of the storyline that preceded last year’s Infinite Crisis.

Like everything about this movie, nothing is confirmed. For more rumors of storylines, characters and casting, check these stories from IESB.net.