With Warner Bros. announcing their intention to go forward with the George Miller-helmed Justice League movie, it seems about the right time to retrace the history of the project to date.
In February of this year Variety reported that the studio had hired Kiernan and Michele Mulroney to write the screenplay. As Warners' Jeff Robinov told Variety at the time, "The Justice League of America has been a perennial favorite for generations of fans, and we believe their appeal to film audiences will be as strong and diverse as the characters themselves."
The trade publication also brought up the point that the new film would have to deal with the fact that Batman and Superman are in the middle of their feature film runs, plus Wonder Woman and The Flash had been in development for some time. [Of course one of the big differences between Warners' situation and that of, say, Marvel, is that the studio doesn't license their comic book properties out to other studios. Given the fact that everything is, in effect, "in house," one would imagine that such hurdles would be relatively easily overcome.]
Flash forward to June 18th, with Variety reporting that Justice League "cleared a major hurdle last week. Husband-wife writing duo Kiernan Mulroney and Michele Mulroney turned in a first draft that had Warner Bros. suits actually smiling -- no small feat, considering that Justice follows a half-dozen of the best-known superheroes working together, including Batman and Superman."
As silly as it sounds, a June 29th announcement that Warners had signed a licensing deal with Mattel to cover a variety of properties,including the Justice League movie, gave even more credence to the belief that the film could actually go forward. The next day, a rumor was reported that Brandon Routh expressed interest in playing Superman in the film. This was followed on July 5th by the Hindustan Times reporting the rumor that Christian Bale had not ruled out the idea of playing Batman in the Justice League film [not likely considering director Christopher Nolan's disapproval of a Justice League film featuring Batman prior to the completion of his run on the film series].
On August 22nd, the Guardian Unlimited featured a report that actor Ryan Reynolds, who had apparently been approached about playing the Flash in a solo film, was rumored to being courted as part of the League movie. As Reynolds said to MTV, "I don't really know how much I'm allowed to talk about that stuff. But it's no secret that they have a JLA script and it's a project that's in development." 
The next day, the same publication offered that neither Christian Bale nor Brandon Routh would be in the film. "Rumors have been circulating for months about the film," they wrote, "with early indications that the pair would join up on screen. Other US sites have suggested Mad Max and, more recently Happy Feet, director George Miller will man the project... Some speculation suggests Justice League could be an all-CGI affair."
WENN Entertainment raised a few eyebrows on August 26th with this one: "Smallville star Tom Welling is in talks to play Clark Kent/Superman after producers opted not to use the new movie Man of Steel, Brandon Routh, in their film." On the same time, the Los Angeles Times came out with a story that noted Justice League is among many other films on an accelerated pre-production schedule so that it can begin filming by March 1, 2008 and not be affected by a potential actors' strike, as current SAG contracts expire on June 30th. WENN also reported on an IESB.net news item that director George Miller wanted to cast Mad Max star Mel Gibson in the role of Max Lord and Bruce Willis as Lex Luthor. 
In early September, the rumors really began to pick up heat that Smallville executive producers Al Gough and Miles Millar were going to somehow work around the show's production schedule so that Tom Welling -- who has repeatedly said he would never don the Superman outfit -- could play the Man of Steel in Justice League. So far, however, virtually everyone has denied that there is any truth to this rumor. At the end of the month, iesb.net offered up some spoilers, including the fact that the storyline would include Max Lord and his OMACs, who are designed to take over the bodies of members of the League. Added to this are a threat from the White Martians and Darkseid. [Is any of this true? Who knows, but it's fun to speculate.]
On the 10th, Obsessed With Film reported that Justice League would be shot in Australia by Miller, and that casting would be handed Down Under by Nikki Barrett, with Ronna Kress serving as overall casting director. Additionally, Barrie M. Osborne, producer of The Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as The Matrix, was brought on board the film.
Which brings us to yesterday's Variety announcement and what's to come.
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