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.

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.

Warner Brothers has officially pulled the plug on Justice League of America, according to Variety -- or, to be more precise, put it on hold. Erik Davis alerted us to the possibility earlier this week: the studio had until Tuesday to decide whether to officially green light the project so production could begin this spring for release in Summer 2009. Variety says that the contract options were allowed to lapse for the young cast chosen by director George Miller, which rules out an early start. Now it looks like late summer or fall before the project can get underway.

Oddly enough, the cast members were reportedly informed Tuesday night that, while their options had lapsed, the studio still wanted them to play the roles for which they had been cast. Officially, the reasons for the delay are that Warners didn't get an official response on tax breaks they wanted for filming in Australia and that the script by Kieran and Michele Mulroney needed more work, which isn't possible right now because of the writers' strike.

The cast members included Adam Brody as The Flash, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman and Armie Hammer Jr. as Batman. The project as a whole has not incited gale forces of enthusiasm so far, so maybe this delay will give everyone a chance to step back and reconsider whether this is really the superhero tent-pole that Warner Brothers wants to make.

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.

I'm already convinced we'll continually circle the same names over and over and over ... until, eventually, this whole thing will just go away. Yup, we're in Justice League limbo -- not quite development hell or greenlight heaven; we're here to just wait and speculate. It would appear that Warner Bros. has this film cast already. Then why are we hearing (yet again) from sites like AICN and IESB when it comes to casting confirmations? These names should've hit the trades a week or two ago, when we first reported on them. But no. So here we are. Again.

AICN claims they can confirm 100% with all sorts of inside studio sources, their siblings and their siblings' children that Megan Gale has officially landed the part of Wonder Woman in the new live-action Justice League Film. She's from Australia, used to be a fashion model, appeared in the movie Stealth and, well, that's all there is to know at this time. Additionally, and with the same certainty, IESB claims that dude Armie Hammer has landed the role of Batman. He played Barrett on one episode of Desperate Housewives. Kurt on one episode of Veronica Mars. And Student #2 on one episode of Arrested Development. And now he'll play Batman in the long-awaited Justice League flick. Don't try to find the logic people; I've been searching for months now and nada. Will an official announcement come soon? Maybe. Maybe not. So you'll have to make do with this for now.

Over the weekend, a number of different sites received tips regarding the soon-to-be-released Justice League of America cast. The rumors come as The Hollywood Reporter tells us production on the film might have to be postponed due to them being without a finished shooting script, while options on actors who were screen tested are about to expire. I'll discuss whether or not this film is even worth the effort in this week's Monday Morning Poll, but for now let me go down the list and tell you who is (according to rumors) up for each role:

• Batman: Armie Hammer: Random actor who's appeared in Flicka, and in one episode of Veronica Mars. He's 21. (Sources: Batman on Film, Superhero Hype)
• Superman: Scott Porter, 28 (Friday Night Lights TV show, Speed Racer) is up for this role, according to AICN and Cinema Blend, though IESB claims he never read for that part and instead was at one point up for The Flash. Meanwhile, Superhero Hype lists D.J. Cotrona, 27 (Skin, Windfall) as having nabbed the Man of Steel role.
• The Flash: Adam Brody, 28 (The O.C.) has been signed for this role, if you listen to AICN and IESB. However, Superhero Hype claims it's gone to Anton Yelchin, 18.
• Green Lantern: Everyone believes this role has indeed gone to the rapper-turned-actor Common, 35.
• Martian Manhunter: At this time, no one has received information regarding this character.
• Wonder Woman: Megan Gale, 21 (Stealth), according to SH.
• Talia al Ghul: Everyone believes this role will go to Teresa Palmer, 21.
• Aquaman: Santiago Cabrera, 29 (Heroes), according to SH.
• Cinematical Man: According to our own inside studio sources, Scott Weinberg is a lock for this role. Age unknown.

So there you have it. You're all up to date on the currently rumored cast. Warner Bros. is supposed to officially announce the roles this week, however that could change if production gets postponed.