June
18 "Justice League" flick one step closer ...

WB's plans for a "Justice League" movie reached a major milestone last week when writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney turned in a first-draft screenplay that Variety's Pam McClintock says had "Warner Bros. suits actually smiling."

Husband-and-wife duo picked up the assignment earlier this year; deal was announced around the time of the New York Comic-Con.

The next big question for the studio will be whether to go ahead with the pic before Bryan Singer's planned sequel to "Superman Returns," which is due in 2009 but reportedly has no script or start date yet set. The casting question also hangs heavily in the air: Should Christian Bale, currently shooting Batman pic "The Dark Knight," and Singer's Man of Steel Brandon Routh reprise their roles in a "JL" flick? Would recasting Batman and Superman with different actors give fans and the press too much to pick on?

Only time will tell which way the studio goes, though they'd better start thinking up some answers for the thousands of fans who even now are sharpening their queries for next month's trip to San Diego.