JUSTICE LEAGUE are AMERICAN HEREOS?
A while back George Miller spoke about how his JUSTICE LEAGUE movie would get a new title when it went into production next year. Now both Moviehole and Aint It Cool are reporting that the film's name will be AMERICAN HEROES. Clint at Moviehole has posted this comic cover...
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... which is apparently the name the series went under in foreign markets. Was that in Europe and Australia? Here in the UK I don't think I've ever seen the comic carry that name. Now it could be a working title ala Blue Harvest (RETURN OF THE JEDI) and Rory's First Kiss (THE DARK KNIGHT) but the fact that Miller has publicly stated that the name will change makes me think otherwise. Honestly, why bother? If there's any risk of people outside (and inside) America feeling it's too jingoistic - and believe me there will be people who are bothered by it - then just don't use it. Go with JUSTICE LEAGUE, the recent cartoon series was probably the most popular incarnation of the League and it carried "Justice League" without the "America" part. However in SUPERMAN RETURNS, Perry White alluded to "Truth, Justice and the America Way", and even though he didn't actually say that line, it drew attention to itself and I remember reading a couple of space filling newspaper articles about Superman being "ashamed" of America. So Warners are probably damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they really must have "America" in the title then go with "Justice League of...". Surely that has more name recognition than AMERICAN HEROES? Of course, the name will have nothing to do with the quality of the movie but it's always good to start with a decent title. I like George Miller a lot as a director, I've yet to see a film of his a don't like but there's always a first time. I will judge this film when I see it but some of the decisions being made on this film leave me scratching my head. Let's hope that Black Listed Mulroney's script is really as good as people say it is!