After the news of Brandon Routh being pushed away because of the newcomer Superman in JLA, many sites picked up the story, also voicing their own opinions on the matter. The support for Routh is very vocal, "he's the best part about Superman Returns, he's doesn't deserve this", etc etc, but lots of people are relieved about Singer supposedly leaving, too. It does look like many are of the opinion the faults in SR were the writing, the editing, the film itself. Not Brandon Routh. He only did what the director told him to do. People were saying the same thing when SR came out. He's the "saving grace" of the film and whathaveyou.

SR underperforming may not be Brandon's fault, just like him possibly not being Superman again isn't his fault, but he's certainly the casualty in all this. One fan called him "collateral damage" and it's the perfect way to describe it, really. He could go down with the rest because the writers are gone, Singer could walk, WB could support the new JLA Superman instead, there will be a new cast, etc. It's just a domino effect. If Singerverse is gone, Routh is gone. It isn't fair but is movie business ever fair?

Aaaand you know what's coming next! I wondered how long it would take some site to claim right the opposite, that Brandon is IS STILL Superman, so there! Moriarity of AintItCoolNews merely reported what Variety said at first but then they added an update to the article on the same day (this was still the same day the original news broke):

Updated! Brandon Routh Is Evidently Still The Man Of Steel!

UPDATE -- I just got off the phone with a very high-ranking mole who is absolutely in a position to know what's happening with this film, and he tells me that it is "absolutely false" that Brandon Routh is out as Superman for the stand-alone series.

The only thing that has been determined is that JUSTICE LEAGUE will not feature the actors from the other films. That's it.

Right now, Routh is still Warner's choice to return if they make another stand-alone SUPERMAN film, and that's based on conversations as recently as a few weeks ago.

Don't believe this one, kids. Routh's still the Man of Steel.

Then the usual spiel of backpedaling happened and LatinoReview made a correction to their original article:

**EDIT** Other sites are breaking our balls about how I wrote this news piece, so let me correct it. (It's my first news article. Give me a break people!) The article does not state that whomever is cast as Superman will also be the same actor to carry on the stand alone Superman sequel, but we've heard otherwise. If we're wrong, you can go back to breaking said balls.

O_O Um, okay. The usual... but too late. No cookie for you. The damage is done. I was expecting this but frankly, it doesn't lessen the blow to me. They could have done this months ago if they're in it for website hits and traffic and "who's the biggest insider of them all". They could have had tons of "MOS is dead, wait no, MOS is still on" scoops, just like IESB.net ruled the JLA rumour mill for several months.

They're only doing it now because we're so close to JLA starting filming. The date's been set for months. The cast will be announced soon and many people are disappointed about the rumoured names, plus everyone wants to have some sort of scoop right now before all hell breaks loose. It's the perfect timing to scare people. Adding Brandon to the mix just sweetens the deal, makes everything "juicier".

If we've learnt anything from the JLA rumour mill debacle, it's that rival websites and insiders will fight for website hits and traffic and naturally the competition will try to steal it away. Besides, you know what else this Superman drama needs? The TOM WELLING angle. Again. Seriously, you can't have a good Superman scoop without Tom Welling!

( '[Welling] supposedly has discussed this with a close friend and was told that it is already too late to avoid being typecast and he should go where the money is or risk ending up with no career after Smallville.' )

I've been reading some fan discussions on the whole Routh debacle and one fan believes WB is so daring at the mo to dump Routh because Welling was always their first choice anyway and now that they've got him for JLA and possibly the solo Superman franchise, they no longer need Routh. If it's true he was offered an amount few people would refuse (doesn't he get like over $1 million a year for each season of Smallville?), he may as well change his mind and take the role.

One fan mentioned Routh got only $30,000 for SR. That's insane, I've heard it was either $1 or $2 million! I forgot. Does anyone know? Anyhoo, it's not something that's important to me but since WB's all business (all that matters is box office) and is moving ahead with JLA that's probably worth it for very profitable merchandising/toys alone, then maybe they'd be willing to spend a little extra on Welling if that means he'll accept the role. If Welling got the role, he'd be the only really known actor in the superhero team anyway.

