Top 10 Tamil Films of 2018

We could not afford to watch every Tamil movie released in our small hometown in Malaysia. However, here is our very own list of films that we managed to catch at our local cinemas. 

15. Vishwaroopam 2 

Following the events of the first film, Wisam and his team leave New York for London to return their friend, Dawkins' body to his family. During this time, they learn of how terrorists are planning to blow sunken cesium weapons brought to the UK by American soldiers during the second World War to create a tsunami that will destroy London. Although Wisam manages to stop the terrorists, they manage to escape to India. Wisam is forced to return to his homeland and confront his past...

14. Tik Tik Tik 

Following a meteor shower in Chennai, the Indian Space Research Organisation predicts an asteroid will hit India in less than a week. Army officers Swathi (Nivetha Pethuraj) and Raguram (Vincent Asokan) recruit Vasu (Jayam Ravi) and his friends, who are professional magicians and escape artists to break into a Chinese space station and steal an illegal nuclear missile that they can use to destroy the asteroid. Under the pretense of a satellite maintenance project, Vasu and his team are sent into space. However, Vasu receives an anonymous message warning him to sabotage the plan or else his son will die. To make things worse, the Chinese space station captain, Lee Wei (Aaron Aziz), is aware of the Indian space team's plans...

13. U-Turn

Rachana (Samantha Akkineni) is an aspiring journalist who is working on a story about the mysterious deaths of people across the city who are linked to a flyover in the city. She becomes convinced that someone is targeting motorists who move the concrete blocks that divide the road to avoid traffic by making a quick U-turn. She eventually learns that these motorists often do not place these blocks in their original position and this leads to many road accidents. As she investigates even further, she learns that all their deaths are linked but not in a way that she would have imagined...

12. 96 

Ram (Vijay Sethupathi) is a freelance photographer who is overcome by memories during an unplanned visit to his former high school. Through his class' social media group, he manages to arrange a reunion party in the city by inviting everyone who graduated in the year 1996. Ram's high school sweetheart, Janaki (Trisha Krishnan) shows up unexpectedly... 

11. Imaaika Nodigal

CBI officer Anjali (Nayanthara) was instrumental in the killing of Rudra (Anurag Kashyap), a serial killer who terrorized Bangalore when she was still a rookie. Years later, a copycat killer surfaces, claiming to be the real Rudra, whom Anjali failed to capture. Things become complicated when Krithika (Raashi Khanna), who is the girlfriend of Anjali's doctor brother, Arjun (Atharvaa) is abducted by what appears to be Rudra. When Anjali is suspended and kept under house arrest, Arjun decides to take matters into his own hands and tracks down Rudra, who reveals that Anjali has been harboring a dark secret for many years, one that will destroy her entire reputation... 

10. Annanukku Jai

Sekar (Attakathi Dinesh) is a carefree young man who works for his father Murugesan (Mayilsamy) who sells toddy without a license to their fellow villagers. One day, Murugesan is arrested by the police after the jealous bar owner, Selva (Dheena) makes a report against him. Sekar cannot avenge his father since Selva works for Parasuraman (Radha Ravi), the local corrupt politician. Desperate, Sekar decides to join politics himself to take down Selva. One night, someone tries to murder Selva and the entire village starts to suspect Sekar is behind it...

9. Naachiyaar

Naachiyaar (Jyothika), a no nonsense Chennai policewoman and her partner, Feroz (Rockline Venkatesh) save Arasi (Ivana), an underage rape victim from her uncle and his goons who try to force her to undertake an abortion. The prime suspect turns out to be Arasi's boyfriend, Kaathu (G.V. Prakash Kumar), who is sent to a juvenile home, where he is cared for by a warden. When a DNA test is conducted on Arasi's baby, the truth eventually exposes an elaborate underground network of rapists and enablers who prey on unsuspecting young girls from impoverished communities...

8. Kolamavu Kokkila

Kokila (Nayanthara) is an educated but timid young lady who is struggling to find a job to support her family. When her mother is diagnosed with lung cancer, a desperate Kokila convinces the local gangster to allow her to smuggle cocaine for him. She manages to fool the authorities with her naive appearance and successfully transports drugs across the city. When she tries to quit the business, the gangster threatens her to deliver one last consignment to his partner. However, this consignment is the largest she has ever transported. To complete the task, she recruits her own family and friends to help out...

7. Chekka Chivantha Vaanam

Senapathi (Prakash Raj) is the mafia leader of the most powerful and influential crime family in Chennai. One morning, he and his wife Lakshmi (Jayasudha) are almost killed by assassins disguised as policemen. Senapathi suspects it must be the work of one of their three sons. Varadan (Arvind Swami), the hot-tempered and cold blooded eldest son is Senapathi's closest henchmen. Thyagu (Arun Vijay), the second son is the most educated and is expanding their families' businesses in the middle east. Ethi (Silambarasan) is the youngest and is estranged from his family while running an illegal weapons trading chain across Europe. The whole family show up in Chennai and old family rivalries begin to surface... 

6. 2.0 

The film begins where the first movie ended. Dr. Vaseegaran (Rajnikanth) has dismantled Chitti (also Rajnikanth) and replaced him with Nila (Amy Jackson), a purely domestic humanoid robot to function as his assistant. However, Vasee and Nila are forced to reassemble Chitti following a mass hysteria in Chennai when smartphones around India are sucked into thin air. Vasee, Nila and Chitti trace the source of the phenomenon to the suicide of an elderly ornithologist, Pakshi Rajan (Akshay Kumar) who hanged himself from a cell tower in his own backyard. The cell tower's illegally sanctioned high radiation combined with Pakshi's negative aura energy produces an otherworldly entity that even Chitti cannot handle. When all hope is lost, a desperate Nila decides to revive an old rival from Vasee's past that once caused mass destruction to the city...

