'Justice League,' 'Lego,' 'Fantastic Beasts' movies coming from Warner Bros.
The superheroes of DC Comics will battle the聽Marvel聽heroes at the box office, as Warner Bros. confirmed plans for upcoming films on Wednesday that include new installments of "The聽Lego Movie" franchise and expansions of the "Harry Potter" world.
Masked hero Batman will get a starring role with Ben Affleck's portrayal in Zack Snyder's anticipated 2016 release of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Affleck will reprise the role for Snyder's 2017's "Justice League聽Part One" with Henry Cavill returning as Superman and聽Amy Adams听补蝉听Lois Lane. Snyder will also direct "Justice League聽Part Two" for release in 2019.
Actress聽Gal Godot聽will debut as Wonder Woman in "Batman v Superman" and helm her own "Wonder Woman" film in 2017.
Lego聽Batman, voiced by聽Will Arnett聽in this year's hit聽animation聽"The聽Lego聽Movie," will get his own spotlight in "The Lego聽Batman Movie" in 2017, and will also return in "The聽Lego聽Movie 2" in 2018. The聽Lego聽franchise will also include "Ninjago" in 2016.
The new release dates and casting details were issued by聽Time Warner聽Inc's Warner Bros. studios at the company's investor conference. They come at a time when Disney's聽Marvel聽superheroes such as "Captain America," "Iron Man" and "Avengers" are ruling the box office.
"The demand for high quality video content is growing fast 鈥� in the聽United States聽and around the world 鈥� as new technologies have created new platforms and millions of new connected consumers," said Warner Bros. Chief Executive聽Kevin Tsujihara.
While the "Harry Potter" franchise concluded with its eighth installment in 2011, three new films from the fantastical world of magic created by author聽J.K. Rowling聽will be released every two years from 2016, starting with "Fantastic Beasts."
The new film will feature characters from the fictional textbook written by Newt Scamander at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and will be directed by聽David Yates, the filmmaker behind the final four "Potter" movies.
A new band of DC heroes, the "Suicide Squad," will get their own film in 2016, directed by "Fury" filmmaker聽David Ayer. The Suicide Squad are ruthless incarcerated villains who work for the government in high-risk missions.
Speedy hero The聽Flash聽will be played by 22-year-old "Perks of Being a Wallflower" actor聽Ezra Miller聽in a standalone film in 2018 and "Game of Thrones" actor Jason Momoa will take the lead in "Aquaman" that same year.
Captain聽Marvel, who has the power to transform into six mythical heroes, will lead new film "Shazam" in 2019, and stage actor聽Ray Fisher聽will play the lead in 2020's "Cyborg," the superhero alter-ego of聽Victor Stone聽and one of the founding members of the聽Justice League.
