Thursday Update

 

(When We Last Left You: For almost 20 years now, Warner Bros had tried to get its "Superman" franchise back into theatres. After countless delay's and production problems, it seems that the WB had just about given up. But in Hollywood, you can never say never)

SUPERMAN (FINALLY) RETURNS: PART II

With the success of "Spider-Man" and the "X-Men" movies comic book movies were raking in the cash. Several Hollywood Studios were trying to cash in on the superhero craze. Within a few years there were movies based on comic book characters "The Hulk", "Daredevil", "Hellboy", "Blade" and more. All did good business at the box office and in the case of "Blade" established franchises for their studios. Add to this the fact that Marvel comics was pretty much running wild at the box office and its easy to see why Warner Bros decided to give the Superman project yet antother shot.

At this point however, Warner Bros also decided to resurrect another character from the vault. "Batman 5" was also starting to come together and soon these two films would be competing against each other. After several months of closed door wheeling and dealing it was decided that Batman would release first since it was farther along on the devlopment track and alraedy had its principles cast (Something Superman did not).

Now that he was free of schedule conflicts, McG was once again brought in to try to set this project up. He and screenwriter J.J. Abrams poured over the original draft Abrams had submitted and tried to revamp it to Warner's liking. Gone were the ideas of a "Living" Krypton and the kryptonian Lex Luther. This "new" version of Superman would again explain the origins of the character and stay more closely to its comic book roots.

Once again however the sticking point became just WHO would play Superman. With Warner Bros INSISTING that whoever signed on to play Superman had to commit to 3 films, many of the A-Listers were passing on the project. It became increasinglyclear that whoever wore the blue tights, was going to have be an unknown actor.

McG continued to work on the project but, as the months went on, it became apparent that this movie just wasnt coming together. Abrams script just wasnt meshing well with what McG wanted to do and it again seemed that this project was going to die.

Then in the Summer of 2004, as "Spider-Man 2" is raking in the cash, something huge happened that would finally get the Superman project on the fast track to theatres. Director McG left the project only to be replaced by acclaimed director Bryan Singer of "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United". Singer for years had wanted to do a Superman movie and seeing his oppurtunity he jumped in and signed almost immediatley. Nevermind the fact that he was already well into pre-production on "X3" for 20th Century Fox!! So while one group of comic book fans mourned the loss of their director, another group cheered the news.

Singer made an impact on day one. He ditched Abrams' script and brought in his own team of writers from the "X-Men" franchise. He had his own vision for what Superman should be: This wasnt going to be an origin story. "Superman V" would actually be set between the events of "Superman II" and "Superman III". An interesting premise to say the least.

Things really went into overdrive then as the next step was casting Superman/Clark Kent. This time around however, talk focused squarely on Tom Welling of TV's "Smallville".

Tom Welling

Welling in the past had shown reluctance in playing the actual SuperMAN character, but he was the fan favorite to play him. He was pretty high on Singer's list also, so much so that he offered the role to him. Welling ultimatley passed on the project and the attention turned again on finding an unknown.

Finally, after what seemed like an enternity, WB had their Superman. Iowa native Brandon Routh:

Ladies and Gentlemen..Superman

 

Routh (ryhmes with "mouth"), who had zero big screen credits was deemed the perfect fit and the fact that he resembled a young Christopher Reeve didnt hurt his chances either. ;-)

On the set as Clark Kent

If Superman was going to be played by a unknown actor, then Warners was going to compensate by filling in the supporting cast with known actors. Super villan Lex Luthor was the next role cast and it went to A-Lister Kevin Spacey.

Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor

 

Long rumored to be in the running, his signing gave the movie some sorely needed star power.

The next role cast would be that of Lois Lane. After much speculation and some name tossing (Some rumored names were Selma Blair, Elisha Cuthbert and Claire Danes) Kate Bosworth landed the role.

Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane

With his 3 prinicples cast in a span of 3 months, Brian Singer had brought the Supeman project farther than any director before him had in 6 years!!

The newly dubbed "Superman Returns" was pegged for a Summer 2006 release and filming started in the Winter of 2005.

Singer's vision for "Superman Returns" was quite an ambitious one. Using unused footage from "Superman II" of Marlon Brando (Jor-El in the original film) Singer will be bridging thegap between this Superman and the Superman from the original films. The movie tells the story of how Superman has disappeared for a long period of time and when he returns to Metropolis he finds that the love of his life (Lois Lane) has moved on with her life and a growing feeling that Metropolis may have been better off without him. The resentment of course being fueld by Lex Luthor, who is determined to destroy the "Man of Steel" once and for all.

Routh as Superman

It sounds like a great story and the teaser trailer released late last year, gave fans hope that their long wait may have been worth it after all.

Bryan Singer is often credited with re-inventing the superhero genre with his "X-Men" films, but will he make us believe in a hero that hasnt been in theatres for almost 20 years?

On June 30th, we'll all "Look up in the sky" and find out ;-)

DQ

One Final Thought: I LOVED the teaser trailer for "Superman Returns" and there was one image in it that totally caught my eye. As you hear Jor-El (Marlon Brando) narrating there's a quick shot of Superman's silohuette against the sun.  This image was so awesome that I felt it wouldve made a much cooler teaser poster than the one that was ultimatley released. Well, using a fan art picture and some messing with MS-Paint I made my own version of the teaser poster. I'll let you decide. The official poster is on the left. My "mockup" is on the right.