5. Ratsasan

Arun (Vishnu Vishal) is a young police officer with aspirations to enter the film industry. A few days after he joins the service, young girls start disappearing and their bodies are found a few days later, brutally mutilated. Having intensively researched the likes of Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer while writing his screenplays, Arun immediately recognizes this is the work of a psychotic serial killer. However, his superiors refuse to listen to him. Things take a turn for the worse when Arun's own niece goes missing...

4. Vada Chennai

Four gangsters assassinate their former mentor and leader at an empty restaurant in North Madras. Two of them surrender to the authorities while the remaining two continue to expand their business and influence across the city. The two in jail eventually feel betrayed by their partners in crime when they are not bailed out. In comes Anbu (Dhanush), a talented carrom player who gets into trouble for constantly getting in between gang fights. While it initially appears as if he is not interested in the rivalry between both prison gangs, a twist in fate reveals that there is more to him than meets the eye...

3. Mercury

Michael (Sananth Reddy) and his four best friends are deaf and dumb orphans who were raised at a children's shelter after their families were killed in a mercury poisoning incident. As young adults, they return to the hill station they grew up in for a reunion. They unwittingly kill a man (Prabhu Deva) by and try to hide his body at the forest not too far from the site of the mercury poisoning. The following morning, they return to the forest to retrieve something from the body that might incriminate them. Instead, they find that the body is missing and they are then hunted by an otherworldly entity that brutally murders them one by one...

2. Kaala

The impoverished people living in the slum of Dharavi in Mumbai are constantly ostracized by politicians, businessmen and gangsters alike. The only people who never fails to stand up for them is Kaala (Rajinikanth) and his family. However, Kaala is soon faced with a foe like no other in the form of Union Minister Hari Dhadha (Nana Patekar) and his goon Vishnu Bhai (Sampath Raj). Even the return of Kaala's highly educated and influential first wife, Zareena (Huma Qureshi) to Mumbai cannot stop Hari Dhadha. Following the assasination attempt on his life that kills his second wife, Selvi (Easwari Rao) and eldest son Selvam (Dileepan), Kaala tries out a new strategy to take down Hari Dhadha once and for all. But Hari Dhadha is always a few steps ahead...

1. Pariyerum Perumal

Pariyerum Perumal (Kathir) comes from an oppressed community. At law school, he befriends Jothi (Anandhi), a naive girl from an upper caste. Jothi's cousin, Sankar (Lijesh), who goes to the same college as Pari and Jothi, disapproves of their friendship. When Jothi invites Pari to her home for her sister's wedding, the men in Jothi's family hatch a plan to teach Pari a lesson by establishing their caste superiority over him. Jothi's father leads Pari into a room to talk. When Sankar and his brothers break into the room, they strip Pari off his pride and dignity in a way that would change the young man's life forever...

Top 10 Tamil Horror Films

Tamil films are not all Masala films. There are some pretty decent genre films, and horror is no exception. Here is a list of our top 10 in no particular order.

10. Zero

Source: Google Images

Bala and Priya are a young couple who get married despite the disapproval of the latter's father due to the history of mental illness in Priya's family. As soon as they move into their new home, Bala notices Priya behaving strangely. Desperate to help his wife, Bala turns to Solomon, a psychic and occult specialist. Unknown to anyone, Priya can mentally transport herself into another realm where she meets her dead mother and other women who died during miscarriage because of a vengeful spirit from the beginning of time who seeks to do more harm than Priya thinks...

9. Pizza 

Source: Google Images

Michael, a pizza delivery boy, is sent to a large bungalow on the outskirts of Chennai one night. The lady of the house invites Michael in and asks him to wait for a minute as she goes upstairs to get some change. Suddenly, the lights go off and Michael hears a loud noise from upstairs. He goes to check and finds the lady brutally murdered, with a slice of the pizza missing. When he tries to escape, he finds there is no way out and he is trapped all alone...

8. Maya

Source: Google Images

Apsara is a young single mother who is struggling to become an actress. She learns about a a new, unreleased horror film which is reportedly so scary that test audiences have gone hysterical halfway through watching it. The filmmakers organize a promotional contest that will reward half a million Rupees to anyone willing to watch their film alone from beginning to end. Desperate, Apsara takes up the challenge to make some quick cash and pay off her debts. However, she quickly realizes that this is no ordinary film when she cannot escape the theater hall...

7. Yavarum Nalam

Source: Google Images

Manohar and his extended family move into a new apartment, 13B, on the 13th floor of the building. The women in his family start watching a new soap opera on TV called 'Everyone is Well', which is also about a family moving into a new home. As days pass, they start to realise that the soap opera's story line is strikingly similar to their own life. Manohar finds a diary that reveals the apartment's terrifying past involving suicide, murder, a broken heart and much more...

6. Pisasu

Source: Google Images

Siddharth Soundaarajan is an upcoming violinist in Chennai, who becomes traumatized after he fails to save a teenage girl from dying in a road accident. To overcome his guilt, he drives around the city aimlessly to help those in need. However, he starts to realize that he is being haunted by an otherworldly entity. This leads him to investigate the death of the teenage girl and the cause of the accident, which leads him to a shocking revelation...

5. Chandramukhi

Source: Google Images

Senthil, and his wife Gangga move temporarily to his ancestral village for business. While there, he buys and lives in the infamous Vettaiyapuram palace. The palace is allegedly haunted by the vengeful spirit of a courtesan named Chandramukhi who used to serve the king who lived there over a hundred years ago. Gangga is fascinated by the legend while Senthil does not believe in superstition. However, things change when everyone in the palace start experiencing strange occurrences. Senthil then invites his foster brother, the psychiatrist Saravanan who is also an expert in the paranormal to help out. 

