Note: This article was written at a time that it seemed that Wonder Woman would not be happening after all. This is placed here for archival purposes.
Entertainment Weekly has posted more bad news for the David E. Kelley Wonder Woman TV project: As of tonight, all four major networks have apparently passed on the project.
The EW piece says that the Wonder Woman team will not give up on the project, though it’s “not moving forward at this time.” They also speculate that the high licensing fee might have been a deterrent to getting this project off the ground.
Already, Wonder Woman hadn’t been a priority for producer David E. Kelley, whose new series Harry’s Law premieres in the coming weeks. Apparently there had been some development in the project, as they say Kelly’s take featured WW’s signature lasso, cuffs, and even her plane; and that the project was “a serious, non-campy take.”
It is interesting to note that they say the four major networks have passed on Wonder Woman. Was this not offered to The CW, who has had great success with Superman for the last ten years? We may never know. The CW instead seems to be focusing their efforts on developing a series based on the Teen Titans’ Raven – a character who surely would have a lower licensing fee, which probably also means it stands a better chance at actually being made. But with Marvel breaking out a big gun with The Hulk possibly in 2012 – DC/WB really needs to break out at least one big gun for TV, especially if they want an impact even close to what Smallville has had with Superman.
UPDATE: Deadline.com confirms – The CW was not offered Wonder Woman because they “couldn’t afford it.” And ABC was never really a contender because of their Disney-Marvel connection. The Deadline piece says the script “may be taken out again in the future,” though that doesn’t sound particularly encouraging.
So what do you think? Good news? Bad news? Leave your comments below or come talk about it on our forum!
