Warner Bros. has a potential goldmine with the DC Comics license, but their attempts at moving forward on superhero projects have stalled.  Films featuring The Flash and Wonder Woman are stuck in development hell, and the recent script for Justice League had to be scrapped.  So it’s all going to fall on the broad shoulders of Superman.  In a recent interview, Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov says that Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel is “setting the tone for what the movies are going to be like going forward. In that, it’s definitely a first step.”

Hit the jump for more including a dismissal of a recent rumor regarding Christopher Nolan and Justice League.

A new overseer has been assigned to the Namibia-based filming location of director George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road.  Concerns about the film falling behind schedule and beginning to go over budget (not to mention the cost of flying executives to and from Africa) have necessitated the placement of Warner Bros. producer, Denise Di Novi on location.  While she won’t have producer credits on the film, Di Novi will be responsible for supervising the production as a “studio representative.”  The film, which started shooting in July, is reportedly still expected to wrap by the end of November.

Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Nicholas Hoult and Zoe Kravitz, is due out next year. Hit the jump for more.

Now that The Avengers has delighted audiences and killed at the box office, it’s time to move onto the next big and shiny superhero toy: The Dark Knight Rises*.  The film will be Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale‘s final go-round with the Batman, and audiences are excited to see how, to quote the poster, “the legend ends.”  And after the legend has ended, how will Warner Bros. proceed with one of their most successful franchises?

Hit the jump for my prediction on how The Dark Knight Rises will end, how I’d like the Batman franchise to continue, and what I think Warner Bros. has in store for the caped crusader.

Now that all big four superhero movies have come out this summer, Green Lantern is clearly the biggest disappointment of the bunch.  Rather than charge into production on a sequel, Warner Bros. was forced to take a tepid wait-and-see approach to the international box office and home entertainment sales.  But Green Lantern 2 is certainly still in the studio’s mind and President Jeff Robinov believes that the problem wasn’t the concept but the execution.  However, the flaws he sees in the execution weren’t the ones that sunk the movie.

Hit the jump for what Robinov said the sequel needs to do in order to “improve” on the original.

Earlier today at CinemaCon, Warner Bros. held a panel with president Jeff Robinov during which he discussed some of the studio’s upcoming projects. In addition to reiterating the studio’s enthusiasm for projects such as The Hobbit, Dark Shadows, and the Clint Eastwood/Beyonce team-up that is A Star Is Born, Robinov also mentioned much anticipated projects such as The Great Gatsby (starring Leonardo DiCaprio), Mad Max: Fury Road, and Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity (starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock).

While there have been some questions regarding the status of both George Miller‘s Mad Max installment and Gravity, any time the head of a studio discusses projects as being in the studio’s short-term forecast, you can be sure the wheels are turning on said films.  Steve will have a lot more on the WB panel and what was shown, but for now, consider these projects on the immediate horizon.

Christopher Nolan has publicly stated that The Dark Knight Rises will be his final Batman film, and Warner Bros. is already looking ahead to the future of the franchise.  As we reported last night, the studio is currently planning a Justice League movie for 2013 and Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov tells Hero Complex that scripts are being written for Flash and Wonder Woman (the Wonder Woman project would exist separately from the upcoming NBC show).  But most intriguing is what the studio plans to do with its marquee superhero, Batman:

“We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman…” says Robinov.  “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.”

Hit the jump for my thoughts on the future of the Batman franchise.

Warner Bros. president Alan Horn is retiring this week after 12 years as the man with final say on every studio project.  Jeff Robinov will succeed Horn, and the LA Times profile of the apparently awkward studio executive confirms what we knew about WB’s tentpole strategy in a post-Harry Potter world: fill the void with DC Comics superheroes.  The specifics of that superhero slate might surprise you.  The LA Times writes: “[Robinov is] aiming to release new Batman and Superman films in 2012 and Justice League, a teaming of DC’s top heroes, in 2013.”

We’re well aware of The Dark Knight Rises (July 20, 2012) and the Superman reboot (December 2012), but it’s news to us if there are even tentative plans to release Justice League in two years.  A discussion of whether or not it’s even feasible after the jump.  [Update: Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov has confirmed to Hero Complex that the studio plans to release a Justice League movie in 2013.]

Yesterday, we reported on David Goyer leaving his showrunning duties for ABC’s FlashForward focus on his film career, which included a mention of the inevitable Batman 3. At the time, it seemed like a continuation of the logical but as-of-yet unconfirmed rumor that director Christopher Nolan and screenwriter Goyer would return to Gotham.  A new report Deadline, advances said heresay and ups the ante by about a million chips.  Not only has Nolan cracked the story of the sequel to The Dark Knight and committed to participate, but Warner Bros. has recruited the modern auteur to “godfather” the newest film in the Superman franchise.  It’s unlikely that Nolan will direct the Superman sequel, but any portion of the reins handed to the man indicates a serious effort on the studio’s part to make the best Superman while they still have the time.

For speculation on the future of two of the biggest superhero franchises on the planet, hit the break.

I’m going to do my best trying to decipher the corporate ins-and-outs of the news that DC Comics is restructuring in order for its parent company Warner Bros to finally bring their major superhero properties to the big screen.  Hit the jump to have me comically (wordplay!) misunderstand everything.

[Update: We've added the full press release for the WB/DC-restructuring after jump]