With the writer's strike over, Warner Bros. believes they have a winner in this Justice League movie, and they're once again plowing ahead to try to get the film up and running for a debut in 2009. Variety tells us that writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney are currently re-tooling the script, while George Miller remains in pre-production in Australia. Additionally, the cast have been told to keep training for their roles. As previously reported, JLA will feature Adam Brody (the Flash), Common (Green Lantern), Armie Hammer Jr. (Batman) and Megan Gale (Wonder Woman). Other actors are rumored to have landed roles, but nothing seems to be official yet.

By mentioning Armie Hammer Jr., we assume this means Batman and Superman will play key roles in the film. Just recently, there was a rumor going around that had both characters scrapped from the new flick. Then again, since the script is still being re-tooled, we really don't know what the final outcome will look like. Assuming all goes right, Warners will use Justice League to launch solo films for a few of these other characters, like the Flash and Wonder Woman. Marvel, on the other hand, is taking the exact opposite approach: They're launching solo films -- and cross-promoting characters within each solo film -- before stepping up to the plate with an Avengers film. Which do you think will be the more successful route?

Also of note: Warners has set a October 16, 2009 release date for Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are.

So now that the writer's strike is over and done with, what's going to happen to that planned-but-postponed Justice League flick? Well, it seems Warner Bros. kinda sorta listened to the fans on this one, and Blockbuster (of all people) reports that they've seen the updated synopsis for the film and -- guess what -- Superman and Batman are nowhere to be found. Why is that? Well, one is dead and the other has been given the boot. Here's the somewhat spoiler-filled synopsis Blockbuster claims to have received: "Feb 28, Sydney, Australia: The film is about Green Lantern, Green Arrow and others of the Justice League of America, an organization made up of the world's greatest superheroes. They must deal with the expulsion of Batman and the death of Superman at the hands of the monstrous Doomsday."

Sh*t. Now that sounds like a pretty cool ending to a film we'll never get to see. But it's also a smart move on Warner's part; this way they stay far away from the other two franchises, and use this film to launch the franchises of those other characters. Okay, great, so the film will begin shooting later this year? Not so fast says Moviehole -- they claim filmmakers are now eying a 2010 start date instead of mid-2008 because most of the cast have already gone and booked other gigs. We imagine the script will be re-tooled big time (seeing as Supes and Bats were major players), and who knows whether George Miller will remain onboard. The downside to this is that if Warners holds out on making solo films for, say, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, The Flash etc, we won't get to see those until -- what -- 2012, 2013? Or, alternatively, they could go the Marvel route and develop the solo films, cross-promote the characters within each solo film, and then come out with the group pic. In the meantime, I'm sure we'll get a third Batman flick (hopefully from Christopher Nolan), and we'll eventually get a second Superman film, from either Bryan Singer or someone else.

Here's my question: Would you even want to see a Justice League film without Batman and Superman? Are Warner Brothers damned if they do and damned if they don't?

Who gets to fight in 2008? Find out below ...

Finally! News regarding Justice League! And the news is ... that news should be coming later this week! That's right, according to an article over at Entertainment Weekly, Warner Brothers has until January 15 to decide whether to officially greenlight Justice League of America for a spring production -- and summer 2009 release -- or hold off on making any decisions until the strike is over. EW claims filmmakers are not happy with the script, that they'd like another rewrite, and are still debating whether to move forward as is. Apparently all seven superheroes have been cast, but word is Warners isn't exactly thrilled that they'd be risking upwards of $200 million on such a young crop of names. Will the project move forward? Will it get delayed? Will we ever find out either way? Stay tuned ...

Casting rumors regarding the much-hyped G.I. Joe flick have been flying here, there and everywhere. CHUD responds to an earlier IGN story that claimed Sam Worthington (Avatar) was up for the role of Duke in the flick, with recent indie darling Joseph Gordon-Levitt being looked at to play Duke's best friend. CHUD has heard that the Worthington rumor was indeed true, however the deal never worked out. And as far as Gordon-Levitt goes, well, that piece of info comes with a pretty major spoiler. Hear that? Major spoiler ahead. Do not keep reading if you don't want to read a major spoiler. Well, apparently, in the latest script, Duke's best friend turns out to be none other than Cobra Commander. Which means, yes, that Gordon-Levitt is being looked at for the role of villain. Fanboys -- whaddya think about that ridiculous plot twist?

UPDATE: We've removed the Bond 22 info at the request of Rotten Tomatoes.