4. Demonte Colony

Source: Google Images

Four friends decide to visit a reportedly haunted house called Demonte Colony one night. However, they find nothing spooky and return to their apartment. One of them had taken a necklace they found at the house in the hopes that they could sell it for money. Strange things start to happen and the four young men quickly discover that they cannot escape their apartment, nor can anyone outside hear their screams... 

3. Aval

Source: Google Images

Krish and Lakshmi are a young newly wedded couple living a happy life in Srinagar. Things change when a wealthy family moves into the vacant house next door. The family's teenage daughter, Jenny develops a crush on the handsome Krish. Jenny slowly develops weird habits that worries both families. Things become worse when Jenny, who has never learned Chinese, starts to speak the language... 

2. Mercury

Source: Google Images

Five dumb and deaf friends have a reunion in the hill station they grew up in. On that night, they kill a man by accident and try to get rid of the body at the site of an old mercury factory to avoid getting arrested. The next morning, one of them discover they might have lost something that might incriminate them. They return to the burial site to retrieve the object but find that the body has gone missing. They then find themselves being chased by something that they cannot quite explain... 

1. Villa

Source: Google Images

Jebin Jose is an inspiring novelist who learns that his late father had left him a large villa in Pondicherry in his will. Jebin and his artist girlfriend, Aarthi visit the villa, where they find some of his father's paintings. Jebin starts to suspect that his father could see the future when some of the events depicted in the paintings come true. However, he begins to get worried when he finds some other hidden paintings in the villa showing a man resembling him killing a girl that appears to be Aarthi... 

Westworld Timeline Explained in Chronological Order

Season 1 establishes a pre-Westworld period where Ford and Arnold were building the first hosts, including Dolores. Once Dolores was completed, Arnold held secret sessions with her to give her consciousness. He ultimately arranged for her to kill him. In Season 2, Akecheta finds Arnold's dead body and somehow starts to achieve consciousness too. After that, the park officials reprogram him and his once peaceful tribe into the violent Ghost Nation. 

After Arnold's death, Ford used data on Arnold to build a host version of him with Dolores' help. Ford names this host Bernard. This must have taken place years later since all the old employees were gone and nobody recognized Bernard's resemblance to Arnold. 

Around the same time, the Westworld park officially opens. Future brother-in-laws William and Logan visit the park where they go through an adventure that changes their lives. Season 1 heavily revolves around William's time in the park with Logan where he meets Dolores, falls in love with her and ultimately turns to the dark side. He also abandons Logan after their falling out. In Season 2, Akecheta finds Logan and first learns of a door to another world, which further awakens his consciousness. 

In Season 2, William revisits the park with his boss and future father-in-law, James Delos. William proposes that Delos buy the park and use it as a way to extract psychological data on the guests, to which Delos approves. William then marries Delos' daughter and Logan's sister, Juliet, who then gives birth to their daughter, Emily. Then, Delos becomes terminally ill and disowns Logan. Meanwhile, William creates a host version of his father-in-law and begins fidelity experiments. A few years later, Delos dies due to his illness, his wife dies because of a stroke, and Logan dies because of a drug overdose. William also visits the park several times to meet up with Dolores as he oversees the early stages of a secret project's construction there. 

During this time, Akecheta is found by the park's staff who are surprised to learn that he has not died in almost a decade, which means he has never been upgraded during that time. They bring him back to their headquarters, where Akecheta learns the truth about his reality and achieves consciousness. Once he is sent back into the park, he begins to spread the truth by hiding the maze symbol under other hosts' scalps. 

Years after Delos' death, William meets with his father-in-law's host version who thinks he is the real Delos. William reveals that he is just a host and the real human version of himself is dead. William takes over the Delos' company after Juliet becomes an alcoholic and he runs the family business for many years. As the years pass, he becomes increasingly obsessed with the park. He does not pay attention to Juliet's worsening addiction and she eventually commits suicide. He then returns to the park as an old man viewers call The Man in Black as we are first shown in Season 1. 

At this point, viewers are still unaware that The Man in Black is actually an older version of William since the series is told in a nonlinear fashion. William goes on a killing spree in order to uncover the truth behind the Maze, which is a puzzle that Ford has incorporated into the park's programme. As The Man in Black, William terrorizes many of the hosts, including Maeve when she was a homesteader and her daughter. He also teams up with some hosts like Teddy and Lawrence to uncover the Maze. 

Meanwhile, Maeve is reprogrammed as a madam at a brothel in the park where she befriend a fellow prostitute host named Clementine. She slowly gains consciousness and makes an unlikely friendship with two body shop staff members, Felix Lutz and Sylvester. At the same time, behaviorist staff member Elsie Hughes and the security head Ashley Stubbs start to notice something strange is going on at the park. Even narrative designer Lee Sizemore becomes upset with Ford who rejects his new story line ideas. 

Eventually, Delos senior managers Theresa Cullen and Charlotte Hale begin to suspect Ford is up to something. Theresa has Bernard take her to Ford s secret lab at the park where they find Ford, who reveals Bernard is actually a host. Ford then orders Bernard to kill Theresa to keep his plans a secret. Ford and Bernard then attend a gala night at the park where Charlotte and many other officials are present. At this point, Dolores, who has achieved full consciousness, kills Ford. Many other hosts who are under Dolores' command start to massacre the guests at the gala. 

At the start of Season 2, we are shown how Charlotte, Bernard and a few others manage to escape but their group splits up. Bernard ends up with Elsie and they both discover how Delos has been collecting psychological data on the park's guests all along. At the same time, Dolores teams up with Teddy and a few other hosts to escape the park. But first, she tries to find Abernathy, the host that played her father for many years. It so happens that Charlotte and her men are also after Abernathy as there is important data hidden inside him that Delos needs. 

