In a talk with Vulture, Michelle MacLaren reveals that her upcoming DC adaptation Wonder Woman isn’t as far along as you might think. Despite having its star in place in Gal Gadot, and Warner Bros doing everything it can to make Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice be the epic launchpad for a big slate of DC movies, MacLaren says that Wonder Woman currently has no script, no solid release date, and no official green light from Warner Bros.

That’s all she’d reveal, though, about the hotly-anticipated film. “I really, ­really, really can’t talk about this,” she told Vulture. “I just picture a drone coming in over the hills and crashing through the glass and flying over here and putting duct tape over my mouth, you know?“

When Warner Bros released a press release on October 14, at an investor conference, asserting that the studio had an aggressive strategy lined up for its DC Entertainment brand, and specifically named Wonder Woman as one of the titles in development, many assumed that the wheels were all ready fully in motion for the film. The official press release gave it a tentative release year of 2017. 

With the hiring of an acclaimed director like MacLaren, whose work includes such lauded titles as Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Breaking Bad, it’s clear that the studio has every intention of making this thing fly an invisible plane right to the big screen. Still, it’s notable that the studio is taking a top-down approach to putting the film together, starting with a desire to make a Wonder Woman film and then working backwards to create it. Which is fine. But with no green light, as MacLaren puts it, it’s unclear how far along the nuts and bolts of the film actually are.

With nearly three years between now and the film’s release, they’ve got plenty of time. Jason Fuchs, of Ice Age: Continental Drift and the upcoming Hugh Jackman Peter Pan flick, Pan, is hard at work on the script. Once he’s done, the film will get the green light, assuming the studio likes what he turns in. Let’s just hope that Warner Bros is more fortunate than Sony, who also took a top-down approach when they excitedly announced their Spider-Man Cinematic Universe plans, only to see that whole slate wither away in the months to follow. That’s always the danger of making these high-profile announcements before you really have all of your ducks in a row.

One could argue that Warner Bros and Sony share many parallels in this respect. Sony rebooted Spider-Man to average reviews (73% on Rotten Tomatoes) and $757,930,663. Warner Bros rebooted Superman to average reviews (55% on Rotten Tomatoes) and $668,045,518. Sony went straight ahead with the same director, but different writers, to make an ambitious sequel meant to launch several spin-off franchises. Warner Bros went straight ahead with the same director, but different writers, to make an ambitious sequel meant to launch several spin-off franchises. Before the sequel came out, Sony announced it had Spidey-related films lined up for the next 4-5 years- including naming directors for some of them. Before the sequel came out, Warner Bros announced it had DC-related films lined up for the next 5-6 years- including naming directors for some of them.

Then The Amazing Spider-Man 2 came out, and everything began falling apart. In 2016, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will come out, and ___________________________. We shall see, won’t we?

Like I said, we can only hope that Warner Bros is better prepared than Sony was. I’m confident that they’ll be more successful, but the parallels are all worth noting. I want these movies to work. I want to fall in love with the DC Cinematic Universe, so I’ve got my fingers crossed. I have more riding on these films than I did the Spidey films, since I’m an avowed DC fan. 

Won’t you join me in hoping for the best?

SOURCE: Vulture