Rumors are swirling today that Warner Brothers' newest DC adaptation is none other than Metal Men, a series of comics first published in 1962 (half a year after Fantastic Four #1 was released). MIB director Barry Sonnenfeld is heading the project.

[geektyrant]

It looks like Justice League isn't the only DC superhero movie up Warner Bros. sleeve. The studio has just signed Green Lantern writer Michael Goldenberg to script a Wonder Woman movie.

Wonder Woman recently flopped on the small screen, with a failed pilot starring Adrianne Palicki, but it looks like DC thinks it will have more success as a big-screen blockbuster. No word on a release timetable, or whether this film would lead into the Justice League movie the way Marvel's superhero films set up The Avengers.

Also no word on casting, but if they don't sign Christina Hendricks, may I suggest Erica Durance (who won a "who wore it better" battle with Palicki when she donned the TV Wonder Woman costume during a cameo on Harry's Law)?

[denofgeek.]

Are DC and Warner Bros. intentionally trolling Alan Moore at this point? Launching a prequel to Watchmen despite Moore's strong disapproval is one thing, but now they're licensing Watchmen's iconic vigilante/social critic, Rorshach, for use on a toaster.

The toaster sports a Watchmen logo and a group shot of the main characters, and it will brown your toast to look like Rorshach's famous mask (albeit without the randomly shifting patterns).

It would be funny if weren't so tragic.

[bleedingcool.]

Warner Bros. has acquired the movie rights to classic comic strip character Mandrake the Magician, created in 1934 by Lee Falk (of The Phantom fame).

Mandrake, considered one of the first superheroes, is an illusionist with powers of hypnosis and a genius-level intellect, which he uses to fight evildoers including gangsters and aliens. His supporting cast includes an African strongman sidekick and an evil twin brother (who also happens to be a magician).

The character has previously appeared a 1939 serial and a 1970 TV movie. In the late 2000's, Disney almost produced its own adaptation, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Hayden Christensen both rumored to star.

The Hollywood Reporter says WB wants to give Mandrake a Sherlock Holmes-style makeover, and is currently seeking a writer for the project.

[comicbookmovie]

The movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower may have finally found a home. Deadline reports that producer/director Ron Howard is close to reaching a deal with Warner Bros.

The project has been in the works for a few years, but Howard has had trouble getting studios to go for his ambitious vision of turning the seven-books-and-counting epic into three movies and two limited-run TV series.

He was close to a deal with Universal last year, but pulled out when the studio would only commit to one film.

Warner Bros. is reportedly ready to sign on for the first movie, The Gunslinger, with a script by Akiva Goldsman, with the option to continue the series if it's a success.

WB's partnership with HBO also gives Howard and Co. a venue for the TV segment of the story, if things get that far.

Javier Bardem, who was attached to star as gunslinger Roland Deschaine back when The Dark Tower was at Universal, may still be on the project, but Deadline says that will depend on his availability.

[geeksofdoom]