Warner Bros Executive Greg Silverman Talks BVS’ Tone, WONDER WOMAN & The DCCU V MCU Debacle

Many people see Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara as the key man behind the studios hotly anticipated DC Cinematic Universe, and while that may be true, another executive who will play a vital role over the coming years will be Greg Silverman. WB’s President of Creative Development & Worldwide Production recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about the studio’s vision for their upcoming superhero properties.

Unsurprisingly, one of the first things he was asked about was how DC planned on differentiating their universe from their cross-company rivals at Marvel:

“We have a great strategy for the DC films, which is to take these beloved characters and put them in the hands of master filmmakers and make sure they all coordinate with each other. You’ll see the difference when you see Batman v. Superman, Suicide Squad, Justice League and all the things that we are working on.”

Silverman then addressed complaints about the Batman v. Superman trailer being “too dark”:

“There is intensity and a seriousness of purpose to some of these characters. The filmmakers who are tackling these properties are making great movies about superheroes; they aren’t making superhero movies. When you’re trying to make a good movie, you tackle interesting philosophies and character development. There’s also humor, which is an important part.”

He also explained the studio’s decision to hire Monster director Patty Jenkins, following Michelle MacLaren’s exit from Wonder Woman:

“We had a very intensive process looking at everybody. Patty and Michelle were really the ones who came to the forefront the first go-round, so when things didn’t work out with Michelle, we all knew we had someone great who had expressed interest before. She came back and is doing a great job. But it was never about the best female director. She has demonstrated doing amazing work with female characters, such as in Monster.”

Well, there’s plenty to digest there – including some very interesting points on the general direction of the DCCU, the balance between ‘dark’ (intensity) & ‘light’ (humor), and the studio’s thought process behind bringing Jenkins on board.

Source: THR

Michelle MacLaren Exits WONDER WOMAN

The dreaded “creative differences” bug has struck again. Warner Bros’ said that Wonder Woman director Michelle MacLaren has left the high-profile project. “Given creative differences, Warner Bros. and Michelle MacLaren have decided not to move forward with plans to develop and direct Wonder Woman together,” the studio said in a statement. The veteran TV helmer of such shows as Better Call Saul, Game Of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad was to have made her feature directing debut on the tentpole starring Gal Gadot.

The film will continue Warners’ DC superhero universe after Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and David Ayer’s Suicide Squad in 2016, though no release date is set. Now there’s an open director’s chair on a studio superhero film. Don’t expect it to remain unoccupied for long.

Could this mean a change in studio for MacLaren, instead of Warner maybe Marvel? This pure speculation on my part but Marvel are looking for a female director for their Captain Marvel flick. So you know stuff can happen!

Source: Deadline

WONDER WOMAN To Shoot This Fall

Deadline is reporting that this fall will be the starting point for filming of DC’s Wonder Woman movie. They say the following: “Gadot will next be seen in the Fox Searchlight film Criminal in August and in September the movie Triple Nine. She plays Wonder Woman in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and then films Wonder Woman in the fall.” 

This would follow in the steps of Batman V Superman as filming started two years before it’s 25 March 2016 release, so with Wonder Woman being released  23 June 2017 so it would be in that time-frame of two years. Plus Deadline is quite the reputable source so all this can be true. But Warner Bros have not commented on this so far but we will see this fall if this is true!

Source: Deadline

WONDER-WOMAN: Movie Not Greenlit?

Vulture have posted a lengthy profile on Michelle MacLaren, who has signed on to helm Wonder Woman for Warner Bros. Though they do ask her about this, MacLaren obviously can’t go into too much detail, though it seems that for the moment there really aren’t many details to give anyway. The Game Of thrones/Walking Dead director does say that there’s still no script or release date, and that the studio haven’t actually given the project the green light yet. That’ll happen in due time of course (barring any unforeseen hiccups that is), and we recently found out that Pan scribe Jason Fuchs was in negotiations to pen the script with MacLaren overseeing so there should be some movement on that soon too. Here is the pertinent portion of the article. There’s not much there, but these are MacLaren’s first comments on the matter since landing the gig.

“I ask the director for details about the DC Comics epic Wonder Woman, which she was picked to direct after a lengthy, widely publicized search. She stirs her tea. Then she warns that at the moment there is no script, no release date. There’s not even an official green light from the film’s releasing studio, Warner Bros.—and even if there were, nondisclosure agreements and her paranoia about jinxing things would keep her mum. “I really, ­really, really can’t talk about this,” she says, then gestures toward the restaurant’s picture windows, with their action-film-worthy Hollywood panoramas. “I just picture a drone coming in over the hills and crashing through the glass and flying over here and putting duct tape over my mouth, you know?””

"Wonder Woman" Gets "Pan" Writer

The writer of Pan, Jason Fuchs, has entered talks to be the new Wonder Woman screenwriter. Michelle MacLaren was recently hired to direct, and the two will work together on the script, and the film will eventually star Gal Gadot, who makes her debut as the Amazonian warrior in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016.

THR has news on the in-progress deal, but we have no real clue as to the direction the film will take. One Wonder Woman script has been in play for a while, but this suggests there might be a significant rewrite applied to it, at the very least. Whether this is a page-one teardown or something a little less drastic is one of the many details unconfirmed at this point.

Not that the generally unknown status and ambitions for the film have stopped a whole parade of rumors and speculation from trotting down the internet’s main thoroughfares.

The primary rumor we’ve heard is that the movie is envisioned as a prequel to establish backstory for the character seen in Batman v Superman. Rumor/spoilers say that much of the Wonder Woman solo film takes place on Paradise Island, which is occupied by warring Amazon factions. The arrival of a man throws a new wrinkle into their war, and we eventually learn that the action is taking place in or around the 1920s. Whether or not that is correct is another unknown at the moment.

In addition to having Pan and Ice Age: Continental Drift under his belt, Fuchs is working with WB going forward on Pan, as the studio wants a franchise out of that story. He’s already working on a Pan sequel. The first film hits July 17, 2015. Wonder Woman is scheduled for release on June 23, 2017.

Wonder Woman Has Found It’s Director

Michelle MacLaren has signed on to develop and direct Wonder Woman, Warner Bros’ big-screen take on the iconic DC character.

MacLaren will work with the project’s writers, who remain unnamed at this stage, to lasso together a script for the movie, which would star Gal Gadot. The actress will make her debut as the heroine in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Charles Roven, Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder are among those producing the Wonder Woman movie, which is set for a 2017 release.

MacLaren was a top choice for the project due to her muscular work on Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, although she is perhaps most associated with her directing and executive producing work on the much-loved Breaking Bad.

MacLaren’s signing caps off a director search that began in the summer, and her deal culminates an on-and-off-again dance with the Amazonian princess.

MacLaren became a favorite back in August, taking several meetings with Warners execs. Things cooled over the autumn as the studio widened its search. Sources say there was pressure from within to hire a woman for the job as the character has such a strong association with the notion of female empowerment. But at the same time, Hollywood realities were forcing producers and execs to acknowledge that while women directors increasingly work in the indie drama spheres or in TV comedy, few have taken on big-budget, CG-laden tentpoles. In fact, in recent history of comic book movies, no project has been directed by a woman. (Patty Jenkins came close on Thor: The Dark World, but left the project and was replaced by Alan Taylor.)

A Wonder Woman movie has been in development, on and off, for close to two decades. The last director attached was Joss Whedon, who left the project in 2007.

Wonder Woman is to be released June 23rd 2017.