Around the same time, Maeve and two other hosts, Hector and Armitage team up to find her host daughter from her previous programme. They capture Lee, Felix and Slyvester who they force to travel with them. Somehow, this team of six end up in Shogun world, a feudal Japanese theme park next to Westword. This is where Maeve realizes she can non-verbally control other hosts' actions.  

While this is all going on, a grown up Emily is at Raj world, a British Raj theme park near Westworld and Shogun world. She escapes the awakened hosts there and finds herself in Westworld where she meets her own father. However, William is convinced she is just a host version that Ford set up to trick him and kills her before realizing the truth. Meanwhile, team Dolores confronts team Charlotte at the Mesa headquarters where Dolores steals the encryption key extracted from Abernathy before escaping. 

At this point, all the hosts are aware of the secret virtual reality project Ford was building all these years called The Forge or The Valley Beyond build by Ford. Team Maeve and team Akecheta all converge at the area to step through into the other world. However, Dolores is convinced this is another gilded cage build by the humans to keep her kind enslaved and tries to shut in down from the Mesa headquarters. Bernard kills her before she can do it before he witnesses Charlotte murdering Elsie to keep Delos' plans a secret. Bernard realizes that Charlotte cannot leave the park alive. He quickly creates a host version of Charlotte and places Dolores' code inside it. Dolores, now a Charlotte host, kills the real Charlotte. 

While the Dolores pretends to be Charlotte, Bernard scrambles his own memory to avoid the other Delos staff from finding out the truth. He then leaves himself at the beach next to the lake where all the bodies of the hosts who have stepped into the The Forge are seen floating. Fake Charlotte, Bernard and the Delos men travel to Mesa to send out the data they have obtained to the outside world via satellite. Fake Charlotte reveals herself to be Dolores in disguise and kills all the men. She then sends out the data to an unknown location. She then kills Bernard, but not before taking away his code. 

Dolores finally escapes the park by disguising as Charlotte, but not before she has a strange conversation with Stubbs. In the real world, she finds another another one of Ford's and Arnold's secret labs where she recreates her original body and implants her own code into it. She makes the fake Charlotte a host of her original self and recreates another Bernard with his original code. Together, Dolores, Bernard and fake Charlotte plan their next move in the outside world. 

The Season 2 finale's post-credit scene shows a bloodied William at the ruins of the ruins of The Forge where he meets a host version of Emily. They sit down and Emily runs a fidelity test for William, revealing him to be a host version of the real Man in Black. 

Cancelled Superhero Films 7 - Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max

Introduction

Writers David Goyer and Justin Marks prepared a script for a Green Arrow that was later titled Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max. on June 5, 2008. Although this would be the first ever Green Arrow big screen adaptation, the film is not an origin story and plays out almost like a sequel to an unmade film.

The Story

In case you are unfamiliar with the Green Arrow, he is a teen billionaire playboy named Oliver Queen who gets stranded on a desert island. There, he learns how to survive on his own and becomes particularly skilled with a bow and arrow. A few years later, a pirate ship stops at the beach. Oliver overpowers the pirates and takes the ship back to civilization. Once back at his hometown of Star City, Oliver decides to use his skills for good and becomes the hooded vigilante, Green Arrow. He manages to capture countless super villains who are then kept locked up at Supermax, a prison for Metahumans.

The story begins with a grand dinner organized by Will Hacket, Oliver's lawyer and best friend to honour all of Oliver's philanthropy. His corporate organization is compared to a modern day Robin Hood and his Merry Men who battle the corrupt who prey on the poor in the city. Oliver learns from the device he uses to bug the police radio that there has been an  attack on Colonel Talib Calley. This is the man responsible for the controversial Check Me Initiative which is trying to get rid of masked vigilantes in the United States like Green Arrow who take the law into their own hands.

Oliver leaves the party and rushes to Calley's office and finds him already dead. The police arrive and arrest Oliver after suspecting him of killing the Colonel. The people of Star City are infuriated since they love both Green Arrow and Oliver Queen for the good they have done for the poor and the middle-class. However, the rich and the police hate him and the justice system imprisons him.

Since Oliver is not like any other prisoner, he is transferred to Supermax, which is the home of many super villains who are in there because of Green Arrow. The warden, Amanda Waller implants all the prisoners with a device that will weaken them if they disobey her in any way. The prisoners in green suits are normal human beings with unique skills, the ones in blue are super geniuses high on drugs to keep them high, and the ones in orange are Metahumans with superpowers. Due to some misbehaviour, Oliver is thrown into solitary confinement that almost breaks him. However, it is here that he gets to know Hartley Rathaway, also knows as the Pied Piper, who has the ability to control all living creatures using high sonic frequencies. They become friends by communicating through ants.

Oliver starts to befriend some of his fellow inmates and realizes that they are not purely evil but are forced to break the law to survive. Oliver begins to see that the US government is abusive towards Metahumans and Supermax breaks several civil rights through the way Waller and her guards treat the inmates. With Hartley's help, Oliver begins to recruit the inmates he befriends and they hatch a plan to break out of the prison.

Through much hardship, Oliver manages to lock Waller and her surviving guards up before escaping. However, he and his new friends accidentally destroy Supermax's security system, allowing each and every one of its inmates to escape. The film ends with Oliver questioning his morals since he has become responsible for much destruction that will take place around the world henceforth.

Conclusion

As you can see from the summary, it is not possible that this script will be ever made since it is very similar to Suicide Squad, which is also a film about many super villains. Nevertheless, an article by The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the film is still in development even though it was not featured in the line up of the DCEU's future projects. However, rumour has it that Warner Brothers executives are interested in a ia separate Green Arrow origin story, although this is yet to be confirmed.

