Ditched at the 11th hour, George Miller’s Justice League Mortal feature film held great promise. Marvel’s dominant multiplex presence governs the current comic book movie climate, yet we were so close to another studio leading the charge. Warner Bros. shut down Miller’s movie due to a complex web of reasons, and is in all likelihood kicking itself after the veteran director’s critical smash Mad Max: Fury Road. Nevertheless, director Ryan Unicomb intends to shed light on exactly what went down in his tell-all documentary Miller’s Justice League Mortal.
Announced in May 2015, the filmmaker intends to produce “an unbiased account of the project’s development, pre-production and cancellation, as well as the impact on the Australian film industry.” Much like Jon Schnepp’s account of Tim Burton’s Superman Lives, Unicomb plans to unveil what happened through exclusive interviews, never-before-seen artwork and possibly a batch of test footage.
Thing is, Miller and his producer Doug Mitchell won’t appear or give consent, until Warner Bros. signs off on the movie. “It’s a nervous wait,” Unicomb told IF. “George Miller and [his producing partner] Doug Mitchell know about the project, so now it all hangs on Warner Bros’ involvement.” With the fate of the flick in the hands of a studio currently developing its own two-part version of the same property, it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
Studio heads might fear the stigma of an unsuccessful JL movie could stain public opinion on its rebooted version. Or they might not care at all and give Unicomb the thumbs-up, and possibly include Miller’s Justice League Mortal as an extra on the forthcoming Justice League films’ eventual Blu-ray release. Stranger things have happened.
