http://chud.com/nextraimages/JusticePoster.jpgIf I was a betting man, I would lay my money down on a Justice League movie hitting theaters in 2009. IESB has heard from their sources that Warner Bros is looking to get the film underway by early next year; I can confirm that from my own sources: this is a hot property at Warner Bros, and it’s one that they’re moving forward on quickly. That’s a little bit of a tragedy, since the speed is partially dictated by the timeline of the impending strike, and that speed will probably mean a very large-scale film that will be rushed through development.

The latest public word that indicates how front-burnered this film is comes from Ryan Reynolds, who is making some more than Oh Don Piano noise about playing the Flash (a role he was to play when David Goyer was directing the impending Flash movie) in a JL picture. Talking to MTV, Reynolds said, “‘The Flash’ isn’t dead at all. There’s talk of it being a JLA movie, the Justice League having them all together.” When asked if a Justice League movie could happen before a Flash movie, Reynolds conceded it might. “I don’t really know how much I’m allowed to talk about that stuff. But I’m sure they’ll figure out something. It’s no secret that they have a JLA script and it’s a project that’s in development – the contents of which, who knows. We’ll see.”

As the MTV Movies Blog points out, Reynolds really sounds much more in the loop than even some actors I’ve spoken to who are officially signed to movies.

The Justice League script that Warner Bros has right now includes Batman and Superman, and the speculation at this point is who will play those characters. Tomorrow is the 3:10 to Yuma junket here in Los Angeles, and you can expect me or someone else (I hope it’s someone else because I fucking hate these questions) to ask Christian Bale if his Batman contract includes a crossover movie. I’m willing to bet that the answer, if he was being completely honest, would be yes.