Cancelled Superhero Films 6 - Batman vs. Superman: Asylum

Introduction

The idea of a film featuring two of the most iconic superheroes in comic history first started when the writer of Se7en, Andrew Kevin Walker wrote a screenplay that was so dark, Warner Brothers executives brought in the writer of The Fifth Wave and The Dark Tower, Akiva Goldsman to rewrite the script. German director Wolfgang Petersen was roped in to direct the film. Some reports state that this film would be a continuation of the Tim Burton Batman films while ignoring Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, which is strange considering Goldsman wrote those two films. Before playing Batman in the Nolan trilogy, Christian Bale was said to have been approached to play Batman in this film. Jude Law was also rumoured to have been offered the role of Superman.

The Story

In this film, both Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne have been friends for quite some time and they are undergoing a midlife crisis of some sort. The film opens with Clark Kent in Metropolis still working at the Daily Planet. He is divorced from Lois Lane who can no longer cope with being married to the most strongest man on the planet. Clark is now in a troubled relationship with his childhood sweetheart from Smallville, Lana Lang. Clark pushes all his friends away and instead releases his anger by hunting for criminals whenever he is not working.

Meanwhile in Gotham, things are not going well for Bruce Wayne either. Bruce has retired as Batman for almost five years now. All those close to him - Alfred, Dick Greyson, Commisioner Gordan and even his favourite nemesis, The Joker have all died. The only reason his life is not completely empty is because he is engaged to the beautiful Elizabeth Miller and they make a perfect couple. Even Barbara Gordon thinks they are so perfect for each other that something is just not right.

On the wedding day, Clark is Bruce's best man. He tells Bruce that his divorce has been finalized. Bruce then explains that he stopped being Batman because he is still traumatized by his Robin's death and he is afraid he might start killing the criminals if he continues being a vigilante. The wedding is a success and the newly married couple leave Gotham for their honeymoon. During this time, Elizabeth is stung by a bee carying a mysterioys Joker toxin that ultimately kills her. This inspires Bruce to beccome Batman again. Clark tries to convince Bruce to take it slow but in vain.

While investigating the crime, Bruce comes across a gang of thugs and almost beats them up to the death. He only lets them live so they can spread the word that Batman is back. Batman eventually comes across two other criminals named Jeeves 1 and Jeeves 2. As he is about to attack them, the Joker appears, revealing that he has been alive all along. While Bruce is still in shock, Jeeves 1 and 2 beat him up and overpower him. Batman barely makes it out alive and escapes.

Meanwhile, Clark is off doing his own investigating and this leads him to question Lex Luthor, who is in prison. Lex reveals that he has know for a while now that Batman is actually Bruce. Since he cannot kill Superman while in prison, he has arranged for Batman and Superman to destroy each other. Before being imrprisoned, he had arranged for the Joker's DNA to be turned into clones that would kill Bruce's wife when the time comes. Knowing that this would lead Batman to kill, Superman will have to intervene and this will lead to both their destruction.

Later that night, Bruce finds a a trail that leads him to the Joker. Knowing that Clark would come to stop him, Bruce dons a new Krytonite-laced armour suit and goes to kill the Joker. Just as expected, Clark shows up to stop him but is subdued by the Kryptonite. Bruce eventually impales Clark with a Kryptonite arrow, rendering him weak. As Bruce is about to kill the Joker, the villain reveals that Elizabeth Miller is actually a clone he created with Lex's help in the image of Bruce's perfect woman. That way, once he has killed her, he can finally break Batman and make him kill.

Realizing he has been manipulated, Bruce is now heartbroken and lets the Joker kill him. Before the Joker can take his shot, Superman manages to throw a brick at him while releasing himself from the Kryptonite arrow. Jeeves 1 and 2, who are actually metahumans, attack Batman and Superman. The two friends make up and defeat the two henchmen together. Batman then decides not to kill the Joker and instead hands him over to the Gotham police.

Still, this is not yet the end. Lex Luthor has escaped from prison and sneaked into Batman's new armour. Bruce helps Clark fight Lex and they eventually strip the armour off him. However, Lex manages to escape and is nowhere to be found.

Conclusion

The reason this film was never made is so fascinating there is an entire chapter dedicated to it in a popular book about the most popular scripts never filmed. Warner Brothers president Alan Horn was torn between making this film or saving both superheroes for their own separate films. He then showed this script and the script for JJ Abrams Superman: Flyby to all ten Warner Brothers executives. Nine of them preferred JJ Abrams' work except the vice president Lorenzo di Bonaventura who really liked the Batman vs. Superman idea. He was willing to make a solo Superman film after this film was made, but JJ Abrams disagreed and the two were always going against each other in meetings. Horn eventually went with JJ Abrams' idea and not too long after that, Lorenzo left the company. 

Cancelled Superhero Films 2 - Tim Burton's Superman Lives

Introduction 

This script was initially referred to as Superman Reborn script, and it was written by Wesley Strick and Dan Gilroy. This script features Brainiac, Lex Luthor and Doomsday as villains. Then, writer Kevin Smith was brought in to make some major rewrites. Smith's casting choices included Ben Affleck as Clark Kent/Superman, Linda Fiorentino as Lois Lane, Jack Nicholson as Lex Luthor, Famke Janssen as Mercy, John Mahoney as Perry White, Jason Lee as Brainiac and Jason Mewes as Jimmy Olsen. Following his success with the Michael Keaton Batman films, Tim Burton was asked to direct and Kevin Smith was made to leave the project. In the end, Nicolas Cage was confirmed to play Superman. Other actors approached include a pre-Superman Returns Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, Tim Allen or Jim Carrey as Brainiac, Courteney Cox as Lois Lane, Chris Rock as Jimmy Olsen  and Michael Keaton in an unspecified role.

