Wonder Woman News

press release:

BURBANK, CA - Silver Pictures, producer of the revolutionary, $3 billion-grossing Matrix franchise, has signed Joss Whedon, creator of the phenomenally popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, to write and direct the feature film action adventure Wonder Woman based on the DC Comics character. The announcement was made today by Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures.

"We are excited about working with Joss," Robiov said. "He brings great energy and creativity to the process. His work on Buffy makes him uniquely qualified to handle the Wonder Woman character."

"There's no one better than Joss to adapt the legendary Wonder Woman comic book character created in the 1940s into a dynamic feature film for 21st century audiences," producer Joel Silver added. "Wonder Woman was the first great female superhero to emerge from comic books and later inspire millions of fans in her television incarnation, but unlike her counterparts Batman and Superman, this groundbreaking heroine has yet to be reinvented for the feature film arena."

"Wonder Woman is the most iconic female heroine of our time, but in a way, no one has met her yet," Whedon said. "What I love most about icons is finding out what's behind them, exploring the price of their power. When Joel and I began discussing the character, I realized there is a woman behind the legend who is very fascinating, very uncompromising, and in her own way, almost vulnerable. She's someone who doesn't belong in this world, and since everyone I know feels that way about themselves, the character clicked for me."

Whedon created and executive produced the hit television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which ran for seven seasons on The WB and UPN, based on his screenplay for the 1992 feature film of the same name. Whedon also created and executive produced the successful Buffy spin-off series Angel, and wrote the screenplays for the films Toy Story and Alien: Resurrection. He is currently completing post-production on the feature film Serenity, which he wrote and directed based on his television series Firefly.

Wonder Woman will be produced by Joel Silver and Leonard Goldberg, and is based on the DC Comics character created by William Moulton Marston.

Wonder Woman will be released worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company & is scheduled for a 2006 release, presumely after Superman Returns.

"Everybody is in agreement that casting is not an issue right now," Whedon says. "It's not a vehicle to be built around a particular star. We want to write the thing, find the right character and then figure out who should play her. There are various famous people whose names have come up, because that always happens, but you know, we're talking about Wonder Woman here. Those are tough booties to fill... I think we will go a little younger than the traditional idea of Wonder Woman"

Kim Basinger, Jessica Biel, Minnie Driver, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jordan Bayne (Poltergeist:The Legacy), & Satu Rautaharju (Dawson's Creek) have all been rumored to be the next Wonder Woman. But according to a report in today's Herald Sun, Mischa Barton is another on Warner's "Wonder Woman" wish-list. Also, Sandra Bullock, who's been long rumored to take on the role has been quoted by The New York Post saying "the idea of my doing Wonder Woman also bit the dust." Check here for more news as it develops.