Wonder Woman

Started by MacGuffin, March 17, 2005, 01:57:43 AM

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polkablues

Quote from: MacGuffin on February 02, 2007, 07:25:51 PM
Joss Whedon Off Wonder Woman!
Source:ComingSoon

Joss Whedon has announced on his official Blog that he will no longer be writing and directing the Wonder Woman movie at Warner Bros. Pictures.:

SATIN TIGHTS NO LONGER. Joss will not be fighting for our rights after all.

You (hopefully) heard it here first: I'm no longer slated to make Wonder Woman. What? But how? My chest... so tight! Okay, stay calm and I'll explain as best I can. It's pretty complicated, so bear with me. I had a take on the film that, well, nobody liked. Hey, not that complicated.

Let me stress first that everybody at the studio and Silver Pictures were cool and professional. We just saw different movies, and at the price range this kind of movie hangs in, that's never gonna work. Non-sympatico. It happens all the time. I don't think any of us expected it to this time, but it did. Everybody knows how long I was taking, what a struggle that script was, and though I felt good about what I was coming up with, it was never gonna be a simple slam-dunk. I like to think it rolled around the rim a little bit, but others may have differing views.

The worst thing that can happen in this scenario is that the studio just keeps hammering out changes and the writer falls into a horrible limbo of development. These guys had the clarity and grace to skip that part. So I'm a free man.

Well, sorta. There is that "Goners" movie I can finally finish polishing, and plenty of other things in the hopper I've wanted to pursue. I'm as relieved as I am disappointed, and both of those things lead to drink, so that's a plus. Truly, you may be hearing some interesting things brewing in the coming months. But all potential jets therein will be visible.

But most importantly, I never have to answer THAT question again!!!! And you don't have to link to every rumor site! Finally and forever: I never had an actress picked out, or even a consistant front-runner. I didn't have time to waste on casting when I was so busy air-balling on the script. (No! Rim! There was rim!) That's the greatest relief of all. I can do interviews again!

Thanks for your time. You are the people who make the world go 'round. Or, no, science does that.

This announcement comes on the heels of yesterday's news that Warner Bros. has picked up a script from script from newcomers Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland.

All in all, it's for the best, since that blog post itself was infinitely more entertaining than any Wonder Woman movie could ever be.
My house, my rules, my coffee

MacGuffin

Katie as Wonder Woman?
That's the rumor...

The Wonder Woman rumor mill is buzzing again, and this time it's Mrs. Tom Cruise that's being talked up for the title role.

Take this with a grain of salt, but according to a report in that bastion of journalistic integrity, Star Magazine, Katie Holmes made a special trip to Los Angeles earlier this month to meet with her agents and producers about starring in the planned big-screen flick based on the classic comic.

"The movie's only at the discussion state, but Katie feels this role as a kick-ass superhero will put her back in the public eye," says the mag's unnamed source. "She wants to show her stuff, and she wants to prove that she can stand on her own two feet without Tom's help. Tom, at times, feels compelled to oversee Katie's career, but Katie is bent on doing this alone. She actually scheduled the meeting when she knew Tom wasn't going to be able to be there."

It's not exactly a solid lead, but it's the first bit of news we've heard about the project since March when producer Joel Silver admitted having problems getting the movie off the ground.

"We've been having trouble with that project," he told fans at WonderCon. "We're going to make Wonder Woman work. We've had problems making it effective for today... work for today. And Joss [Whedon] tried, but we'll get there. I hope it can be as fantastic a movie as I want it to be."

Whedon was the last director to be associated with the project. He dropped out in February.

Holmes is the latest name in a long list of actresses that have been linked to the project over the years of development. Other notables have included Sandra Bullock, Eliza Dushku, Charisma Carpenter, Minnie Driver, Blade: The Series star Jill Wagner, and even American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Silver: Wonder Dead For Now

Joel Silver, who was producing the now-stalled Wonder Woman movie, told reporters that the project has been placed on the back burner in light of another impending superhero film. "They're going to make the Justice League movie, and we're kind of pausing on Wonder Woman now," Silver said in a news conference while promoting Fred Claus. "Let them go ahead and do that picture [first]."

The Amazon superhero from the DC Comics series will be a major part of the upcoming JLA. "And if that comes together, Wonder Woman will be a part of that story," Silver said. "And then we'll see where we go from there. But we struggled with it for a while. I hope that we can solve it and make it one day."

