Superman: The Man Of Steel

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Jan 08, 2009


In an interview with IESB.net, David Goyer - who directed Blade: Trinity and wrote drafts of Chris Nolan's Batman films - had some interesting insights on Warner Bros. attitude towards the DC Comics properties, which they own all the rights to.

He told them: "A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while they figure out, they're going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause at the moment." This would include currently in development projects, such as a new Superman, Green Lantern and possibly Wonder Woman.

The reason for this? "It was the double header of both Iron Man and The Dark Knight coming out" he said. "More than ever I think they've realized, I think DC was responsible for 15% of Warner Brother's revenue this year, something crazy like that, so they realized that comic books, it's become a new genre, one of the most successful genres."

We're not sure what this "new plan" is yet; will they attempt to try and synchronise the various DC Universe characters - as Marvel are planning with their superheroes?

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Are the Wachowski Brothers (famous of course for creating The Matrix) set to reboot the Superman franchise?

A scooper for Ain't it Cool News told the site that Wachowski collaborator John McTeigue (who worked second unit on The Matrix and helmed the Wachoswki-produced V For Vendetta) said the brothers had previously been intending to make a move based on DC's Plastic Man.

However, they claim studio Warner Bros. has put the project on hold indefinitely, which frees up the Wachowski's for a possible three-part re-imagining of Superman.

This would be facilitated, they claim, by the fact that Superman Returns helmer Bryan Singer is opting to helm the Logan's Run remake instead. This itself runs contrary to what we've previously heard, with Singer apparently exiting the project to be replaced with newcomer Joseph Kosinski.

AICN's tipster writes: "[The Wachowskis] are currently reviewing their options as its like being asked to take the final play in a Superbowl final. [McTeigue] says if they do agree, he will likely either succumb to providing second unit support on the movie or will champion the directorship of Plastic Man.

He went on: "The very thought of the brothers making a Superman movie is believable as they have grown up in the world of comic books and they would be ideal for the project."

Obviously this is just a big fat rumour at this stage - all entirely unconfirmed by the studio, but would you pay to see Superman Wachowski-bros style?

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It appears the Wachowski brothers won't be taking a trip to Metropolis after all.

It was recently reported that the makers of The Matrix were being lined up by their home studio Warner Bros. to reboot the Superman franchise. The brothers Wachowski were said to be putting their plans for a Plastic Man movie on hold in order to do a Superman trilogy instead.

Unfortunately, SlashFilm says that simply isn't the case. The site claims it has received "confirmation from two independent sources that the report was completely false."

A bit of a dampener for all Supe fans.

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Word lately has Ninja Assassin director and Wachowski brothers protege James McTeigue pegged as the possible successor to the Superman movie franchise, and while the helmer won't confirm or deny these rumors, he has proved willing to talk about his thoughts on where the character should go next on the big screen.

While talking to MTV recently, McTeigue said that he thinks Supes should go darker than he has in the past.

"I think that the culture has sort of changed a little bit around Superman," McTeigue said. "If you're going to do something with Superman, I think people would probably like something a little darker."

He added that the recent court ruling that took away the rights to Superman's origin and the planet Krypton from Warner Bros. might not be such a bad thing.

"I think it's good that they just had a court case where, basically, if you make another Superman movie, you can't touch Superman growing up -- that's part of the story that you can't touch anymore," he said. "That wouldn't be a bad thing. I think everybody's a bit sick of seeing the origin story. … You need to take it and retool it. Make it something that appeals to audiences now a little more."

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James McTeigue just can't stop talking about Superman.

The V for Vendetta director has been linked to a reboot for ages, and was talking about the project as recently as August this year.

Firstshowing.net quizzed McTeigue once more on the topic at Fantastic Fest, and he admitted that he has talked to studio Warner bros.

"I've had some discussions with [directors of The Matrix] the Wachowski brothers to a lesser degree, but the Superman franchise is in a strange kind of place at the moment... I think they're still trying to work out the mechanics of how that can come together."

If he was going to tackle the Man of Steel on film he would want to make it his own: "I think I would be interested in doing it if they let me do it the way I wanted to do it. I would say that, if you take the Richard Donner Supermans and the last Superman [from Bryan Singer], I think that Superman is probably ripe for a bit of a change up. I think society has changed around the core idea of what Superman was."

McTeigue went on: "And I'm not saying you do the ubiquitous dark Superman... I think there are some things that you could excise from the Superman mythology that people would get into it, if you took the world that he was in and changed that a bit, and maybe even project that into the future a bit."

