'Justice League' thwarted by writers strike

Posted Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 4:23 PM Central

by John Couture

They've battled some of the biggest baddies in the universe but when it came to a bunch of writers holding paper signs, the Justice League was no match. Variety reports today that Warner Bros. has declined to pick up the options on the cast of Justice League of America, which was set for a Spring start.

The report cites failure to get clarification on pending tax cuts for filming in Australia and the ongoing writers strike as the primary reasons for delaying the film. The studio did reiterate that it wants to film the movie with the cast that director George Miller put together, but that they want to have the flexibility of script re-writes before they lock in to a particular date.

The Variety report also confirmed another rumored casting in the picture. It seems that Armie Hammer had been set to portray Batman in the film.

No new date has been set for filming, but it's a safe bet that it won't make its original Summer 2009 release because of the delays.