Wonder Woman (June 2nd, 2017)

In their report on Gal Gadot joining the cast of Greg Mottola's Keeping Up With The Joneses as Diana Jones, Deadline offer an update on the Fast Furious actress' upcoming role as a certain other Diana. Last we heard, director Michelle MacLaren (Game Of Thrones, The Walking Dead) actually didn't officially have a green light from Warner Bros. to shoot the solo Wonder Woman flick and was still working out the script with Pan screenwriter Jason Fuchs.

Well, evidently that's changed, as the site reports that cameras are set to roll on the movie this Fall with a June 2017 release date in mind. Zack Snyder recently shared our first look at Aquaman from Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, so perhaps another official image of Gal Gadot as Princess Diana is not far away.

UltimateMarvel wrote:is it just me or do these DC movies start shooting way too early? This is more than 2 years away.

WyldeMan wrote:You're just used to the Marvel turn and burn, DC is about quality over quantity, they take their time.

UltimateMarvel wrote: MOS was well received but they're not sure if the other movies will hold up.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Looks cool! But where is that supposed to be? Themyscira?

According to Latino-Review, they've learned that Scott Eastwood will make a cameo appearance as Steve Trevor in Suicide Squad. In "The New 52", he's part of A.R.G.U.S. and plays a key role in helping Wonder Woman acclimate to her new surroundings. They also have a brief romance which obviously didn't end particularly well what with Diana now being in a relationship with Superman! Regardless, Eastwood playing must be playing the character here in order to set up a bigger role in Wonder Woman, and you have to wonder just how much of a part both A.R.G.U.S. and Amanda Waller will play in that and Justice League. The site adds that Raymond Olubowale will have a minor role as a member of Waller's security team and that he'll also be providing  motion capture in order to bring King Shark to life!

Michelle MacLaren has dropped out of directing Wonder Woman due to what the parties involved are calling creative differences. 
“Given creative differences, Warner Bros. and Michelle MacLaren have decided not to move forward with plans to develop and direct Wonder Woman together,” the studio said in a statement.

While the specific differences that led to the split are not known, it inevitably carries echoes of an incident in 2011 when Marvel and director Patty Jenkins also parted ways. Jenkins had been tapped to direct Thor 2, which would have made her the first female director of a Marvel movie. But when she and Marvel hit an impasse, that movie, which came to be titled Thor: The Dark World, was turned over to Alan Taylor. The fact that both MacLaren and Jenkins off their respective projects is sure to raise the question of whether women filmmakers are welcome in the world of high-stakes, superhero movies.

MacLaren, an experienced TV showrunner and director, was to have made her feature directorial debut with Wonder Woman. She's proven herself adept at handling genre material with directing credits that include episodes of Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and, most recently, Better Call Saul.

MacLaren was hired in November to great fanfare to helm the movie, to which Gal Gadot is attached to star. Her hire capped off months of searching by Warners, which sought out a female director for the project, which centers around the preeminent superheroine in comicdom.

Like many of its DC Comics-derived superhero movies, Wonder Woman has been developed on multiple tracks with various writers working on scripts, and MacLaren had been heavily involved in shaping those scripts.

It is unclear whether MacLaren's departure will affect the movie's scheduled release — it has been slotted for 2017. 

UltimateMarvel wrote:Wow! Big loss indeed. Given her past work, I feel like she would have understood Wonder Woman. Curious on what the creative differences were......

WyldeMan wrote:There are rumors about some of her ideas being against cannon like WW traveling everywhere with a tiger. That's some Aquaman on land type of shit, lol.

Two days ago, it was revealed that Michelle MacLaren had parted ways with Warner Bros. due to "creative differences" about their respective ideas on how Wonder Woman should be portrayed on the big screen. There have since been rumours about that being down to everything from the period setting to talking tigers, but regardless, the studio has already found a replacement!

That will be Monster helmer Patty Jenkins, a woman who is no stranger to creative differences after parting ways with Marvel for that very reason a few years back when she signed on to direct Thor: The Dark World. The deal has already closed apparently, so if those Angelina Jolie rumours are true, perhaps she decided to pick Captain Marvel over Wonder Woman! You have to imagine that Warner Bros. would have faced some backlash if they'd gone for a male director after MacLaren's departure, and Jenkins is a solid choice. Maybe Marvel will nab MacLaren for Captain Marvel now?

While Warner Bros. made a swift decision this week to hire Patty Jenkins as its new “Wonder Woman” director, industry insiders are still chattering about why original helmer Michelle MacLaren suddenly vanished from the project.


The studio is declining to elaborate on the cliched “creative differences” joint statement that was issued when the two parted ways. But, according to multiple sources close to the project, the director’s vision for the movie was vastly different from the studio’s view. MacLaren envisioned the DC Comics-based “Wonder Woman” movie as an epic origin tale in the vein of “Braveheart,” whereas Warner wanted a more character-driven story that was less heavy on action.


Warner executives, these insiders said, became increasingly concerned about MacLaren directing a large-scale, action-packed production when her experience was limited to the small screen, where she made her name directing episodes of “Game of Thrones,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead.”


The studio is expected to stick with a more character-driven movie with Jenkins on board. Also an experienced TV director of shows including “The Killing,” she cut her teeth on the indie feature “Monster.”


MacLaren was also unaccustomed to the laborious development process associated with making movies. One source described that process as “tortuous” when it came to the pre-production of “Wonder Woman.” After Jason Fuchs delivered his script, the studio put as many as five other writers on the project to work up various scripts while executives simultaneously tested story concepts. “They didn’t like MacLaren’s test,” said one studio executive. MacLaren’s rep declined comment.


