The Story Behind Why George Miller’s Justice League was Cancelled

George Miller is an interesting filmmaker. Not only has he had his fair share of triumphs (Mad Max: Fury Road being chief among these) and disappointments. Between these valleys and peaks are the films that never got made. Now, every filmmaker has many films that almost got made, but few ever have one that would have been a masterpiece.

Mad Max: Fury Road certainly almost fell culprit to that when it literally got stuck in production hell for over two decades. But for George Miller, one of these never to be made films was his interpretation of Justice League. Hell, they’re even making a documentary about the Justice League movie that never was. But what happened, exactly?

In a recent interview with THR, Miller spoke about many aspects of his career. During said discussion, Miller’s failed Justice League film was mentioned. Here’s what miller had to say about the whole ordeal:

Justice League was the main one. That was, oh, seven years ago, I think. And there was a really great script. And Warners said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s do a Justice League.’ I really was attracted to it. But there was a writers strike looming. We had to cast it very quickly, which we did with Warner’s casting people. And we cast it really quickly and we mounted it very quickly. And it depended on a start date and it depended on some basic rebate legislation that had just got through a new Australian government. But it was just too big a decision for them to make in the time. And that fell through and the whole film fell through. We almost got there. And it wasn’t to be. But that happens a lot, where films line up and the stars look like they’re aligning and they didn’t.

Miller’s film, titled Justice League Mortal, had a fleshed out pre-production process, as well as a fully formed cast. Here’s a photo that stuntman Greg Van Borssum revealed of almost all of the cast members back in 2007, when the film was scheduled for release sometime in 2009.

Posted by GVB Mind Warriors on Friday, March 21, 2014

The film was set to star:

  •  Armie Hammer as Batman
  • Adam Brody as The Flash
  • DJ Cotrona as Superman
  • Megan Gale as Wonderwoman
  • Common as Green Lantern
  • Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman
  • Teresa Palmer as Talia Al Ghul
  • Zoe Kazan as Iris Allen
  • Hugh Keays-Byrne as Martian Manhunter
  • Jay Baruchel as Maxwell Lord.

The sad part about all of this is that the film ultimately seemed to fall apart based on the most mundane circumstances possible. I’m sure that the aforementioned documentary will dig into this a little deeper and surely find more of a concrete, dramatic reason why the film eventually did not happen. Regardless, George Miller’s Justice League Mortal will always be in one of those valleys in his career, a true question mark. How do you feel about a George Miller-helmed Justice League film? Let us know in the comments!

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About Taylor Salan

Taylor Salan is a independent filmmaker who currently resides in the San Fernando Valley. Since childhood, Taylor Salan had a fascination with movies. Although he was an avid fan of film as a child, it wasn’t until his years as a young adult that his passion for the art of filmmaking truly came to fruition. A current student of the film production program at California State University Northridge, Taylor studies Cinematography but ultimately has plans to direct full time if afforded the opportunity. In his spare time, Taylor produces audio podcasts and blogs about film for ageofthenerd.com. He is also a longtime musician, playing drums for over 8 years.

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