Recent interviews with Warner Bros pictures reveal that the stuido will be waiting on the results of Christopher Nolan's upcoming Superman movie Man of Steel, before they go ahead with any work on the Justice League of America project.
This of course comes as no surprise, as the DC comic movies have not had an awful lot of sucesses with their previous attempts. 2011's Green Lantern failed to live up to its expectation, not receiving the critical and commercial success that the studio had hoped for. The studio would be even more hesitant with the release of the next Superman picture, since Bryan Singers Superman Returns did even more poorly back in 2006.
In 2009, DC underwent a massive restructuring, creating DC Entertainment, “a new company founded to fully realize the power and value of the DC Comics brand and characters across all media and platforms.” but Green Lantern had already been completed before hand, not being part of DC Entertainments work.
Warner Bros have also discussed plans to have the JLA universe separate from the DC movies so far, about moving the project away from the universe that Nolan has created for his Batman movies, and now also Man of Steel. From the gritty dark realism of these films to a more "comicy" and bright place. Talks are even in to reboot the Batman series, to be more fitting for this style, which could even mean that Superman will need to be brightly rebooted after Man of Steel
News source Variety said the following in an article related to the project;
"Further out, the studio's planning a 'Justice League' tentpole -- encompassing DC Comics mainstays Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and the Green Lantern -- on the order of Marvel's 'The Avengers.' Will Beall is scripting but no director has been attached yet. Stakes are high for 'Man of Steel.' Other than Nolan's Batpics, Warners has not been able to effectively exploit the DC library. Its 2011 'Green Lantern' underperformed, and a 'Justice League' film wouldn't likely be in theaters before 2015, as Warner's top brass has indicated that they are awaiting the results of 'Man of Steel,' which opens June 14, before moving further ahead."
So looks like even more is riding on Nolan's work now, if we get another Superman debacle this year, we likely wont be getting a JLA film for a little while yet.
-Welsh 31/01/13
Sources: