BREAKING: Christian Bale and Brandon Routh Sign for 'Justice League!!!'
Filed under: Action, Casting, Deals, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Holy "Where the hell did this one come from" Batman! In a last ditch effort to win back fans, Warner Bros. has apparently convinced both Christian Bale and Brandon Routh to reprise the roles of Batman and Superman for their upcoming live-action Justice League of America film (currently titled Justice League Mortal). A press release just sent to Cinematical comes with this hilarious quote from a studio rep: "Brandon wasn't too hard to convince; he half-jokingly told us he's dreamt about this opportunity every night for the past several months."
Both men have signed a three-picture deal, which means Warners has plans to extend Justice League beyond the initial film, due out in 2009. Currently, there's no word on whether Armie Hammer (the actor supposed to play Batman) will still appear in some capacity, be it as a younger version of Batman or as a random extra in a background shot. On why he ultimately decided to take the role when there's a good chance it could confuse fans and screw up Nolan's franchise, Bale said, "I don't see me taking on this role getting in the way of anything, aside from someone else's paycheck. The script is awesome. Batman is awesome. Brendon and I look forward to taking this one to the next level."
Sounds like the studio is finally getting serious about this film, bringing on two actors with established fanbases -- guys they know will bolster the flick's box office. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, like what happens to Bryan Singer's The Man of Steel now and will Chris Nolan even go ahead with a third Batman film with Bale doing JLA? Well, one thing is for sure: This whole project just got a lot more interesting ...
For more, check out the entire press release over here.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-01-2008 @ 12:13AM
Clint said...
Didn't realize why you would play such a cruel joke on us Superman/Batman fans until I saw the date and time. Well played sir.
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4-01-2008 @ 12:30AM
uforeader said...
that was mean... i got excited. oh, well.
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4-01-2008 @ 12:32AM
Joe said...
Let me guess to day is the first of April and some thing big happens on that day. "Thats it" it is April Fools day so this is a joke.
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4-01-2008 @ 12:39AM
Ryan said...
The number one reason people are tricked on 4/1 is because they are unaware it is April Fool's Day. Usually after that first joke, they're more prepared the rest of the day.
Which is why I always set reminders in my calendar to remind me TWICE that it is April Fool's Day (11pm on March 31st and 8am on April 1st). It always works people.
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4-01-2008 @ 12:41AM
The Addict said...
Don't do this to me. It's been a long day, and I'm in a Batman chat room.
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4-01-2008 @ 12:43AM
Ray said...
I'm sure Brandon Routh wishes this were true. I'll admit that you had me for a minute there. Well played, Erik. Well played.
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4-01-2008 @ 12:48AM
John said...
I'll pretend that it is true and play along.
Shame on Christian Bale for agreeing to this. I guarantee that this movie will do for superhero movies what Abbott & Costello meet the mummy, Frankenstein's monster and Dracula did for horror movies in the 30s.
Boy, that was fun!
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4-01-2008 @ 12:50AM
Slappy said...
Good job, guys, considering it's only April Fool's Day in part of the country (9:48pm Pacific Time).
Jacka--es.
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4-01-2008 @ 3:11AM
mezzanine said...
Slappy, chill.
It's almost 10:00 pm where I am, but I'll still take this as my first fool of April. I was totally gonna diss Brandon before I saw the comments.
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4-01-2008 @ 2:02PM
Naj said...
cinemaniacal! good one but its not cool to build up and dash people's hopes like that! what gives you the audacity? har har
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4-01-2008 @ 1:55AM
Mr. R said...
Funny indeed, thank you for that, well, well played. I was about to throw myself out the window...thank god!
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4-01-2008 @ 1:57AM
John Miller said...
Ha ha ha!! You so funny.
Anyway, if there was ANY way to stop Bryan Singer from making another AWFUL Superman movie like his last one, I would be ALL for it! :-)
Too bad JLA wasn't the one to do it!
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4-01-2008 @ 11:59AM
miss m said...
i was about to post commenting about how it was such a bad move for Bale, then i read the rest of the comments. ah well, you got me for a second.
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4-01-2008 @ 3:13AM
Moo said...
HAHAHAHAHA
douche.
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4-01-2008 @ 2:29AM
Adamantium said...
Hahhaahaha, If I wasent on AICN at the same time I would been VERY happy at the moment I saw this post. Hahhahahaha can wish I guess.
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4-01-2008 @ 2:39AM
odiin said...
Retarded lie day is retarded.
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4-01-2008 @ 3:54AM
eugene said...
Heh, brandon's "comments" were awesome. But then again, I'm sure the real routh would love to do the JLA movies... it's not like he has much going on right now.
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4-01-2008 @ 7:50AM
lowrentherzog said...
Is this the best you could do?
YouTube is rickrolling. They're rickrolling everybody!
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4-01-2008 @ 9:31PM
Richard von Busack said...
I fully bought it. "And, in a special guest part, Rob Schnieder as Native American comic book hero Wyatt Wingfoot." Oh, wait, he's an Avenger. I'm glad I was chumped, because I when I first heard this, I thought Christian should have baled, and also I prefer Superman a little more routhless.
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4-01-2008 @ 8:26AM
Gina said...
Nice try. People started trying to trick me last night, so I'm prepared for anything. :-)
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