Isn't that the most exciting headline? My mind is whirling with images of Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash showing up to some remote mountain location and saying "Where's my movie?!"

Unfortunately, the goings-on at the summit are a lot less glamorous, but if you're a DC fan they might be nearly as exciting. According to Variety, Warner Bros and DC are busy charting a course for their superhero franchises, trying to decide which hero or what franchise to kick into high gear. While Marvel Studios is announcing origins and crossovers left and right, Warners is still holding onto their DC characters, and finding themselves unable to take the big screen plunge. Even the two they've shoved out the door are about to languish -- Christopher Nolan hasn't committed to a third Batman film, and Superman is wondering why he ever bothered returning. (Though the rumors swirling around the Man of Steel this week suggest he may be a big part of Warners' new strategy.)

They have been in a similar predicament before. Five years ago, Warners was getting ready to hire someone just to oversee their DC movies, aware they could lose an entire generation of young geeks if they didn't get going. And while they did manage Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Watchmen, it's just not enough. While there's no real indication of what their strategy will be, expect the studio to start buckling down and decide what to do with the Justice League.

So, Cinematical readers, which DC property are you hoping they'll concentrate on first? As you can probably guess, I favor Wonder Woman. I think it would be a huge statement for them to concentrate on such an iconic female superhero when no one else has. But based on the persistent comments that pepper my inbox, I'm betting that it's a close call between her and the Green Lantern. Sound off, my friends.

If I asked you to name a half-dozen Marvel characters besides Spider-Man, Wolverine, and The Hulk, you'd probably have no problem. But if I asked you to rattle off six DC Comics superheroes besides Superman and Batman, your response might sound a little like this: "Well, The Flash, of course. And Wonder Woman. Oh, Aquaman! Um ... Green Arrow and Green Lantern, I suppose..." and then I'd rudely interrupt you with mentions of Hawkman and Martian Manhunter before you started shaking your head in either confusion or disbelief in my nerdiness. (I can never tell which is which.)

I know all about the Justice League movie problems and the inability to get Wonder Woman flying, but really: After seeing how well-received Iron Man was -- and after hearing about Marvel's plans regarding The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers -- I'm starting to feel a little bad for DC Comics' movie division. But here's the thing: As a character of popular culture, Iron Man (born 1963) is not exactly a Spider-Man or even close to a Superman -- and still Marvel and Paramount were able to bang a really excellent blockbuster out of the guy. (And let's not forget that a relatively obscure Marvel character called Blade pretty much kick-started this comic-flick renaissance.) Does anyone doubt that a character like The Flash could have similar results? Given the right cast and crew, I'm thinking The Flash could be one hell of a fun flick. So let's get moving already!

Rumors have been swirling all week that Justice League: Mortal is dead (making the title so very ironic). Eric Kohn reported last week that Joel Silver was describing the film as "tabled." It sounds as if the final nails are being hammered into the coffin, as the Herald Sun reports that the stars have begun to jump ship.

Reportedly, the entire cast has been let go, but as of now, the only name anyone is really talking about is Megan Gale, who was set to play Wonder Woman. An agent for Gale (and League costar Teresa Palmer) insist that both actresses are still on board and waiting for the start date to be announced. Industry insiders are claiming the film is off the books for good.

As there hasn't been one scrap of positive or definitive news on this movie in some time, I think it is safe to say the film is dead for the time being. I imagine it will resurrect in a year or two, probably with an entirely new cast and director, but I sincerely doubt George Miller's film will see the light of day. I feel bad for the guy, but it is obviously just not meant to be. He didn't respond to the Herald's inquiries, which may say volumes about whether he thinks the project is alive or not.

It is no end of strange that with all the superhero movies being greenlit, one of the biggest comic book icons has languished in development hell for years. How is it that the Hulk managed to get remade before Wonder Woman landed a single movie?

We've heard it before, but she may finally be on her way. IESB.net caught up with Joel Silver at the Speed Racer press junket, and to everyone's surprise, Silver mentioned the future of the Amazon superheroine. Silver says he has two new writers working on the script -- Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland, authors of the WWII Wonder Woman script that Warner Bros bought last year.

The two are writing a whole new script, shying away from any origin story, but instead one looking at her background, and her homeland of Paradise Island. I don't know, that sounds like an origin story to me. No word on what has happened to the WWII spec.

It's about to get a smidge gossipy in here, but once I read these stories back-to-back, I had to write up these bits for you...

