Sci-Fi Storm

Joel Silver seems to have two labors of love – big screen adaptations of Wonder Woman and Logan’s Run. We know the latest history of Wonder Woman, but that doesn’t mean someone doesn’t think they can do it right. In steps Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn – who thinks he might get the chance – “if I get Logan’s Run right.”

Refn was named director of the long-stuck project back in February, with Drive star Ryan Gosling attached as the lead.

This is just breaking – rumors circled earlier today that the David E. Kelley pilot of Wonder Woman – which had been shelved and then unshelved – received mixed reviews, and now it seems confirmed – NBC has decided to pass on the show. Guess that ends the controversy over the color of the boots and whether she should be wearing pants…

After all the rumors and suggestions as to who would make a great Wonder Woman, David E. Kelley and NBC have made their choice – Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights). Reportedly she is the only one that actually tested for the role.

From the random bits of useless knowledge department: Palicki played the part of Judy Robinson in the Fox/WB Lost In Space remake that starred Jayne Brooke and Brad Johnson but didn’t get past the pilot stage. This version had two sons and one daughter (no Penny but a David), and no Dr. Smith either, and if I remember the Robinsons were passengers on a larger ship that gets attacked and they separate from the mothership to escape. The ship’s control props were recycled for use as the Battlestar Pegasus on Battlestar Galactica.

The NBC Universal-Comcast merger appears to be having an effect on programming already. Despite NBC’s interest but ultimate passing just two weeks ago on David E. Kelley’s spec script for Wonder Woman, new president Bob Greenblatt revisted that decision and elected to pick up the show.

With The Hulk turning (ahem) green at ABC, could we see dueling comic heros – and comic book studios?

All the major networks appear to have passed up David E. Kelley’s spec script for a modern take on Wonder Woman, and it appears unlikely anyone else will pick it up due to the expected costs. Deadline has the best analysis as to why each likely passed on it. ABC’s parent Disney now owns Marvel, while Wonder Woman is a DC Comics product, which is owned by Warner Bros. – but CW, jointly owned by CBS and WB, couldn’t afford it. It isn’t dead yet though, but in cold storage – Kelley could thaw it out a later time when the situation improves.

This was floating around the Twitterverse, but JMS confirmed it a short time ago on Facebook:

As reported: with the huge success of the Superman GN, DC wants to fast-track the next one. This will require a great deal of care, requiring me to step back from scripting the monthlies to focus on this. Those stories will continue to their conclusion, based on my outlines. I’m also taking this opportunity to take a 1-5 year sabbatical from writing comics to concentrate on GNs and miniseries.

And he followed up:
(continue reading…)

After years of Joel Silver trying to bring Wonder Woman to the big screen, and Joss Whedon bowing out of writing it in 2007 after conflicts over the vision, we may finally see a new incarnation of Wonder Woman – but on the small screen instead. What is strange is that it has a seemingly unlikely producer/writer attached: David E. Kelley, the Boston lawyer-turned-TV writer/producer responsible for legal dramas like L.A. Law, The Practice, Boston Legal, Ally McBeal and Picket Fences. So, Diana is going to moonlight as a lawyer this time around?

DC Comics has announced that J. Michael Straczynski will take over as writer for both Superman (s\with issue #701) and Wonder Woman (issue #601). JMS says that “For as long as I’ve been doing conventions (starting in the early Cretaceous period […]) there has always been the same question from folks in the audience: “Is there any one character who is your dream character to write for?” The answer has always been the same: Superman.”