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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 11/25/2014 @ 6:23PM 10,895 views
Exclusive - 'Justice League: Dark' Script In Studio Hands Today
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Fans have been wondering about the future of Guillermo del Toro’s cinematic adaptation of the DC Comics series Justice League: Dark, since the project wasn’t included in Warner Bros.’ announcement last month of their upcoming slate of superhero movies. The movie, tentatively titled Dark Universe, has been confirmed as a work in progress since the director confirmed it back in early 2013. Since then, however, we’ve have had to make do with only occasional updates, including word that the movie would exist in its own universe and likely not cross over with the other unified DC cinematic world of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and other heroes.. When the series Constantine premiered on NBC this fall, many fans worried it might signal Warner Bros. had changed their minds about pursuing a feature film incarnation of Justice League: Dark (which isn’t a commentary on the show, which is terrific).

Well, thing just took a big leap forward. Today, the completed screenplay for Dark Universe officially went to weekend reads at Warner Bros. The studio’s reactions to the script will be coming back in a few days, and the film could take another step toward production if Warner has a favorable opinion of what they see on the page. The director confirmed the script’s completion and status while I chatted with him about his FX horror series The Strain (watch for that article coming in a few days, dear readers!).

Horror has been doing especially big business as of late, both at theaters and on the small screen at home. And of course, superheros are currently king of cinema while expanding quickly into TV and streaming services like Netflix. So the merger of the two genres would seem to be a smart bet. Back in 2004, del Toro introduced audiences to Hellboy, which took $100 million in theaters and spawned a sequel — Hellboy II: The Golden Army — that went on to $160 million in box office. The horror underpinnings of that comic book adaptation weren’t the first time we’ve seen such a thing, of course, as The Crow for example did it back in 1994 to a less overt degree.

This year’s Guardians of the Galaxy also showed that audiences are willing and able to think outside of the box a bit in their comic book fare. Although of course that film ultimately is a sci-fi action-adventure with lots of obvious mainstream appeal, it’s also undeniable that it had a very unique flavor and some odd elements that had potential to leave viewers wondering “huh??” if it hadn’t been pulled off to such perfection.

And del Toro has a huge fanbase around the globe. Pacific Rim took more than $400 million in worldwide receipts last year, and overall his films have grossed almost $1 billion off of combined budgeting just north of $450 million (nearly half of which was for Pacific Rim). His personal brand continues to grow in popularity, too, especially now that The Strain has been a big success for FX, giving him an even larger introduction to mainstream U.S. audiences.

We’ll have to wait and see if Warner gives the thumbs-up to Dark Universe and finally announces the green light, but I’m hopeful that the stars are finally aligning in its favor.

Are you excited for a Justice League: Dark adaptation? If so, which characters are must-have in your opinion, and which story arcs do you hope to see as inspiration? Sound off in the comments below!