The damage is done. It took one short article, no, PARAGRAPH, for the fanbase to see that Brandon would be missed if WB dumped him. People have spoken. Many may be glad about a new director but Brandon they wanna keep. The only problem with this reasoning is that if Singer is gone, a new director would want to follow his own vision and cast his own Superman. Hence the domino effect: First the writers, then the director, then Brandon and the rest of the cast. Bye bye MOS, hello reboot with new Superman, whoever you may be.

Just made this quick graphic today. I present you my DRAMA LLAMA CHOIR! Their song consists of only 3 words repeated over and over again: "Routh! Welling! Unknown!" They like quiet days in the fresh air, red capes and old episodes of Friends.

They ship Clark/everyone.

They pretty much agree on anything (all sheep-like) expect for one thing... The casting in the Justice League of America movie! Everyone has their own fave actor in mind for Superman.



There's lots of *wink* *wink* *wink* in this post. :D Fans llamas never agree on anything, eh?

But seriously, this was just made for fun, with no disrespect intended, and I'll be the first to admit I'm a drama llama when it comes to the Superman casting for this movie.

I hope the day comes we'll all be able to laugh at the past rumours, the drama and the negativity and go watch the movie no matter who gets to play Superman. Even though I'm incredibly sad Routh's not getting the role (and I've no idea whether Welling's still "in" or not, there's so much misinformation EVERY WEEK on this), I at least want to enjoy the movie on some level. I hope it'll be possible.

Heck, if it won't be possible, I'll just picture all the actors as llamas for kicks. Hahaha!

Rumours have died down this past week, it's the quiet before the storm. Even the top JLA insiders have decided to sit this one through unless they have confirmation on their leaks.

It's been said misinformation has been spreading from WB themselves on purpose to throw insiders off. Old-time insiders with good records are getting things wrong. It's been going on for months. Many are waiting for Nov 18th when the rumoured official announcement's supposed to be but the date's just that, a rumour. It started on Countingdown from the female insider I've been posting about before. The particular day was mentioned because a comic book/movie convention in Texas (Wizard World? I forgot which) falls on the same date and the insider believes the studio will announce the actors there. But it's not exactly a large con, so who knows.

Sanchez of IESB.net says on this matter:

"Like I mentioned before, announcing something on Variety and Hollywood Reporter is what studios prefer. Why? Because those are the "Trades" who have been working the industry for a 100 years.
They will leak false information, when we were on set of Indy 4 a couple of weeks ago, Steven Spielberg himself told us that they purposely released false titles to Indy 4 to throw of fans.
Sam Raimi did the same thing with Spider-Man 3. It's not new, they want to control the flow of information."

( Fans are ticked off Welling's name is used to throw people off... )

In somewhat related news, L.A Times reports which tv series will be affected by the writers strike. Why isn't Heroes on the list? Hmmm.
SupermanHomepage asked Smallville producer Al Gough if Smallville will be delayed, too.

If the strikes do impact on "Smallville" what will it mean for the current season?

"If the season is cut short, we have planned for a cliffhanger", explains Al Gough. "That's all I can really say right now."

Even though Noveck said Welling on JLA is "not happening", the Countingdown.com and IESB.com insiders via forums are saying he's already been cast, it just isn't "official" yet. There are pics of Welling that "prove" this! The whole casting announcement is coming on Oct 18th so mark that date.

Yes, clearly this isn't over yet. O_O Here's the juicy:

We have pictures of Tom Welling in Los Angeles two weeks in a row now, where the JLA marathon auditions were happening (as was reported). They were not for the 3 main roles but for others and the Countingdown insider is saying Tom was there reading with them as Superman. Tom works in Vancouver on Smallville 5 days a week and usually has the weekends off. I've read movie auditions also seldom happen on weekends. Is it therefore a coincidence Welling was photographed on the 5th and 14th this month in L.A., around the time the JLA auditions were happening? It was reported the auditions were on Oct 16 which was a Sunday. Did the JLA team have them on a Sunday (which is unusual) so Welling could come over from Vancouver (the only time he actually has time)? Twice in a row?