One of the reasons that Warner acted so quickly in picking a replacement for MacLaren was to make sure the studio stayed on track for the film’s planned fall start date and 2017 release.


The studio will now look to get Jenkins up to speed quickly and is already preparing to find the male lead and love interest for “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot. Test offers for a handful of actors are expected in the next week.

WyldeMan wrote:That last paragraph threw me a bit at first about them looking for her love interest, since Scott Eastwood is playing Steve Trevor but then I realized as an Origin film this will be way before Trevor even exists.

Wonder Woman is about to get hot and heavy with Chris Pine.  Sources tell Variety the “Star Trek” actor is in negotiations to join Gal Gadot in the upcoming superhero pic for Warner Bros.

Pine would play Gadot’s love interest Steve Trevor in the origin story. Warner Bros. had no comment.

Patty Jenkins, who recently replaced Michelle MacLaren, is directing from a script by Jason Fuchs. “Wonder Woman” will be released in 2017.

Charles Roven is exec producing the DC Comics tentpole for Atlas Entertainment. Zack Snyder, director of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” is also producing.

In the comics, Steve Trevor was an intelligence officer in the United States Army during World War II whose plane crashed on Paradise Island, the isolated homeland of the Amazons. He was nursed back to health by the Amazon princess Diana, who fell in love with him and followed him when he returned to the outside world. There she became Wonder Woman (and also his co-worker, Diana Prince).

Rumors had suggested that Scott Eastwood had landed the part, but insiders tell Variety that Eastwood was given a choice to test for the Trevor role or sign on for a guaranteed supporting part in “Suicide Squad,” which he opted to take.

Warners tested a handful of other actors but later decided to look at more high-profile names and go with a straight offer. Pine won over production execs and Gadot at his meeting, leading the studio to pursue him for the role.

Pine, having starred as Captain Kirk in the last two “Star Trek” movies, is no stranger to the fanboy world, but “Wonder Woman” will mark his first venture into cinema’s most popular genre and should lead to more opportunities in DC’s Justice League universe. Gadot’s Wonder Woman, of course, plays a key role in Snyder’s forthcoming “Batman v Superman,” which arrives next March.

The CAA-repped Pine is currently in production on the thriller “Comancheria” and will immediately jump into production on “Star Trek 3″ afterward. He can be seen next in “Z for Zacharia” this August and co-stars in the Disney adventure pic “The Finest Hours” bowing next year.

UltimateMarvel wrote: I hope it's only a rumor though.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Well, then......SHIT!

Tyger wrote:I was liking the idea of Pine as Hal Jordan though

Tyger wrote:I'm only really familiar with Jon Stewart from Justice League /Unlimited so I don't know if a live action version could live up. Same with Hawkgirl.

Chris Pine has closed a deal to play Steve Trevor opposite Gal Gadot in “Wonder Woman,” TheWrap has learned. Pine joins the DC Movie Universe in a multi-picture deal that includes sequel options, according to insiders.

A representative for Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Steve Trevor will be no mere love interest for Gadot’s Diana Prince, as there will be plenty of action to keep him busy, though plot details remain under wraps.

There had been speculation that Pine was up for a role in WB’s upcoming “Green Lantern Corps” and that the “Wonder Woman” rumors were just a smokescreen, but that particular popular fanboy theory proved to be unfounded.

Patty Jenkins is directing “Wonder Woman,” which Zack Snyder and Deborah Snyder are producing with Charles Roven and Richard Suckle of Atlas Entertainment. Jason Fuchs wrote the script after working with Warner Bros. on Joe Wright’s “Pan.”

Wonder Woman will be introduced in next year’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” before her solo movie hits theaters on June 23, 2017.

Pine is currently filming Justin Lin’s “”Star Trek Beyond” and will soon be seen in Netflix’s “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” and Craig Zobel’s “Z for Zachariah.”

Pine recently wrapped Disney’s Coast Guard drama “The Finest Hours” and he also has “Comancheria” with Jeff Bridges and Ben Foster on the horizon.

UltimateMarvel wrote:FUCKING SHIT FUCK!  

I get it though. After the last one, I'd be scared too.

WyldeMan wrote:If this takes place on Themyscira and he's the only dude on an Island full of Amazonians, I totally get why he chose this.

UltimateMarvel wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:If this takes place on Themyscira and he's the only dude on an Island full of Amazonians, I totally get why he chose this.

Yeah, and then there is that. Shit, I don't blame him. I'd have done the same. If he's in this then he should already be in BvS too assuming this is an origin story.

Starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, WONDER WOMAN already sets high expectations for the rest of the cast. Word has spread that Sean Bean and Eva Green are in early talks to join them.

The two actors in question are being considered for the roles of Ares, the God of War, and Circe, the Sorceress. In DC Comics, Circe features as one of Wonder Woman’s major adversaries. Much like the original Circe from The Odyssey, this Circe is a beautiful sorceress with an unfortunate habit of turning people into animals. Likewise, DC Comics’ Ares is based upon the ancient Greeks’ mythological god of war. Like most of DC’s gods, he possesses super strength, and like his mythological predecessor, he proves to be a master of combat and strategy.

While these talks are still in the preliminary stages, Bean and Green definitely have the chops —and the looks— to pull off these two roles.

Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman will begin production this November in London, so casting is well on its way to completion. Wonder Woman is reported to be the first in a trilogy.