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Back in 2007, Warner Bros. was moving full-steam ahead on a JUSTICE LEAGUE movie with hopes of getting into production before the looming writers' strike. Actors like Jay Baruchel, Armie Hammer, Teresa Palmer, Adam Brody and Common had signed on to star in the film that would follow a younger crop of superheroes (so as to not conflict with the more adult universes that Batman and Superman were filming in).

But while rehearsals were well underway, the script never got up to par and Warner Bros. shut the whole thing down in January of 2008. Now, three years later, it looks like WB is finally ready to return to the JLA.

Buried in an article about Jeff Robinov taking over as president of Warner Bros. is some word on what high-profile projects Robinov is planning for the future of WB. It mentions new BATMAN and SUPERMAN films in 2012 before a cryptic mention of "JUSTICE LEAGUE, a teaming of DC's top heroes, in 2013."

UPDATE - The LA Times was able to get Robinov to clarify and he said that after THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, they'll be rebooting Batman for JUSTICE LEAGUE. Asked what exactly that means, he said, "Chris Nolan and [producing partner and wife] Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is." So perhaps the bigger news is that Chris Nolan will be producing JUSTICE LEAGUE, as they are producing SUPERMAN?

Were this from a producer or a star or a writer, I'd still be very skeptical because sometimes those people don't even know what's going on. But this is Jeff Robinov who has sole green light power at Warner Bros. and if he wants a JUSTICE LEAGUE movie, then so be it, he'll have his JUSTICE LEAGUE movie.

Of course it's not as easy as what Marvel is doing with THE AVENGERS. While that film will keep many of the same cast members from Marvel films over the past few years, JUSTICE LEAGUE won't get Christian Bale as Batman. And if they don't get Bale, do they keep Henry Cavill or return to a much younger cast?

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Robinov knows that the most bankable part of his superhero empire has been Nolan and his Gotham City films – the studio has yet to deliver a 21st century superhero blockbuster hit without Nolan in the director’s seat. Batman will continue to be a centerpiece property beyond next year’s “The Dark Knight Rises” and Nolan’s departure from the franchise. “We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman…Chris Nolan and [producing partner and wife] Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is.”

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