With all the hubbub surrounding the Marvel and Disney deal, it's easy to forget the deft moves Warner Brothers have been making with DC's comics properties. After the unprecedented success the company had with Chris Nolan's films "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight", WB seems to taking a much more serious stance in its selection of filmmakers for these comic franchises. We have Martin Campbell, director of the two best modern Bond flicks, helming "The Green Lantern", Guillermo del Toro producing "Deadman", and now we can add to that list the king of Brit grit, Guy Ritchie, who's set to take on a live action, big screen adaption of DC comics' resident bad ass bounty hunter, "Lobo". Hop on your space cycle and hit the jump for more.

Variety is reporting that Ritchie is locked to direct the film for Warner Brothers, with production to begin early next year from a script by Don Payne. The story of the film will focus on indestructable bad ass, Lobo, landing on Earth on a mission to bring in four alien fugitives "bent on wreaking havoc". Lobo will reportedly team up with a human teenaged girl, who will help him on his mission...because we all know how awesome that aspect of "AVP" was... well, maybe this will be better. Probably not though.

Of course, WB is shooting for an effects heavy, sci-fi action tone here, with an eye on a PG-13 rating. And here lies the problem. See, you have Guy Ritchie directing a film about an alien bounty hunter, built like a brick shithouse, who has beat the hell out of Superman, and who's name in the alien Khundian tongue means "he who eats your organs and thoroughly enjoys it", and this film is going to be PG-13? What? I've been a huge supporter of WB for a while now, being a whore for all things Batman, and am especially licking my lips in anticipation for Campbell's "Green Lantern". Long story short, I think they've made a lot of smart moves, but there are a certain few characters in comics that need to be R rated, and Lobo is one of them. Another one is Wolverine, and who would try to do that PG-13?

I have to say that this is a weird idea for a movie. It's kinda like introducing Venom in his own movie (actually, maybe that wouldn't have been a bad idea in retrospect), because most people that know who Lobo is know him as a Superman frenemy. Still, this flick has the potential to turn out okay. Ritchie is a choice I wouldn't have thought of, but sounds totally obvious once you here it. A "Lock Stock" and "Snatch" kind of tone is pitch perfect for the world of the character. Rough, gritty characters, and the dark humor that can be found in a character that can be blown in half and shrug it off as a minor annoyance. Add to this the kind of over the top violence that Ritchie excels at, and you have a winning formula for a Lobo flick. Here's hoping we don't lose too much of the character in a PG-13 translation, and that Lobo refers to himself at least once as The Main Man. Fingers crossed.