Could it be that we finally have some substantial Justice League of America news? Well, I don't know how big this news is, but at least it's something -- and it's this something that might win over a few more fans. The Dominion Post tells us that Weta Workshop will be designing all of the costumes used in the upcoming Justice League of America flick. This includes costumes for such characters as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter. Barrie Osborne, the film's Wellington-based American producer confirmed the news: "They are doing all the costumes and they're doing a brilliant job. A lot of people thought it would be too hard, that you can only make those things in Hollywood."

As the article explains, " Weta Workshop specialises in physical effects such as costumes, props, models and movie sets, and Weta Digital does computer-generated visual effects." As of now, Osborne thinks it's possible Weta Digital will also be involved, however it depends on their current workload. Osborne, who worked on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as films like The Matrix, goes on to add: "George Miller has a great take on the material, so it elevates it to something that's not a comic-book movie."

Last we heard, Justice League of America would most likely postpone production until after the writer's strike. All this article says is that production is supposed to begin this year, but "this year" could mean anywhere from next month to later this summer to sometime during the fall to around the beginning of December. Additionally, Warner Bros. has yet to officially announce the cast. So, does knowing Weta Workshop is involved help you feel better about this film?

[via Coming Soon]

As fans continue to cringe whenever more talk of that planned Justice League of America movie creeps online, Marvel is taking a much different approach with regards to their long-awaited Avengers movie. Marvel refuses to move forth on an Avengers flick until all of the characters featured in said movie are well established on the big screen first. Two such characters, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, will debut new looks this summer, while plans to bring the characters of Captain America, Thor and Ant Man are already in the works. As of now, Zak Penn has been tapped to write The Avengers movie script, but no director has ever been announced (probably because the project is still a good two, three years away from becoming a reality). But when it finally comes time to bring someone in to helm, Iron Man director Jon Favreau would definitely like to be considered.

While speaking to MTV, Favreau confirmed that he thinks The Avengers movie is "a great idea" and that he might like to direct it. He also talked a bit about Marvel's intentions, saying, "[But] in the case of Marvel they're pretty clear on wanting to do it with the actors who've established the roles or to not do it at all. That's what they've said to me. I think it's a good idea if you use the characters established in the other franchises that then come together for an event. I don't think they would do it like they're doing 'Justice League' where it's a whole different set of actors and a whole different take on the world." Can I get an Amen on that one, brutha!

So what it sounds like (or at least what's been told to Favreau) is that Marvel will not move ahead with an Avengers movie unless those actors portraying the characters in their individual films reprise those roles for the film. Which is a flippin' fantastic idea, and one that makes sense for a number of reasons. See, as a fan, I'd be more than happy to wait a few years to get a comic team-up movie that was done the right way, like this, than settle for a rush job. And the question now is -- would you want Favreau behind the camera? Or will you hold off on forming an opinion until we see what he does with Iron Man?

Extra Tidbit: A future Avengers flick will apparently be teased in the new Iron Man film, as Samuel L. Jackson is said to be playing a small part as fellow comic hero, Nick Fury.

One flies, one runs and the other whips:

For a film that hasn't released anything official in weeks, we all love to talk about Justice League of America. I'm convinced I'll enjoy writing about this film more than I'll enjoy watching it. So the AFI awards were held in Australia the other night, and Moviehole reports JLA director George Miller was in attendance to NOT talk about Justice League. Well, that's not entirely the case -- he did say the film was still very much on track, with filming to begin early next year. So ... where's the greenlight? Additionally, Miller said the film will have a different name when it goes before cameras. A different name? How do you make a Justice League film and not use the words 'Justice League' in the title? Either Miller was alluding to a fake title being used in order to hide the production (a la Rory's First Kiss, aka The Dark Knight), or he's out of his f**king mind. You make the call.

Will there be another Bourne film? A fourth installment? Ya know, the one where Jason Bourne forgets ... his house keys! Coming Soon sat down with producer Frank Marshall, who was fairly optimistic when asked about a fourth Bourne flick. He says, "There were only three books written. I know they've written a fourth but it wasn't written by Ludlum. Look, we would love to continue the franchise. We just need a great story, and we're not going to do it unless we have a great story, but we are working on coming up with one, and Matt said to me, 'Look, you hand me a great script, I'm in.' Unfortunately, we're not able to do any writing at the moment, but we're all thinking about it." Here's my question: Why would they need a fourth book from Ludlum? It's not like the first three were ever taken into consideration.