The Story

The story opens in Krypton on the verge of destruction caused by the artificial intelligence, Brainiac. Jor-El and Lara decide to stay back to fight Braniac, but not before sending their son Kal-El away to Earth. As they are preparing the rocket, Braniac attacks the House of El. Jor-El manages to launch the rocket just before Braniac kills him and Lara. Braniac vows to hunt down the child and kill him.

Many years later in modern day Metropolis, the now-adult Kal-El lives a double life as the nerdy Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent and as the superhero Superman. Although he successfully fights crime in the city, he is also going through depression as he can no longer cope with the pressures of keeping the world safe and maintaining a stable personal life. He visits a psychoanalyst to discuss his issues.  At the same time, Clark learns that Lex Luthor might have uncovered his secret identity and will expose it to the public. Later that evening, he meets Lois Lane at the Daily Planet building and starts to contemplate revealing his secret to her before she finds out about it from Lex.

Meanwhile, Brainiac arrives on Earth and befriends Luthor, where the two hatch a plan to destroy Superman. They merge into a single cyborg entity, "Lexiac" and create the creature Doomsday to attack Superman. An epic battle ensues and both Superman is left in a lifeless state while Doomsday dies. Superman's body is transported to the Fortress of Solitude. The body is revived, albeit powerless, by a mysterious Kryptonian force known only as "K". K then accompanies Clark back to Metropolis. On their journey, K teacher Clark how to overcome his depression and life his life. 

During this time, Lexiac plans to destroy Earth just as Braniac did to Krypton. He starts to assemble nuclear warheads to be detonated at the largest cities around the world. At the same time, he tries to seduce Lois to join him but fails. When Clark finally returns to Metropolis, K reveals that he is actually the last surviving essence of life of his Kryptonian parents. K sacrifices himself by restoring Clark's powers. Clark goes to meet Lois, where he reveals his secret to her and gets her to help him defeat Lexiac. With her help, Clark destroys the "Brainiac" element just before the nuclear warheads are unleashed The story ends with Lois in Superman's arms, where she reveals that she is pregnant with his child.

Conclusion

Due to the film's increasing budget, it was put on hold in April 1998. Burton then left to direct Sleepy Hollow. The studio starting considering reverting the title from Superman Lives back to Superman Reborn. At this point in production, $30 million of the $190 budget was already spent on production. After Cage left the project in 2000, Warner Brothers offered the project to other directors, including Michael Bay with even Will Smith considered to play Superman. Burton has gone on record by stating that his experience working on Superman Lives was  one of the worst in his life. Eventually, the entire project was scraped and production was shifted towards producing Superman Returns. A documentary was made on the pre-production of this film and why it was never made.

Cancelled Superhero Films 1 - JJ Abrams' Superman: Flyby

Introduction

Casting was close to completion with reliable reports stating that Anthony Hopkins would play and a pre-Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. cast as Lex Luthor. Downey would basically play an evil Tony Stark, what with Luthor written as an evil genius billionaire. A teenage Shia LaBeouf would play Jimmy Olsen while Lois Lane would be played by either Selma Blair or Scarlett Johansson. Before the creation of the Snyder DCEU, a 20 year old Henry Cavil was screen tested for the Superman role in this film. Other actors considered for the role include Jared Padalecki, Ashton Kutcher, Michael Cassidy and Jason Behr. However, the Warner Brothers executives really wanted Justin Timberlake or Josh Harrnett for the role. Meanwhile, producer Brett Ratner wanted Matt Bomer as the Man of Steel.

The Story

Just like Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, Flyby starts off in Krypton, which is home of Jor-El who is seen as a king by his people. Unlike the 2013 film, however, all the scenes on Krypton were to be spoken in Kryptonian, which will actually be developed with subtitles provided. We are also introduced to minor Kryptonian characters like Predius, who Abrams promised we will get to know more in the next films in this planned franchise. In this script, the planet is not fully destroyed, although a major part of it has been destroyed after it was bombed by Kal-El's uncle, Kata-Zor. Kal-El is sent to earth a found by the Kents on their farm in Smallville.

There is a musical montage showing how the Kents raise Clark to hide his abilities in order to protect him. However, a grown up Clark decides to embrace his superpowers and take up the Superman persona to protect Earth. Years later, Kata-Zor is still searching for his nephew and sends Ty-Zor, a soldier in a Kryptonian pod to Earth to track him down.

Lex Luthor, who is an extraterrestrial enthusiast in this film, finds the pod with its passenger inside dying. The side effects of this encounter makes Lex super intelligent but also bald.  He quickly becomes the successful billionaire we know by establishing LexCorp and he decides to run for President.Suspicious at his quick rise to power and fame, Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane decides to investigate him after learning he is experimenting with alien technology at LexCorp's laboratory.

Eventually, one of Lex's experiments cause Air Force One to almost crash into Metropolis. Fortunately, Clark saves the day as Superman. Lex meets with Superman and tries to get him to join his side, but Clark turns down his offer. As a result, Lex unleashes Ty-Zor into Metropolis and it is up to Clark to save his city and the world. At some point, Superman dies but is quickly reborn. After saving the city, Superman boards the craft he arrived in to fly off to Krypton and find out more about his background.

Conclusion

In the end, this script was never filmed because its ' first draft would have been too expensive to film at the point. Even the second draft would have been impossible budget-wise. However, certain elements of this script did make its way into Superman Returns, like the plane rescue scene. Ultimately, Flyby's script was a more self-contained film that did not set out to start a DC cinematic universe.