First up: Early Obituaries
There's death pools for the masses, and early obits written up by the press just in case the sometimes-inevitable happens. Why waste time writing it up and losing the scoop if you can just hear the news, grab the story, and click "publish"? Well, that's what the Associate Press thinks about Britney Spears, according to Ace Showbiz. The AP have confirmed that they are preparing a blurb for that possibility, and editor Jesse Washington says: "We are not wishing it, but if Britney passed away, it's easily one of the biggest stories in a long time. I think one would agree that Britney seems at risk right now. Of course, we would never wish any type of misfortune on anybody, and hope that we would never have to use it until 50 years from now ...but if something were to happen, we would have to be prepared." Topping this off, Ace says she has chronic mood disorder and is predicted to die in six months if she doesn't get treatment. Poor Spears. Her problems seem never-ending.

Meanwhile... Morgues!
While some people are waiting for Britney to hit the slab, Yahoo reports that Lindsay Lohan will have to visit one. Still in her first legal drinking year (21), Lohan will have to work at a morgue as part of her misdemeanor drunk driving punishment. She's gone to rehab, done some community service, and now she has to do two 4-hour days at the morgue -- "part of a court-ordered program to show drivers the real-life consequences of drinking and driving." Topping that off, she'll also have to spend two days in a hospital ER. I'm sure that will be all sorts of scary for Lohan, but considering how many damned stars and celebs drink and drive, I think all of them should be put in this program.

But all hope is not lost, Wonder Woman is coming!
Justice League is kaput, and that whole live-action project for the lady with the lasso isn't going anywhere, but that doesn't mean we can't get more Wonder Woman. TV Guide reported recently that their sources say that there's a straight-to-DVD animated Wonder Woman feature on the way, and Keri Russell will be voicing the epic, Amazonian heroine. That leads me to wonder (pun!), should she pull off the voice well (and these rumors are true), could Russell also make it work in a live-action setting? Stay tuned!

The new website for the heist comedy Mad Money has gone live with its first full-length trailer. It is pretty much what you would expect from a harmless little comedy, so if you are looking for a hard-edged crime flick, you are definitely in the wrong place. Along with the trailer, the website has the usual photo galleries and downloads (you can check out Cinematical's exclusive gallery here). There is even the chance to win a little of your own 'mad money' in a sweepstakes. Directed by Callie Khouri, the film stars Katie (or Kate; I can never keep it straight) Holmes, Queen Latifah, Diane Keaton, and Ted Danson. The story centers on three employees of the Federal Reserve who pull together for a plot to steal the money that is going to be taken out of circulation.

Khouri is probably best known as the writer for another famous female 'buddy film'; Thelma and Louise. Money is a pretty light-hearted flick so I doubt we'll be seeing Keaton, Holmes, and Latifah going over a cliff in a protest of patriarchal control. Mad Money will be Holmes' first big-screen role since Batman Begins and Thank You for Smoking back in 2005. As we all know, Holmes wasn't invited back for The Dark Knight and there were even a few thinly veiled shots directed towards her in the press over the whole matter. Since all that Wonder Woman talk never panned out either, for the sake of her career I only hope that comedy vets like Keaton and Danson can help keep Mad Money afloat at the box-office. Maybe then, Holmes will get credit for being something other than Mrs Tom Cruise. Mad Money hits theaters on January 18th.

Yesterday, our Christopher Campbell shared rumors that an Australian actress was in talks to play Wonder Woman in the upcoming Justice League of America flick. While he said it probably wouldn't be Jessica Biel, Warner Brothers wasn't listening. Variety has reported that the former 7th Heaven actress is going to put on the powerful accessories and become the famous Amazonian superheroine who flies around in invisible jets and golden-lassos bad guys -- that is, if talks don't go sour. Methinks she won't let them.

First of all, she did Blade: Trinity, so why in the heck wouldn't she want to do this? I bet it has a better shot at being loved, as long as the rush to finish it pre-strike doesn't make it crappy. If she does a good job, it would also help solidify her career, which is growing -- but hasn't had that solid hit, or prominent role, to keep her professional future secure. Finally, this could potentially lead to another film role -- I imagine if she can handle Wonder Woman, the feature film that Joss Whedon walked away from might start cooking up once again.

I have to say, I don't completely hate Biel for the role. That being said, I'm still going to mourn the fact that it isn't Charisma Carpenter. Sure, she got a lot of buzz having worked with Whedon before, but man, she definitely fits the part, and has some action scene fighting experience to boot. Oh well, at least it isn't Katie Holmes!

