IESB has a wonderful article about the tentpole movies set to come out next summer from Warner Brothers. Obviously this year their tentpole, and by that I mean big summer films they expect to do gangbusters, included Speed Racer, Get Smart and The Dark Knight. These are the movies that they will throw their full weight behind. Movies that can generate buzz, and will receive the choicest advertising budgets. They are the movies that will make the company a winner for the year. So far their batting average this year isn't doing so hot. Speed Racer has not done anywhere near as well as they hoped, or as you know I think, it should have. And I have some concerns about how well Get Smart will do as well.
But next summer is the really tricky thing. What exactly is Warner's to do??? They've got one big movie already in production for next summer, Terminator: Salvation. But as the article mentions they would probably like to have at least one or two others. And while theres still a little bit of time to rush something into production, it'll definitely have to be quick. This my friends is still fallout from the writers strike, and if the actors go on strike, we're in even more trouble. After Warner's other planned event movie for summer '09 Justice League fell apart in Australia a few months ago its going to be a bit of a scramble for them no matter what now.
In terms of possibilities there look like a few. All of these films have scripts that are ready or almost ready and the potential to be awesome
Supermax is one, which just recently acquired the subtitle Green Arrow. sounds like it could be good. The story is about the superhero, Green Arrow, but its not at all what you'd imagine. Its actually a prison movie. The story follows Oliver Queen (the Green Arrow) as hes tossed in jail for a crime he didn't commit alongside a number of criminals he helped put there. Apparently there's only 10 minutes or so of him in costume, and the rest of the film is him first trying to survive in prison as a wanted man, and then teaming up with his former enemies to break out and try to clear his name. Latino Review has a great little run down that explains it better than me.
The only other straight superhero film on the board, a sure fire for the summer, that's close to ready is Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam.... yes thats the full title of the Shazam film. While details are slim on this film, we do know that Dwayne The Rock Jonhson has been cast as the villain Black Adam. All that said, apparently some at WB still have hope for the Justice League film to come back together, although all indications seem to point to that not hapening.
The other two possibilities are interesting ones. First in the long awaited Johnny Quest film, which IESB speculate may be being eyed up by director Peter Segal, who is just finishing up promoting his newest film Get Smart. And second is the film that I am really rooting for being put into the fast-track fro development, the He-Man movie. I spoke a bit about this before, but if you want the real scoop, go read Latino Review's excellent script review that they recently published. They really got me excited about the possibility of this film, which sounds just totally badass. The script they read is not comic at all, its a serious sword and sorcery film, with what they call a perfect blend of technology and magic. They give the script an A+. Go check their post for more on the film including some direct material from the beginning, it sounds fantastic. Oh and the film is currently called Greyskull: Masters of the Universe.
Whatever happens, you can bet it will happen soon. I'm very interested to see what Warners gets up to next summer. And for that matter what everyone else is planning too. One would presume the writers strike has dented the other studios summer plans as well. And with the potential SAG strike looming, everyone might have to scramble just to make ends meet next year. My hope is that a bit of desperation makes people work all the harder for me. For some insight into next summer from the other studios, check out this wiki list of set releases. And expect more on all of this to come, as its announced.
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But next summer is the really tricky thing. What exactly is Warner's to do??? They've got one big movie already in production for next summer, Terminator: Salvation. But as the article mentions they would probably like to have at least one or two others. And while theres still a little bit of time to rush something into production, it'll definitely have to be quick. This my friends is still fallout from the writers strike, and if the actors go on strike, we're in even more trouble. After Warner's other planned event movie for summer '09 Justice League fell apart in Australia a few months ago its going to be a bit of a scramble for them no matter what now.
In terms of possibilities there look like a few. All of these films have scripts that are ready or almost ready and the potential to be awesome
Supermax is one, which just recently acquired the subtitle Green Arrow. sounds like it could be good. The story is about the superhero, Green Arrow, but its not at all what you'd imagine. Its actually a prison movie. The story follows Oliver Queen (the Green Arrow) as hes tossed in jail for a crime he didn't commit alongside a number of criminals he helped put there. Apparently there's only 10 minutes or so of him in costume, and the rest of the film is him first trying to survive in prison as a wanted man, and then teaming up with his former enemies to break out and try to clear his name. Latino Review has a great little run down that explains it better than me.
The only other straight superhero film on the board, a sure fire for the summer, that's close to ready is Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam.... yes thats the full title of the Shazam film. While details are slim on this film, we do know that Dwayne The Rock Jonhson has been cast as the villain Black Adam. All that said, apparently some at WB still have hope for the Justice League film to come back together, although all indications seem to point to that not hapening.
The other two possibilities are interesting ones. First in the long awaited Johnny Quest film, which IESB speculate may be being eyed up by director Peter Segal, who is just finishing up promoting his newest film Get Smart. And second is the film that I am really rooting for being put into the fast-track fro development, the He-Man movie. I spoke a bit about this before, but if you want the real scoop, go read Latino Review's excellent script review that they recently published. They really got me excited about the possibility of this film, which sounds just totally badass. The script they read is not comic at all, its a serious sword and sorcery film, with what they call a perfect blend of technology and magic. They give the script an A+. Go check their post for more on the film including some direct material from the beginning, it sounds fantastic. Oh and the film is currently called Greyskull: Masters of the Universe.
Whatever happens, you can bet it will happen soon. I'm very interested to see what Warners gets up to next summer. And for that matter what everyone else is planning too. One would presume the writers strike has dented the other studios summer plans as well. And with the potential SAG strike looming, everyone might have to scramble just to make ends meet next year. My hope is that a bit of desperation makes people work all the harder for me. For some insight into next summer from the other studios, check out this wiki list of set releases. And expect more on all of this to come, as its announced.
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