Cancelled Superhero Films 5 - Joss Whedon's 2006 Wonder Woman Film

Introduction

Who knew over a decade later, Joss Whedon would finally get his hands on Wonder Woman after the first film was cancelled. It is no secret that following his success in television with shows like Firefly, Serenity and Buffy, he really wanted to make a superhero film for the big screen. He reportedly received between two to three million dollars to write a script and direct the film However, Warner Brothers executives were unimpressed with his story and Whedon left to join Marvel instead, where he would go on to make the two Avengers films. Famous actresses like Kate Beckinsale and Angelina Jolie were linked to the titular role, but Whedon really wanted Cobie Smulders of How I Met Your Mother fame for the part. He would eventually cast her as Maria Hill in his Marvel films. 

The Story

The biggest difference this script has from the 2017 version that was successfully made is in this version, Diana Prince would not have been the main character. It would have been Steve Trevor. Also, the film is not set during World War 2, but the early 21st century. The film starts with his fighter jet crashing into Themyscira and he meets Diana and the rest of the Amazonian women.

Initially, Diana and Hippolyte battle it out on whether they should let Steve live or not. Hippolyte wins but Diana's passion for wanting to see and help from the world of men convinces Hippolyte change her mind. Diana leaves her island with Steve and their arrive in Gateway City, a place ridden with crime and corruption. Once there, she crosses path with a criminal who she tries to stop. Instead, she is shot point blank. This leads her to hate firearms and she decides to stay in the city to end the injustice that is running rampant.

Diana eventually learns that most of the problems in the city comes from Strife, one of the most powerful men in the city, who in this version is a man even thought he was originally a woman in the comics. Strife has arranged for corrupt officials in the city to build a giant mechanical three-headed bird, Khimaera but nobody is sure what for. Diana confronts Strife but losses her first battle with him when he holds Steve hostage and demands her superhuman powers in return for Steve's release. Diana accepts and she is stripped off her Metahuman abilities. She contacts Hippolyte, who reminds her that her powers come from within and she successfully regains her abilities.

Meanwhile, the Amazonians have repaired Steve's crashed jet and upgraded it into the Invisible Jet which they send to Diana. As Diana rushes to destroy Strife, he has completed Khimaera. Through much hardship and Steve's help, Diana successfully defeats Strife and Khimaera. Before he dies, Strife warns her that her actions have angered his father Ares, the god of war. At the end of the movie, Diana and Steve share a kiss, living happily ever after.

Conclusion

Like many cancelled films, the script can now be read online. The script was not well-received by fans who did not like the idea of Steve Trevor being the lead rather than Wonder Woman herself. Although Whedon has a reputation for writing strong female characters like Buffy, certain dialogues in this scrpit were criticized for being sexist. Also, considering how successful Petty Jenkins' 2017 Wonder Woman is among critics and audiences alike, most fans are thankful this version was never made. It is safe to say that for once, the studio executives got it right. 

Cancelled Superhero Films 4 - George Miller's Justice League: Mortal

Introduction

Mad Max: Fury Road director, George Miller, was supposed to direct a Justice League movie back in 2008. Titled Justice League: Mortal, everything was in place for filming to take place in Australia. A full script that is now available online was written by Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows writers Michele and Kiernan Mulroney. The ensemble cast was also confirmed consisting of Armie Hammer (Batman), DJ Cotrona (Superman) Adam Brody (The Flash), Megan Gale (Wonder Woman), Hugh Keays-Byrne (Martian Manhunter), Common (Green Lantern), Santiago Cabrera (Aquaman), Jay Baruchel (Maxwell Lord), Teresa Palmer (Talia al Ghul) and Zoe Kasan (Iris Allen).

The Story

The film opens with the funeral of a superhero but we are not told who this hero is. Two days earlier, we are shown how all the members of the Justice League are being celebrated by the international community. Diana Prince, Wonder Woman, who serves as the public voice of the Metahuman community, is shown addressing the United Nations where she speaks of how the world is now peaceful. Bruce Wayne is watching the television broadcast and Alfred comments on how crime in Gotham is at its lowest.

Then, we cut to Martian Manhunter who is being attacked. His fellow Justice League members come to his rescue, but they are all compromised by their own weaknesses. After their defeat, they go investigate how it was that their attackers know so much about them.

It is then revealed that Bruce had built a backup arsenal to destroy his Metahuman friends should they ever get out of line. Two years ago, Bruce had an affair with Talia al Ghul. She managed to slip a tracking device into his clothes while spending the night at the Wayne Mansion. The Justice League have a small fight, but they eventually agree that in order to find their attackers, they need to work as a team.

Using his detective skills, Bruce learns that the psychic billionaire, Maxwell Lord has managed to hack the Batcave computer system and his minions are now after the Justice League. Maxwell Lord is seeking revenge against the world for horrible experiments done onto him as a child as part of the OMAC Project. When Maxwell learns that the Justice League is coming after him, he sends OMAC droids with civilians in them to defend him.

When Clark is close enough to his lair, Maxwell uses his powers to control Superman's mind, making him turn on his own friends. Bruce, with help from Alfred, manages to switch off the droids while Diana succeeds in getting Clark back to his senses with her lasso. Barry Allen sacrifices himself to get rid of Maxwell Lord who has become a cybernetic doomsday device by basically running so fast he merges with the Speed Force and sucks the giant OMAC into oblivion with him.

Cut to two days later, the funeral the heroes were attending was for The Flash. Wally West, Barry's nephew then takes up his uncle's place as the new Flash.

Conclusion

The film did not come into fruition mainly because of the infamous writer's strike that was happening at the time. There was also an issue with tax rebates in Australia, where film sets, props and costumes were all almost ready. Warner Brothers also felt it would have been too confusing for audiences with multiple versions of their most loved superheroes existing at the same time. Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy was entering its second entry, which will go on to be its most successful one. A Superman Returns sequel was already confirmed alongside Smallville being a huge success on the small screen.

