‘Supergirl’ Movie Reportedly in the Works as Warner Bros. Hires Screenwriter
A little bit of a good news / eyebrow-raising news situation here, as Warner Bros. and DC Films are reportedly plotting a Supergirl movie (yay!) from the writer of The Cloverfield Paradox (hmm…). It’s still early days, however, and given the number of writers typically involved in your average blockbuster, it seems likely that this iteration of the script will be one of many.
Deadline reports that Warner Bros. and DC Films — under the guidance of new studio head Walter Hamada — are developing a Supergirl movie, which will follow Superman / Clark Kent’s similarly-super-powered cousin, Kara Zor-El. Like the rest of the DC movie universe, this film will exist separately from The CW’s television universe, where Melissa Benoist plays the titular hero on the hit Supergirl series.
Although DC and WB have yet to attach a producer to the Supergirl movie, the studios have reportedly tapped Oren Uziel to write the screenplay. Uziel’s credits include 22 Jump Street, The Cloverfield Paradox, and the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie starring James Marsden and Jim Carrey. Of course, the most notable thing about Uziel is that he is a he; in recent months, WB has leaned in to the idea of hiring women to make their female-centric DC movies, with Cathy Yan directing Birds of Prey from a script by Christina Hodson, and Patty Jenkins returning to helm Wonder Woman 1984 (aka WW84).
The studio also appears to be paying closer attention to which characters and films are hitting with audiences — particularly Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn (who will return to headline the all-female Birds of Prey ensemble) and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman — and working to capitalize on their popularity. (I mean, it is awesome that the two most beloved and successful characters in the DCEU right now are women.)
And again, Uziel is probably the first in a line of screenwriters who will tackle Supergirl for Warner Bros. Should the studio move forward with the project, it would be great to see them hire another female filmmaker to take the helm.
Supergirl is one of a few upcoming projects in the works at WB and DC Films: There’s also the previously mentioned Birds of Prey, along with Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and The Joker from writer / director Todd Phillips. That project is an origin story starring Joaquin Phoenix as the eponymous Batman villain, and is part of a new DC Films banner that will allow filmmakers to explore iconic characters in alternate timelines / realities — as such, The Joker has no bearing on or relation to Jared Leto’s own solo Joker film.
DC and WB also have a couple of films in the can: Aquaman, which arrives this December, and Shazam, which hits theaters on April 5, 2019. WW84 will arrive on November 1, 2019. In the meantime, Ezra Miller’s solo Flash movie will reportedly begin production next February for a likely 2020 release.