DC Comics has attempted to build a shared cinematic universe for its characters as early as 2007, way before Marvel's own Cinematic Universe was established, and an upcoming documentary seeks to shed light on the shelved adaptation, an article on comicbook.com revealed.
The planned documentary on the failed production will be titled Miller's Justice League: Mortal and will be helmed by Australian director Ryan Unicomb, together with producers Aaron Carter & Steven Caldwell and Writer/Author/Journalist Maria Lewis. Reportedly, Unicomb and the producers already have private investors lined up for the project, and are considering crowdfunding to add more funds and get the project off the ground. However, aside from financial issues, the filmmakers have yet to secure Miller's nod to grant access to the project, as well as that of his partner Doug Mitchell.
"We wanted to get the story out there to help us to gauge interest," says Unicomb, "I have always been fascinated with [the] project."
Once completed, Unicomb hopes that Miller's Justice League: Mortal will be similar to another documentary, The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? in that it charts the rise and fall of a potential franchise-maker. In the case of Unicomb's documentary, it explores the possibility of superheroes sharing screen time in a cinematic event movie, similar to Marvel's The Avengers.
The shelved Justice League: Mortal was supposed to be helmed by George Miller, director of the recent commercial and critical hit Mad Max: Fury Road, and was supposed to feature the comics company's most iconic characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and The Flash. However, the project fell through, in part because of the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America Strike and the failure of Warner Brothers to get a 40% tax rebate from the Australian Government, prompting the studio to ax the movie before filming had even started, and no artwork had ever surfaced. Since then, DC has attempted to unite its comics characters once more, starting with 2014's Man Of Steel and next year's Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as planned solo outings involving other characters.
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