Cancelled Superhero Films 3 - Bryan Singer's Superman Returns Sequel

Introduction:

Superman Returns did fairly well among critics and the audience but not good enough to keep the Warner Brothers executives happy. They felt the film was tried to hard to bring in new female audiences with more romance and ignored the young male crowd with less action. At the same time, director Bryan Singer was getting busy to direct the Tom Cruise film Valkyrie. Apart from that, the contract for actor Brandon Routh who plays Clark Kent ended in 2009. Additionally, the writer’s strike delayed the film's confirmation and the studio eventually decided to reboot the entire franchise.

The story:

The story starts a few years following the events of Superman Returns with Clark keeping Metropolis and the world at large safe while Lois is raising their son, Jason. By now, the crystals Lex Luthor stole from the Fortress of Solitude in the previous film and launched into space has grown into a second moon for Earth. This leads a visitor from a faraway galaxy to come to Metropolis in a massive spaceship. He introduces himself as another Kryptonian survivor who has been in search for others like him and detected the presence of the new moon, which led him to Earth. Clark is initially happy to have someone he can relate to and takes his new friend around the planet on a tour.

Clark and the new Kryptonian start to have disagreements. Clark has always maintained that he should not be involved in politics and instead remain a protector of the innocent. The new Kryptonian believes that with their powers, they should interfere in things. He immediately gets involved in a conflict between two third world countries and ends a potential war that could have killed countless people. He then public declares Earth a war-free planet and that he will not allow any kind of deadly conflict to take place. In return for the support of the world's most powerful countries, he is prepared to share his Kryptonian technology to help human advancement.

While a majority of the world start to support the new Kryptonian, they also begin to resent Superman for not sharing his planet's technology with them which could have solved many problems. As the new Kryptonian's fame grows, Clark begins to grow suspicious of his intentions. He sneaks into the alien's spaceship and finds thousands of the new Kryptonian's clones in stasis. He also learns that this alien is not exactly a Kryptonian but an artificial intelligence from Krypton named Braniac, who was responsible for Krypton's destruction.

Before Clark can warn the world leaders of their new ally, he is confronted by Braniac and a deadly battle ensues. Clark manages to defeat Braniac but not before the latter uploads his conscience into his spaceship's main computer. Clark quickly realizes that Braniac will be able to download himself into anyone of his clones to lengthen his life and he destroys all the clones. Right before Clark destroys the spaceship, Braniac's computer completes a local search for another Kryptonian vessel that he can inhabit and locks down on Clark. Clark easily destroys the computer on the spaceship before it can take over his body.

However, this was all merely a distraction for Braniac had already downloaded himself into another Kryptonian's body - Clark's son, Jason. Braniac possesses Jason's body, causing him to age and grow into a full adult Kryptonian. An epic battle takes place between Metroplis and Braniac/Jason. Braniac is still getting used to his new body but Clark is careful to not to do any permanent damage to his son's body. In the end, Superman has to sacrifice his own son to save humanity...

Conclusion:

It is easy to see how dark and bleak this film would have been. Many have complained how overly grim Zack Snyder's DCEU is, starting when Clark snaps Zod's neck in the climax of Man of Steel (2013). In this version, Clark killed his own son, a character that we were all already familiar with from the last film. No idea how this would have gone down with audiences.

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa 2: The Sequel to Karthik's Story

So, Gautham Menon fans everywhere; rejoice! 

There is confirmation from the man himself that there will be a sequel to his 2010 classic Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. Watch the interview below from 31:56 where Gautham talks about the film with film critic Baradwaj Rangan. Here are some information we know so far about the film:

1) Madhavan will be replacing Simbu as Karthik 

This will be Madhavan's second film with Gautham after the latter's directorial debut, the 2001 blockbuster Minnale. Gautham admits that the recasting is "bothering" since it is hard to imagine anyone else as Karthik. However, this problem stems from the norm of how this so-called mass heroes will only do solo films where they are the only male lead. Although this might be true, there must be more to the story since Simbu is currently working on a Mani Ratnam movie alongside three other heroes; Arvind Swamy, Vijay Sethupathi and Arun Vijay. He does not seem to have a problem doing a multi-starer then, which brings us to fact number two...

2) It will be a multi-starer

We have known for quite some time that Gautham Menon has been planning a multi-starer with heroes from different south Indian film industries. However, we had no idea it was for VTV 2. Apart from Madhavan as Karthik, there will be three other heroes.  Puneet Raj Kumar, Tovino Thomas and an unconfirmed Telugu actor will be playing the roles of Karthik's best friends from college. The three friends will each play a restaurant owner, an IT guy and a car dealer who also owns ships respectively.  

3) It will take place 8 years after the events of the first film 

At this point in his life, Karthik is an established film director with four films under his belt. His breakup with Jessie probably inspires all of his films. However, he is now a playboy who no longer believes in love and jumps from one girl to another. His sister and the rest of his family disagree with his lifestyle but this is the new Karthik. 

4) There will be four different versions 

The first ten minutes of each version will feature each character in their native language. Just like how Madhavan's Karthik will narrate his version in Tamil for the Tamil-speaking audience, Puneet will play a character from Bangalore and will narrate his version in Kannada. Similarly, Tovino will play a character from Trivandrum and will narrate his version in Malayalam and the same goes with the Telugu version. However, it is unclear if the rest of the film will be only in Tamil. 

5) It will be a road film

The four friends take a break from their lives and travel to a fifth friend's wedding. Gautham was very careful not to mention anything about the fifth friend's identity. He (or perhaps, she) might be another important character in the film as well.

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