"I think you don't really have to play into the origin story anymore. I think there's a whole bunch of things you could do to make that film more alive and exciting again."

Don't expect to see McTeigue's ideas up on screen anytime soon however, as the franchise is seemingly on hold for the time being after the recent restructuring at DC and Warner Bros.

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And then there was one:

In a move that won’t really surprise anyone considering how close he is to Warner Bros., Zack Snyder, the man behind Watchmen, 300 and the new owl ‘toon Legends of the Guardians, has been chosen to direct the studio’s latest attempt at bringing Superman back to the silver screen.

Deadline was first to break the news that Snyder was in the middle of forging a deal to make the movie with Chris Nolan executive producing. David Goyer cracked the concept and has written the script, which he'll work on with Snyder and the rest to refine before the director gets to work shooting.

“It's early yet, but I can tell you that what David and Chris have done with the story so far definitely has given me a great insight into a way to make him feel modern. I've always felt he was kind of awesome. I'll finish Sucker Punch and get right at it,” Snyder tells Deadline.

“In the initial meetings, he’s been super amazingly smart and also amazingly kind, filmmaker-to-filmmaker,” he tells the Heat Vision blog about his discussions with Nolan, in which he apparently didn’t put on a big show to win the job, but did express how close he is to the character. “I have great respect for him. The process has been amazing so far, and it looks like nothing but pluses.”

And finding a Man of Steel will probably be easier than balancing the movie’s tone, which suffers from the fact that it’s so hard to make Superman correctly when he’s such a heroic character lacking the shades of a Batman. Still, Goyer and Nolan seem convinced they’ve cracked it, so perhaps working with Snyder, they can come up with something cool.

Rumours have been flying with regards to possible plotlines, but the biggest hit on the story seems to revolve around the return of the beloved General “kneel before” Zod. If that pans out, we fear for whoever has to step into the black pantsuit made famous by Terence Stamp.

Per a report from THR, Goyer’s script is believed to be akin to Richard Donner’s Superman films via the inclusion of General Zod as the primary villain. While unconfirmed, Nolan has made it known that he wishes to place Superman within a realistic modern context for The Man of Steel. With that in mind, it would make sense to have Superman fight it out with a fellow Kryptonian who, like Clark Kent, at least looks human. While his esteemed nemesis Lex Luthor also fits this bill, other popular Superman villains such as Brainiac and/or Darkseid might not play as quite as “real” from a physical perspective.

Warners will be feeling some relief, since it really needs to get the film moving to capitalise on the time it has left to exploit the character before some of the copyrights revert back to the original creators’ estates, and has a Christmas 2012 release schedule on its wish list.

Briefly, and in closing, many have questioned whether or not Warner Bros. might bring back Brandon Routh to reprise his role in Snyder and Nolan’s film. While unconfirmed, we are hearing early stirs which seem to rule out Routh’s return to the franchise. For those of you who enjoyed Superman Returns, you have my deepest sympathies. For the rest of us, here’s to hoping Snyder, Nolan, Goyer, and co. can give this generation a Superman film that, like The Man of Steel himself, can withstand the test of time.

[roshiq]

I hope from the bottom of my heart at least this time they'll successfully bring the man into the big screen...it's somewhat really sad for the fans that there's still no proper SUPERMAN film adaptation came out in this rising age of Superhero flicks. Btw, it's also good to hear that they're replacing Routh.

[massacre man]

Snyder wasn't the best candidate, but I trust him, Nolan, and Goyer to make a good Superman movie.

[crazy raplh]

Originally Posted by CryptKeeper13

What a peice of trash Superman Returns was... I was so excited for that movie when it came out due to the fact that Superman is one of my beloved childhood figures. I remember walking out of the theater speechless and could not stopping thinking what a POS that film really was. In conclusion I'm happy for a "re-inventing" of sorts and it would be amazing if they could make the Death of Superman a film. Has potential to be at least visually outstanding.

There is a cartoon movie of it.

[The_Return]

Originally Posted by massacre man

Snyder wasn't the best candidate, but I trust him, Nolan, and Goyer to make a good Superman movie.

My thoughts exactly.

Personally - though I do enjoy Snyder's style - I've got some reservations as to how well it'll mesh with the Man of Steel. Still, with a script from Goyer, and Nolan watching over everything, there's not much chance this can go wrong.