Wonder Woman was originally to be written and directed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon. But he dropped out of the project because of creative differences with Silver and the studio. Since then, the movie has been moribund.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Pubrick

so yeah, maybe not every blockbuster should have their own thread until we're sure they're coming out huh.

next up: green lantern.
under the paving stones.

Pozer


MacGuffin

The Wachowskis On 'Wonder Woman'? We Investigate The Latest On Princess Diana's Missing Movie

Since there is no Justice (League) anymore in the movie world, let's do a little check in with its members' solo missions. Warner Bros. has summoned "Dark Knight" Director Christopher Nolan for a third box-office booty call (he has yet to holla back) and the company's president voiced his intent to launch a "Dark Knight"-y Superman — even if that does mean potentially mixing nerd-lore metaphors.

But what's up with Wonder Woman?

"We're waiting for the script to come in," says producer Leonard Goldberg ("Charlie's Angels"), who's working on the film alongside Joel Silver.

And Hera help them, indeed: Goldberg has been trying to get a "Wonder Woman" film to take flight since the '70s when he and then-business partner Aaron Spelling tried to lasso in Raquel Welch for the lead.

More recently, writer-director Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), who never delivered a finished script, quit the project after Silver purchased a rival, WWII-centered script drafted by unknowns Matthew Jennison and Matt Strickland. (Whedon ultimately cited a difference in vision as the sticking point — but before he departed, he spoke with MTV about his vision for the project.)

"We've tried that route. We've had a writer-director work on it," said Goldberg, who declined to comment specifically on the Whedon dustup. "But I'm old school. When we have a script to present to directors, we'll sit down with them and see who has a take that blows us away."

One rumored possibility: the Wachowski brothers ("The Matrix," "Speed Racer"). "At one time, Joel [Silver] said they might have an idea. But they got diverted to another project [and] never followed through," he said, before adding, "There may come a time when they will be focused on 'Wonder Woman' and may come up with whatever their take on it was. They're certainly very talented guys. Their vision for movies — whether they're successful or not — is always singular."

For the time-being, Goldberg won't go into details about the notes he and Silver gave to the Jennison/Strickland brain trust for "Wonder Woman's" second draft — but he will discuss his broad expectations. "I can only speak for myself.... I would like it to be more current," said Goldberg. "I hope that we don't finally wind up doing the same story again: Steve Trevor flying, and his plane crashes onto the island [of Themyscira, Wonder Woman's matriarchal homeland]. He's supposed to be executed, and she saves his life. Perhaps we'll do that in a very abbreviated fashion up front, and then come up with a story that no one has seen yet."

And don't expect this fetching heroine to be overtly sexed up, either: "Originally, a friend of mine sent me the initial copy of Ms. Magazine. On the cover was Wonder Woman, which got me to thinking about what an iconic figure she was for women," he recalled. "So I don't see any reason to do it. That separates her from Catwoman."

Goldberg claims he and Silver haven't started discussing the lucky lass who'll play the super-powered Amazon royal, but notes, "I would go with a right unknown. People are not, in my opinion, going to come [to the theater] for the actress. They're going to come for Wonder Woman."

And just when can we come to see her? "I wanted it to be released in 1983," he joked, without committing to a big-screen date in this century. So for the time being, fans of spangled leotard-tiara combos will just have to sit tight with the Wonder Woman animated movie, out February 2009.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Beyonce wants to lasso the role of Wonder Woman
Source: Los Angeles Times

Beyoncé is ready for an Amazon-sized challenge -- the pop superstar wants to be the first actress to wear Wonder Woman's famed red, white and blue bathing suit on the silver screen.

"I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman? It would be great. And it would be a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It's time for that, right?"

Beyoncé says that she has met with representatives of DC Comics and Warner Bros. to express her interest in a major role in one of the many comic-book adaptations now in the pipeline following the massive success of "The Dark Knight," "Iron Man" and the "Spider-Man" and "X-Men" franchises. Beyoncé's acting to career to date has included a comedic role in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" and two notable music world roles, the first as a quasi-Diana Ross character in "Dreamgirls" and as the defiant and heroin-addicted Etta James in the upcoming "Cadillac Records."

"After doing these roles that were so emotional I was thinking  to myself, 'OK, I need to be a superhero,'" Beyoncé told me this week when I met her for an interview in a suite atop the Rivington Hotel in New York. "Although, when you think about the psychology of the heroes in the films these days, they are still a lot of work, of course, and emotional. But there's also an action element that I would enjoy."