This is how it started.

There was a comment by some user on IESB boards: "On Monday, Robert posted the report about the marathon auditions and later it was said that these auditions were NOT for the 3 top roles. There was then speculation that Welling was already cast and the actors were reading with Welling in the auditions.

The next day pictures were posted of Welling at his home in Los Angeles!

Have any of you seen these? Does anyone know when they were taken or how to find out?

Here is the link:

http://lonestarverve.blogspot.com/2007/10/tom-wellings-shirtless-web-surfing.html

WARNING: THIS SITE MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO HETEROSEXUAL MEN!

If Welling was in LA on Monday could that mean that he has been cast or is it coincidence? What do you think?"

People were trying to find out when exactly the pics were taken. Someone posted they were taken on the 14th, making this the second weekend in a row that Welling left Vancouver and visited L.A.. The week before he was in town with his wife (Oct 5).

One of the comments: "And why would JLA be having MARATHON auditions on a Sunday? Any crew on hand would have to be paid overtime...I believe that Welling managed one day off from shooting SV, the Sunday deal was a compromise..."

And: "It is probably worth noting that Sunday is the only guaranteed day that Tom has off. They try to not work him on Saturdays, from what I understand, but it happens more often than he would probably like."

The Countingdown insider has an explanation for this (first post at the top). "Every time something is happening on this film, he gets spotted close by. There's only so many times I will accept things as coincidence."

She's saying he was at the auditions but since nothing's official yet, no one's admitting anything.

Wow. I'm kind of at a loss for words at this point. One time he's in, then he's out, then in again and out again. Is WB waiting for the ratings for the Smallville eps first before making an announcement on JLA, to see if the character of Supergirl was popular enough and would warrant a spin-off series of her own, and letting Welling go shoot a movie and ending the Smallville series wouldn't be so bad after all? Are they keeping the cast a secret? Is there a cast already? Is Welling in and insiders have been right all along?

This Tom in L.A thing might mean nothing. Or it might not. It sure is mind-boggling, that's why I'm posting about it.

In other news, Variety reported Ryan Gosling, who supposedly read for JLA Batman, dropped out of Peter Jackson's movie "The Lovely Bones". Shooting was supposed to start yesterday (Oct 22) and he's been replaced by Mark Wahlberg. I've read some speculation that it's because it conflicted with his role in JLA. O___O Ryan Gosling as Bats?
Apparently he already gained 20 pounds and grew a beard for the part in "The Lovely Bones" but the movie would wrap sometime in January which would mean he wouldn't have the time to drop the weight in time for JLA in February.

MY HEAD HURTS.

Voices of Krypton has an interview up with Gregory Noveck, senior Vice President of Creative Affairs for DC Comics, who is also the liaison between DC and Warner Bros.

Noveck answered questions about the JLA movie, why they're casting unknowns in their late 20's and not Brandon Routh or Welling (it's now confirmed, this is coming from someone on the inside, not "sources"), why JLA won't affect Nolan's Batman and Singer's Superman franchises, and more. Here are some of Noveck's quotes.

On Superman Returns:

The thing about Superman Returns is that at the end of the day it’s a recognizable Superman and a recognizable Superman movie. There’s nothing in the movie except where maybe the strictest fans would say, "Superman would never do that." If you’d seen the previous iterations of the script, from my standpoint we were really successful. Is it at the same level of movie that Batman Begins was? Probably not, but it’s a different animal, yet both of those are recognizable as those characters.

