I am – Hercules!!

On page 16 of the he current issue of Entertainment Weekly (the one with Keira Knightley on the cover), there’s a tiny piece by Nicole Sperling that indicates via an unnamed source that Jan. 15 (today) is the day Warner Bros. has to decide whether or not it will greenlight the “Justice League” movie George “Mad Max” Miller has been developing.

The issue, apparently, is that the studio wants the movie out in 18 months but Miller wants a rewrite, and a rewrite at this point would mean defying the striking writers guild.

Does this mean Warners would go forward without Miller’s participation? I can’t speak for every fan, but if Miller fell out of the director’s chair, it would drain away all the enthusiasm and goodwill many of us have harbored for the project.

If the studio wisely decides to wait for a script Miller is happy with, however, it’s going to have to wait until the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers comes to terms -- not only with the WGA but also the actors and directors guilds, whose collective bargaining agreements expire this summer.

This would mean a substantial delay for a “Justice League” movie, but so what? We’ve waited 47 years; another won’t kill us.

Besides, 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the League. Maybe that’s the better date to aim for anyway.