Finally, in another interview with Frank Marshall over at MTV (the man is sleeping around with every movie site, it appears), he finally revealed who Cate Blanchett and Ray Winstone will be playing in this summer's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Do you wanna know? Do you really wanna know? Okay, here goes: As far as Blanchett's character, Marshall said she's "playing the villainess in Indiana Jones" and that she "makes a great villain." We all knew she was the villain, but there's your confirmation. And Winstone? Marshall described his character, Mac, as "a sort of cross between villain Belloq and friend Sallah. He plays an archaeologist competitor to Indy. Friend and competitor." Also confirmed was Jim Broadbent's character, who will play a "Yale colleague of Dr. Jones that sort of replaces Marcus Brody." Myself? I'll be playing the guy who cannot wait to see this freaking thing.

Hey, guess what? Another Justice League cast member has been unofficially announced! The Los Angeles Times reports that Adam Brody has signed on to play The Flash, and though he's been rumored as having snagged the role for awhile, the LA Times claims he has closed negotiations and the deal is done. Why hasn't it hit the trades yet? Why isn't Warner Bros. saying anything? Well, according to the Times, Warners won't release the cast because the film hasn't received a green light yet. I'm speculating here, but if it hasn't gotten that green light, then that most likely means something is wrong with the script. Maybe not wrong, but the script needs more work before the project can move forward. And since the writers are still out on strike, that script work won't happen until a deal is reached.

The Times also lists a bunch more names, but those are clearly coming from other sites that broke all this casting news weeks ago. They also claim Megan Gale beat out Jessica Biel for Wonder Woman, however, we all thought Biel opted out of the role herself. Other names mentioned in the article include Scott Porter as Superman, Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul and Common as Green Lantern. There's no mention of Armie Hammer as Batman (hey, at least it's better than getting someone from MTV's The Hills), which IESB confirmed was official sometime last week. Brody is best known for his role on The O.C.

• Marit Allen (c.1941-2007) - Costume designer who worked often with Ang Lee (on Brokeback Mountain, Hulk and Ride with the Devil) and Nicholas Roeg (on The Witches, Eureka, Bad Timing and Don't Look Now). She also produced wardrobes for Eyes Wide Shut, Smilla's Sense of Snow, Dead Man, Mrs. Doubtfire, Mermaids, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and 2007's La Vie en Rose and Love in the Time of Cholera. She had recently been working on costumes for Justice League of America. She died of a brain aneurism November 26, in Sydney, Australia. (Variety)
• Jeanne Bates (1918-2007) - Actress who co-starred in the 1943 serial of The Phantom. Known for playing nurse characters in TV and film, she appears as such in Gus, The Strangler and Paula. She also appears in Eraserhead, Mulholland Dr., Die Hard 2 and Grand Canyon. She died November 28 in Woodland Hills, California. (FindaGrave.com)
• Fred Chichin (1954-2007) - French musician and songwriter who composed music for André Téchiné's latest, The Witnesses. He also appears as himself, with his band Les Rita Mitsouko, in Godard's Keep Your Right Up. He died of cancer November 28, in Paris. (France 24)
• Mali Finn (c.1938-2007) - Casting director who worked on many on many films by James Cameron, including Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Titanic and True Lies, and by Joel Schumacher, including Batman Forever, Batman & Robin and Tigerland. She also worked on The Untouchables, L.A. Confidential, The Matrix trilogy, Wonder Boys, All the Real Girls, Running with Scissors, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Shooter and the upcoming 10,000 B.C., among others. She died of melanoma November 28, in Sonoma, California. (Variety)
• James M. Hart (1943-2007) - Special effects coordinator who worked on Newsies, Apollo 13, The Vanishing and Witness. He died November 19. (IMDb)
• Evel Knievel (1938-2007) - Daredevil stunt motorcyclist who appears as himself in Viva Knievel! and Freebie and the Bean (as "motorcyclist"). He was portrayed by George Hamilton in 1971's Evel Knievel and by Sam Elliott and George Eads in separate TV movies of the same name. He died November 30 in Clearwater, Florida. (AP)
• Al Mancini (1932-2007) - Actor who plays a soldier "Tassos Bravos" in The Dirty Dozen. He also appears in Miller's Crossing, Falling Down, Big Business, Turk 182! and The Public Eye and voices a fish in Babe: Pig in the City. He died of Alzheimer's disease November 12, in London, Ohio. (FindaGrave.com)