On Welling and Routh in JLA:

VOICES FROM KRYPTON: And then there are all of those Internet rumors about Tom Welling being cast as Superman…
GREGORY NOVECK: Not happening, if for no other reason than it would just confuse the issue.
VOICES FROM KRYPTON: And if that’s the case, I wonder why they wouldn’t just use Brandon Routh again.
GREGORY NOVECK: I think part of it is that the character is larger than the actor. If you look at Batman, Superman and Justice League as separate franchises, if all of a sudden you have Brandon in it but you don’t have Christian, then what movie is it? I think you have to have it stand on its own. I’m just speculating, but if I’m the director of this movie, I don’t want to have to be too careful of another director’s iteration of a character. If I use his actor, then I’m kind of beholden to it. What if George Miller hired Brandon and Christian, but he wanted Brandon to really play Superman tougher and wanted Christian to show more humanity, then all of a sudden you’re entering very strange creative territory. The same is true of using Tom Welling. I think ultimately it’s a better movie if you have different actors to keep the iterations of the characters distinct. The example I’ve been using is, is it the Mike Mignolia Batman versus the Frank Miller Batman? It’s still Batman, they’re just different versions of it. I think when we start to open up the films with that kind of lens, where you can say, "These are all Superman, but they’re different versions" – even from Tom Welling to Brandon Routh, right? – that’s pretty cool.

People commenting on that site are angry Welling won't be in the movie. Most of them who commented there want him. The first commenter says: "Casting Welling would "Confuse the issue" but casting a third Superman wouldn't? This is a contradiction and completely illogical."

You could say the same about Routh, of course. I think a lot of people feel the same way, whether they're in the Welling or Routh camp. Instead we're getting a 3rd, young Superman that'll bring in the teenage audience, like Transformers did with their cast. *frown* We'll have to get used to it... WB needs their new Harry Potter and JLA is it.

Whether Noveck was merely being "diplomatic" about Singer and Superman Returns (I've seen some fan wonder about that, always so negative about Singer), it looks like WB is keeping Singer and "Man of Steel" will get made? It didn't say anything negative about it, it even assured us Nolan and Singer's movies won't be affected by this new version of Superman and Batman. The bad news to many are the comments about the young JLA. I've been reading the fan responses and while some do agree JLA needs entirely new actors so the audience doesn't confuse the characters with the characters in Singer and Nolan's films, many are also against the casting choices.

So far I didn't see any hugging, relieved fans making up or Routh and Welling camps finally shaking their hands. *laugh* It might never happen. Maybe it's just too early to tell but IMO this new young Superman won't help/polarize the fanbase. It'll be devided just like before. Welling and Routh fans aren't getting what they wanted.

SupermanHomepage also picked up the story. Lots of interesting comments already.

Here's a nice comic book Superman that looks like Brandon Routh (drawn by Carlos Pacheco, from Superman #663):



♥

IESB bringing us more juicy rumours on JLA! Whoo, boy, I see some people "jumping ship" over this "news". It does not bode well.

IESB.net reports and is not pleased:

You can count out Brandon Routh and Tom Welling, George Miller is bringing his vision of Superman and his fellow super friends to his new Justice League film.

How does Scott Porter for Superman and DJ Cotrona for Batman sound? I know what you're saying... WHO? I had to google these guys myself. Scott Porter just finished up his role as Rex Racer in Speed Racer and DJ Cotrona is hot off of…nothing.

We have been hot on the trail of Justice League info recently calling everyone we know and trust for info. Early today, we heard that Brandon Routh, Singer’s Superman, was never offered or even considered for the role whatsoever. He wasn’t a thought on George Miller’s penguin infested mind. We’ve also learned that while in the early stages, WB execs had Tom Welling, Smallville’s Superman, on the brain and he is who they wanted BUT, and this is a big but, things changed when George Miller came aboard, he had all new ideas with how he wanted this cast to round out.

So again, Porter and Cotrona anyone? Yeah, this is sounding about as good as JJ Abrams Star Trek right now. Apparently, Porter has read for Superman and Miller reportedly loved him.

Now, are these guys cast? No, but they are leading contenders alongside Adam Brody for Flash and Minka Kelly for Wonder Woman.