The recent success of sophisticated comic-book adaptations is the main reason for Beyoncé's interest, she said, but her focus on Wonder Woman was intensified earlier this year when she saw Lynda Carter's costume from the 1970s television show on display at the Costume Institute's "Superhero" show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Beyoncé is in amazing shape right now (she had gained more than 20 pounds for the James role and came back from that leaner than before), but she said the Wonder Woman costume is an unforgiving one.

"I would definitely have to keep it right for that costume. The way that Lynda Carter wore it, she was sooo fine. She was amazing. I saw her costume at the Met. Her waist was unbelievable. It was pretty crazy, actually, her proportions. But I love Wonder Woman and it'd be a dream come true to be that character. It sure would be handy to have that lasso. To make everybody tell the truth? I need that. It would come in very handy."

The 27-year-old Houston native also recently finished work on the Scott Shill thriller "Obsessed" and, in her role as a woman whose husband is being stalked, she got her first experience with a staging a brawl for the camera.

"I play a wife fighting for her family and I have this big, big fighting scene with Ali Larter, who is an incredible actress. It took us days just to film it. I had my boots on and, wow, I got into it. So I really want that now. Now I have to do an action film. It's like dancing and choreography. And the superhero movies now, they're not corny, not corny at all, so that's what I want to do. And I would love if it could be Wonder Woman."

It''s not clear if anyone will be able to deliver a Wonder Woman project anytime soon, however. The heroine, who debuted in 1941, is by far the most iconic superhero who has yet to reach theaters. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Hulk and the Fantastic Four have all had multiple bites at the Hollywood apple and Captain America and Captain Marvel, both of whom were featured in 1940s serials, have adaptations now in the pipeline, as do Thor, Flash and Green Lantern.

"Catwoman" and "Elektra" both fizzled at the box office, which certainly didn't help the cause of female costumed characters as properties. In 2005, Warner Bros. announced with some fanfare that Joss Whedon of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fame would bring the pride of Paradise Island to the screen but even his considerable affinity for strong female characters didn't help him deliver a script that stirred studio chiefs. Still, earlier this year Warner president Jeff Robinov said that a solo Wonder Woman project remains one of the studio's future plans as it mines the DC library.

If not Wonder Woman, what other character, either Marvel or DC, could Beyoncé want to portray? With a laugh, she said: "I'm open to suggestions!"

Well, anyone?
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Zack Snyder to produce 'Wonder Woman', Michelle MacLaren signs on to direct

Breaking Bad's Michelle MacLaren has signed on to direct Gal Gadot in the 2017 Wonder Woman movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. MacLaren will also work closely with the writers, who haven't been announced yet, to put together the script.

Zack Snyder has already directed Gal Gadot in the role, and he'll be producing Wonder Woman along with his wife Deborah Snyder and Charles Roven.

Gal Gadot will make her Wonder Woman debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, and then star in her own movie on June 23, 2017.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Jeremy Blackman

Yes! MacLaren in the movies! I hope she gets to do non-comic book material though. Like, gritty crime stuff. She would have made a good Killing Them Softly.

Do I care about Wonder Woman now? Maybe.

©brad

YES. Huge fan of hers. I agree I hope this is a hit that allows her to take more risks on smaller films as well. I see a lot of Fincher in her work. She would have crushed Gone Girl.

Jeremy Blackman

Strange we never talked about this.

Writing was spotty, accents were rough in the first act, editing was definitely weird at times, but otherwise it was quite good.

There are some truly epic scenes. But the acting saves it, really. Gal Gadot was terrific and can definitely be described as a luminescent action star. And Chris Pine's performance was actually kind of incredible. I don't think I've seen him in a better role.

SPOILERS

I like how WW was basically a wizard at the end. I'm unclear about her powers; was she able to shoot that beam at Ares only because she turned his energy against him? She has that leap, that fiery blast thing, bullet time, and energy channeling. I feel like she might arguably be the most powerful superhero in this universe, right? Unless we're talking about the version of Superman that reverses time. I'm not a comic book person, so correct me please.

polkablues

Yeah, it was good, just not interesting enough to inspire discussion. I think its effect on how Hollywood views women directors is going to have a much more lasting impact that the movie itself.

Side note, I was at a Barnes and Noble the other day and there was a Gal Gadot/Wonder Woman poster propped against a table by the sale section, and in the couple minutes I was standing near it, there were three separate young girls (like ages 4 to 7) who walked past it and looked just enthralled by it. I thought that was pretty cool. A nice reminder of how representation in popular culture matters.
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