AceShowbiz -

A day after winning the legal battle to defend its rights to the Superman franchise, Warner Bros. Pictures takes a major step by accelerating the development of its long-gestating "Justice League" project. Los Angeles Times reports that the Burbank studio has set up a start date and possible release schedule for the DC ensemble superhero movie, in which the Kryptonian hero will be the major character.

A knowledgeable person close to the production of the "JLA" movie reveals that the project is targeted to kick off filming in 2013 and Warners is hoping to unleash it in theaters Stateside in the summer of 2015. Furthermore, the insider says that though the no director[s] or actors have been attached to the project, the studio already has the script in the works from scribe Will Beall.

Should the report be true, it is very likely that there will be a huge box office battle between DC's "Justice League" and Marvel's "The Avengers 2" in the same summer movie season in 2015. Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios have already projected their second Earth's Mightiest Heroes movie to open nationwide on May 1 in that year.

Warners' longterm legal battle against the heirs of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster had made it difficult for the studio to move forward with its "JLA" project, which has been designed as a pillar of its big screen superhero strategy. Now that the studio claims the victory, it will also move forward with some other DC movie projects, including a potential sequel to next year's "Man of Steel" if the film proves successful.

Additionally, Warners plans to spin out other DC superhero characters into their own standalone movies post-"Justice League". The strategy is contrary to Marvel which has proven successful for assembling its famous heroes into "The Avengers" after each of the characters had their own big screen treatment.