Has there been a campaign of misinformation from the WB/DC side? Anything is possible with this recent news.

Along with the audition info posted last night on the trades, that confirmed IESB’s mention of Adam Brody, this is turning in a Romper Room League of America film rather than the Justice League that it should be. Not they aren’t old enough age wise, but they’ve all dipped into the "forever young" Hollywood facial and have the look of a couple of 16 year-olds.

Take it or leave it people, at this point, I think I am leaving it.

ROUTH WAS NOT EVEN CONSIDERED. This doesn't surprise me, seeing how the JLA team doesn't want to have anything to do with Singer's version. I thought as much. Moving along...

And Welling's out AGAIN. No words can express how ridiculous this is by now.

DJ Cotrona, the guy whose pic I posted earlier, supposedly didn't audition for Superman but for Batman. It's Scott Porter who's in for Superman and he's the one the director likes! He was mentioned in the previous article, too.

This is Superman Scott Porter, he's 28 years old:




( 3 more pics of Scott... Tell me, does he look like Superman to you? )

( And IESB's rumours on the possible actors for Green Lantern and The Flash... One of them is Adam Brody! )

IESB ends the article with:

Meanwhile online rumors are that WB is waiting to announce all the actors at once and that might be happening on November 18, 2007.

Another month of waiting? The usual. IESB is back to adding their own opinions into the mix, I thought they stopped doing that when it came to JLA rumours (to keep their insiders happy) but I guess not. Sanchez is clearly doubtful about the casting, his insider reports couldn't be more obvious.

Rumour also has it WB has "fake spies" planted on the internet to gauge people's response over JLA news and rumours. I knew it!

Here's some newsflash from me then. Strictly my opinion. WB, you'll never, ever going to find another guy who looks more like SUPERMAN and more "classically handsome" than Brandon Routh. All the Singer bashing aside (hey, never from my side), he did find an amazing, perfect guy to fill in the role. Brandon was his choice. Singer's. No matter how much some people want Singer off the Superman sequel, you wouldn't have Brandon if it wasn't for him.

( Continuing... )

Some goodies, Clarky goodness and more JLA movie news today!

Here are Clark and Lois' Daily Planet PRESS PASSES from the Superman Returns movie. Clark is so cute and dorky on the picture! :o) He looks nothing like Superman on it. *thumbs up* See below for bigger pics.



( See full size PRESS passes! )

Just a little sepia icon set today, more coming soon:



Please credit houseofel in keywords if you're taking any, thank you!

JLA MOVIE *RUMOURS*: WELLING STILL IN TALKS, SMALLVILLE PRODUCERS WANT TO BE ON JLA?

It's been a quiet week on the JLA movie front until yesterday. Insiders are backing each other up and reporting the same info for a change! Does this mean we're close to THE announcement?

Welling fans may celebrate soon because the latest rumours from Sanchez of IESB.net (scroll down to the bold red text) are all about the upcoming JLA and the possibility of Welling being Superman is now very high. Apparently he IS STILL IN TALKS FOR THE ROLE. They're still negotiating with him. And why would they do that if he wasn't the front-runner? Why search for a newcomer if they've wanted Welling from the beginning and he's their top choice? I think Welling as Supes is now a strong possibility. o.o Insiders agree he is definitely still in talks. Weeks ago IESB said Welling hasn't been cast but it looks like they really want him in the movie and won't let him go easily.

Don't you think if Routh was in talks as well, insiders would report it? *sigh*

The other key roles have already been cast, IESB reports:

Sorry about the lack of solid Justice League news, people are being very quiet but I did get an a call from an agent friend of mine from ________ just a few minutes ago and told me that as of yesterday Welling was still in negotiations.

I have been told by various sources that this film is moving forward 100%. So is Justice League green lit? "Officially" no, why? The movie is officially in "Prep" and could stay in prep mode til about 6 weeks before cameras roll. The reasons studios do this is because once a movie is officially green lit then that is when the studios have to start paying off producers and so on and so on.

