Why is Warner Bros. Buying a New Wonder Woman Script?

Warner Bros. Pictures and Silver Pictures are quietly in the process of buying a "Wonder Woman" spec script from newcomers Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland, sources said. The studio and producer Joel Silver have been developing a big-screen rendition of the DC Comics superhero, with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon writing the script and attached to direct.

So why does the studio want another "Wonder Woman" script? Sources said the purchase is a pre-emptive measure aimed at taking the spec off the market to protect itself against the possibility that any similarities between the scripts could be fodder for future legal action. It is understood that the Jennison-Strickland script is set against the backdrop of World War II, while Whedon's script is set in the present day.

Silver has no interest in making a period "Wonder Woman," sources said. But as the spec script made the rounds, it landed at Silver Pictures, and executives there were impressed by Jennison and Strickland's writing.