I think Warner Bros. is really screwing up by rushing its Justice League of America movie, but then, I was never a big DC superhero fan, so I don't care. There are millions of fans who do care, though, and for them I hope the studio doesn't ruin it. After all, there are franchise spin-offs expected, and if a character is badly cast, that hero might unfortunately remain miscast for more movies to come. Sure, some people would love for Smallville's Tom Welling to play Superman in Justice League of America (although, as Erik pointed out before, that probably isn't happening), and even continue in future films, replacing Brandon Routh in Bryan Singer's series. But at least the actor has already proven himself worthy of the part to many fans. What about Wonder Woman, for whom comic geeks have debated the perfect actress for the past few years? Everyone's favorite Amazon will not likely be played by Charisma Carpenter or Katie Holmes or Eva Green or Nadia Bjorlin or Megan Fox or Sophia Bush or Jessica Biel or Rachel Bilson or Katherine McPhee or Priyanka Chopra. However it could be the very beautiful and very much unknown (in the U.S.) Victoria Hill.

According to Moviehole, the Australian actress has tested for the role. It makes sense now that Aussie director George Miller is officially on board, since he plans to shoot the thing Down Under, and would benefit from having a local cast. Although Americans may not recognize her, Hill can currently be seen in the limitedly released December Boys (aka the movie in which Daniel Radcliffe isn't Harry Potter). She was also seen (nude) by a few people earlier this year in Geoffrey Wright's updated Macbeth. Fans of Xena: Warrior Princess who want to check the actress out can break out their Season 6 set and view her in two episodes. Of course, you might want to hold off on holding your own audition of the actress (by way of her past work), because she hasn't actually been cast as Wonder Woman just yet -- she's only tested for it, which could mean nothing.

I bet this is a project you didn't expect to hear anything about, what with Joss Whedon bailing, leaving everyone confused as to how they should properly tackle the sexy superhero. Well leave it up to some random source to kick-start those Wonder Women rumors once again -- this time it's Star Pulse, which claim that none other than Katie Holmes recently flew into Los Angeles for a secret meeting regarding a starring role in the big-screen WW flick. And she flew in -- get this -- without Tom Cruise! Yup, according to Star Pulse's top secret source (who may or may not be a clever writer looking to bring some attention to the website), Katie wanted to take on these meetings herself, without Tom. And she's looking for a project that will help "put her back in the public eye." Sweetheart, you're married to Tom Cruise -- trust me, the "public eye" ain't going nowhere.

The article really makes it seem as if it was a big deal for Holmes to go at this alone, without help from her superhero husband. As we all know, rumors have suggested that Tom wants to be in complete control of his wife's career, telling her which roles he wants her to take and which roles he wants her to decline. In fact, when Holmes dropped out of The Dark Knight, folks immediately speculated that Tom played a major factor in that decision. But here's what I don't get -- if she wants a role in a superhero movie to put her back in the public eye, why not sign on to do The Dark Knight, a superhero movie? And what, was Batman Begins not good enough for her? Personally, I'd rather see Holmes doing smaller stuff. I loved her in Pieces of April, and was hoping she would go on to do similar character-driven projects. And then she married Tom. And then she squeezed out a kid. And now she's .... reportedly discussing a starring role in the Wonder Woman movie? I don't get it. But I guess that's Hollywood for ya!

While Warner Bros. continues to be slow with comic adaptations of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern and The Flash, it has decided to go ahead with a Justice League of America movie, which could feature all four of these characters as well as Batman and Superman. The studio has officially gotten the project started by hiring the married writing duo Kieran and Michele Mulroney (Mr. & Mrs. Smith; the upcoming Mirrors) to come up with a first draft.

The idea of a Justice League movie is both exciting and difficult to imagine because it would consist of more superhero star power than audiences are used to (Marvel has a similar idea going on with a possible Avengers movie). One big question sure to be driving DC Comics fans mad is will Batman and Superman appear in the contexts of their respective franchises, or in other words will they be played by Christian Bale and Brandon Routh? Maybe Warner Bros. is even thinking of doing the JLA movie in order to launch the franchises for the other four characters (so far we've seen no love for Martian Manhunter at the studio).

My guess is the WB is hoping for a 2010 release, following The Dark Knight in 2008 and Superman: The Man of Steel in 2009. Then, they will get to the spin-offs. And eventually, I'm hoping, there will be some sort of crossover movie that pits the JLA against The Avengers. See, I just can't ever be satisfied. As long as the studios keep producing my dream comic book adaptations, I will have to keep coming up with bigger dreams.