By keeping it in pre-production they can hold on to their cash a little longer. This happens all the time and is not new in Hollywood. Pre-production is full steam ahead with all departments working full time on the project.

In regards to Tom Welling, we have been reporting for awhile that WB execs want Welling but that it was always Gough/Millar who were causing problems, they want to be producers on the film. It's always about the dough, fair enough.

I am hearing that key roles have been filled but I haven't been able to get any confirmations of which ones.

Yes friends, Justice League is coming summer of 2009.

The creators of Smallville want to be producers on the JLA film? O_O And the JLA team found their new Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc, already? Wow. That was fast.

The Countingdown insider (infamous_emijayne) confirms Welling is still in talks and that Welling's agent is now saying "I have no comment" when called about it and is no longer DENYING Welling is playing in the movie. The plot thickens!
The same insider also says an annoucement is coming very soon:

The interesting part is Welling's agent said "I have no comment". Last time this question was asked, Welling's agent actually said he was not cast. Why the sudden change?? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Also, the NY Times article was wrong about the script not being finished. It is on it's 4th draft. I was told it is absolutely good enough to shoot with and that Miller is quite capable of making revisions during production as he sees fit.

My other sources said announcements were expected this Friday but may have been pushed back up to a week. So the wait seems to be almost over. Thank God.

IESB states Countingdown insider scoop sounds "plausible". Insiders are backing each other up which could only mean they're getting similar/same information and things are definitely in motion. Wow. October's going to be a busy month, of that I am sure. Prepare yourself for one heck of a ride. The extra week of waiting might be because of Welling. He's still going through the contract.

( What about the Superman Returns sequel? )

Before SR, Routh was announced as Superman around this time of year. It was October. Let's hope October's the "magical month" again and we get some good news! *big, hopeful Pikachu eyes*

MORE NEWS!! "SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL" UPDATE!

Robert Sanchez of IESB that has insider sources at WB just posted new bits about Singer's sequel and JLA!

He reports (scroll down a bit):

This is what I was told by a WB source (exec), Welling is going to Supes, I asked if this was 100% and I was told that yes. Last week I was told that something went awry with Welling. I don't know if that has anything do with Gough and Millar not being part of the production or if it was money.

I keep being told that one of the biggest problems that WB is having and something that they don't want to deal with is that the studio does not want to have three Supermans, Routh, Welling and new guy.

Some people at WB think that if Routh is brought back for Justice League it will help reinvigorate the solo franchise. A year later after the release of JL, Singer could come back and do his Man of Steel.

Will that happen? Don't know but I did hear that Routh had a meeting with Dan Lin, I don't know what the results of the meeting was.

Can Welling still be cast for Supes? I was told that it is up to his camp.

So it's up to the creators of Smallville and Welling to decide whether they want Welling as Supes in JLA? I think there's a typo in the first sentence, is it supposed to read "Welling WAS going to BE Supes" or "Welling is going to BE Supes"? I think he meant the latter. Because we did get those rumours last week that he was "in talks" but then something went wrong.

And there might be a chance Routh will be in JLA AND MOS!!

Might, might, might. Still just rumours but oh, boy!

OMG.

Now Routh in JLA is supposed to "reinvigorate the solo franchise" and not just reinvigorate the Superman character in general after the less-than-stellar performance of SR. Before that the rumours were flying that Superman needed a "boost" and that JLA's supposed to do this (since SR wasn't huuugely successful). It didn't mean Routh would continue playing Supes but whoever would be Supes in future solo movies coming after JLA. That new actor would help "reinvigorate" the franchise. Interesting! So it's possible they're going back to Routh now.

I wonder how WB will decide in the end. So far only "some people at WB" think he should be Superman. *keeps fingers crossed* Come on, Dan Lin!

And YES, they don't want 3 Superman actors at the same time! WB, YOU JUST MIGHT HAVE SOME FREAKIN' SENSE AFTER ALL. Juuuust might.