With WB’s “Harry Potter” franchise about to come to a close, you’ve probably been wondering what’s on our mind as well: how will Warner Bros. eat? Fear not, as they plan to fill this hole with some ambitious spunk, thanks to their DC hero library.
At ShoWest, which is a film business gathering — not a flashers’ convention — WB head Alan Horn confirmed that they would fill the annual slot in their tentpole schedule sans “Potter” with a flood of superhero pictures. As you may recall, WB owns the entire DC Comics catalog, so like Marvel Films, all future productions would be in-house offerings, giving them the chance to build an onscreen universe of heroes and villains that would be consistent from film to film.
The folks at Collider claim that this was a subtle acknowledgment that announcements are on the horizon for their upcoming slate, particularly for the 2012 year. In addition to the “Batman” sequel everyone’s anticipating, the next spandex-wearer to be headed to the big screen would be “The Flash.” The scarlet speedster has been in development before, with names like David Dobkin, David Goyer and Greg Berlanti attached, but the WB, who have Christopher Nolan ambitiously developing another “Superman” film as well, are probably going to announce a big-time director soon.
This is just the beginning of what many expect to be a return to the Marvel/DC rivalry that has persisted in the comic world for years. There are really only a few exciting, bankable tentpole directors in Hollywood, and the WB has already involved one, Martin Campbell, in their superhero world for 2011’s “Green Lantern.” They won’t take any risks with another “Superman,” meaning with development of “The Flash,” a few big name directors might be removed from the pool Marvel is picking from to develop their bigger-than-big ’12 superhero tentpole, “The Avengers.” Oliver Assayas, Clare Denis and Carlos Reygades wait anxiously by the phone.
