Warner Bros. Wants Another DC Movie To Shoot This Year, But Which One Will It Be?

As of now, Aquaman is the only DC Comics movie that's set to go into production for Warner Bros. Pictures this year. However, with a full slate of films announced to be in development, the studio is hoping to get at least one more film in the DC Expanded Universe going in 2017. Since The Batman is now delayed, there are five other possibilities, but which one will get the green light? Let's sort through our options.

This update comes from Variety reporter Justin Kroll on Twitter, who apparently didn't feel like it was a big enough story to be turned into a real news item. Following the news that Aquaman had its release date pushed back from October 5, 2018 to December 21, 2018 (the release date that will not be met by Avatar 2), Kroll revealed that Warner Bros. wants one of five possible titles to go into production before the end of the year, and they're all in various stages of development.

This has been one of the most troubled projects in the DCEU line-up, having lost director Seth Grahame-Smith and replacement director Rick Famuyiwa, with no director named yet. That doesn't bode well for the continued development of the project, indicating that there is some clashing behind the scenes between filmmakers and the executives regarding the vision for The Flash. However, there's a completed script, so if the studio can find a director to go along with their plan, whatever that may be, this one could move forward easily.

This is a project that we didn't even know was a possibility until it was revealed towards the end of last year following the box office success of Suicide Squad. Details on the film are scarce, but it's meant showcase the top female villains from the DC stable, including Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Other characters included are meant to be Poison Ivy and Catwoman, while there have also been rumors of Batgirl and Birds of Prey also being involved.

Suicide Squad director David Ayer is attached to direct with Tomb Raider reboot and Sherlock Holmes 3 writer Geneva Robertson-Dworet behind the script. Geoff Johns and Jon Berg are also producing along with Margot Robbie serving as executive producer. We don't know how far along the script is, but enough pieces are in place that this one is a strong possibility to shoot this year.

Though the cast is almost completely in place after the first film, Warner Bros. is still looking for a director. Mel Gibson was being floated as a possibility, and discussions with the Hacksaw Ridge filmmaker have been confirmed, but there's been no indication of a deal being reached yet. Just recently, Legend of Tarzan writer Adam Cozad was brought on board, so the script likely won't be done for awhile. I wouldn't anticipate the sequel moving forward in the immediate future.

This movie has been in development in some form since even before Man of Steel hit theaters. Known as Heaven Sent and Justice League Dark previously, Guillermo del Toro was attached to the project for a long time before ultimately falling away from it. A rumored shortlist pegged filmmakers like Fede Alvarez to replace him until Doug Liman ended up getting the job. That's the last we heard about the project that will be produced by Scott Rudin and written by Michael Gilio. This one seems like a longshot at this point with no established characters in the DCEU and a long road of unsuccessful attempts to get it off the ground.

This is the project we know the least about at this point. David Goyer (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman) and Justin Rhodes (the in-development Fantastic Voyage and Mass Effect movies) have been hired to write the movie, but there's no director attached yet. In addition, there has been no confirmation of who will star in the movie. Rumors have had names such as Ryan Reynolds, Tom Cruise and Bradley Cooper on a shortlist, though no one has been listed as a frontrunner yet. Recently, Armie Hammer has emerged as a possible contender, but again, only as a rumor.

The movie is meant to have multiple Green Lantern Corps. members appearing, and one of them is supposed to appear in Justice League later this year. That likely means we'll find out who will star in this movie sometime in the near future, but that doesn't mean the movie is anywhere near being in shape to shoot this year.

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So those are our options. While Warner Bros. would like to get one of them off the ground this year, if none of those scripts are ready to get in front of a camera, they'll hopefully be content to just let Aquaman be the only DC title that shoots in 2017 rather than rush something into production. For now, we'll just have to keep our ear to the ground for any news on these projects.