"Superman Returns Again" still in limbo...

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

...save WB a multi zillion dollar search for a new man to wear the cape?

A talent search, even when it's extensive, is chump change in the context of a major blockbuster. Searching for a new actor to play Superman might take time, but it wouldn't be all that expensive by the standards of studio spending. The only way finding a new Superman would be costly would be if they signed an established major star.

If they do a reboot then Routh has to go in my opinion. Keeping him but casting a new Lois and dropping Jason would be too discordant and it would seriously muddy the clean break WB would need in marketing terms for a Superman relaunch.

 

[JacksonArcher]

Good luck trying to find a new Superman then. It took WB how many years to find a suitable actor to play the Man of Steel? That's not to say there aren't other actors fully capable to play Superman (Henry Cavill comes to mind) but the last thing you want is another ten year search when you have a suitable actor right in front of you.

 

[RandyS]

I'll never understand why Kate Bosworth suffers more abuse than Erica Durance when it comes to playing Lois Lane

Because Bosworth stinks, and Durance was the second best actress to play Lois.

Wrong and wrong.

I suppose that Smallville fans would tend to be toughest on Bosworth. It's bad enough that some of them won't stop pimping Tom Welling for the Superman film franchise.

Personally I'd reather see a film with the Lois& Clark cast.

Minus Lane Smith, of course.

And I maintain: Bosworth stinks.

 

[Samurai8472]

Kate Bosworth would've been a better fit in the Smallville universe where she'd probably play a four-star general or the President of the United States.

I can't wait to see what Smalllville's villain "Doomsday" looks like.

glowing red eyes and an aura that resembles doomsday. They're too cheap even for Stargate alien makeup

 

[Captain Craig]

Good luck trying to find a new Superman then. It took WB how many years to find a suitable actor to play the Man of Steel? That's not to say there aren't other actors fully capable to play Superman (Henry Cavill comes to mind) but the last thing you want is another ten year search when you have a suitable actor right in front of you.

I'm inclined to believe it was finding what they thought to be a bankable script with a competent and capable director that held the movie up and not a suitable enough actor.

 

[Bad Bishop]

If they do a reboot then Routh has to go in my opinion. Keeping him but casting a new Lois and dropping Jason would be too discordant and it would seriously muddy the clean break WB would need in marketing terms for a Superman relaunch.

I think there's at least as much risk in asking audiences to accept yet another new set of actors in the next Superman film. Rebooting with the cast of SR might sound risky right now, but I'll bet that audiences can make the leap, especially if the new film has a better script.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Good luck trying to find a new Superman then. It took WB how many years to find a suitable actor to play the Man of Steel?

Not that long actually. Superman Returns was made in fairly short order once Singer signed on. So Routh was found in a pretty quick talent search. Previous projects, that ended up being canceled, had been more oriented towards signing an established star. It's a fallacy that it would necessarily require a very long, difficult search to find a new actor to play Superman. As long as the producers and director, whoever they may be, had their heads screwed on straight (as opposed to thinking that Nicolas Cage would be a good Superman) then there's no reason why a suitable new actor couldn't be found in good order.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I'm inclined to believe it was finding what they thought to be a bankable script with a competent and capable director that held the movie up and not a suitable enough actor.

It was all of the above. They searched through thousands of actors in the process of trying to jumpstart the franchise. Brett Ratner left the film because he had difficulties with producer Jon Peters and because he wanted an unknown when the studio and Peters wanted someone like Josh Hartnett. McG had location problems (he didn't want to shoot the film overseas because he was afraid of flying) but he couldn't settle on an actor. It wasn't until Singer that he finally had an actor that he knew he wanted, and unlike last time WB just conceded and let him cast Routh.

Originally Posted by Bad Bishop
I think there's at least as much risk in asking audiences to accept yet another new set of actors in the next Superman film. Rebooting with the cast of SR might sound risky right now, but I'll bet that audiences can make the leap, especially if the new film has a better script.

I agree. I had the same problem with Hulk. Why couldn't they have just did a loose sequel with a different creative crew but same cast? You can do a sequel, choose and pick what you want to include, hire whoever you want behind the camera and stick with Routh, Bosworth and co. It's much more of a stretch to get all new actors than to just stick to what worked before.

Originally Posted by Out Of My Vulcan Mind
Not that long actually. Superman Returns was made in fairly short order once Singer signed on. So Routh was found in a pretty quick talent search. Previous projects, that ended up being canceled, had been more oriented towards signing an established star. It's a fallacy that it would necessarily require a very long, difficult search to find a new actor to play Superman. As long as the producers and director, whoever they may be, had their heads screwed on straight (as opposed to thinking that Nicolas Cage would be a good Superman) then there's no reason why a suitable new actor couldn't be found in good order.

No. Brett Ratner wanted an unknown, he found an actor in Matthew Boomer, but WB did not want an unknown. McG looked through many established and unknowns and hadn't yet decided before he was let go of the project. It was the indecisiveness between the director and the studio that kept an actor from being cast. People forget that when Singer came onboard WB came him cart blanche basically. And Routh was so easily chosen because he was a candidate for McG, and Singer reviewed all the actors that the previous directors auditioned. WB gave him the creative control that he didn't get on the X-Men movies and that WB didn't give Ratner or McG, which is partially why Singer jumped ship so damn quickly (the deal for Singer to direct was made in 72 hours).

 

[davejames]

Sad to say,this has been on the cards for some time. There was never any doubt about sequels to Spider-man or Batman Begins, for example. Superman seemed to be followed by the pattern that also emerged after Ang Lee's Hulk. Rumour, rumour, less and less sign of movement, cast and crew moving onto other things ...

With the reboot proving successful for the Batman series, the Bond movies, though less so for Hulk, it's perhaps inevitable that WB would consider this approach for Superman. After all, SR, much as I like it, was an underperformer financially (people were expecting Spider-man like box office returns) and divided fans down the middle. You can never please everyone, but the movie never received the love that BB or Spider-man did. I think picking up where it left off (with a 10 year old Jason etc) might be a risky proposition. Ignoring that sort of baggage and delivering a more fun movie (like the Incredible Hulk) seems a lot safer.

Yeah as much as I'd love to see a followup to SR, and see the relationship with his son explored further, it's getting to the point where the kid actor is going to be too old to make the idea even worthwhile.

I mean there was already a big gap until Superman met him the FIRST time; by the time we get to continue the story, we'll be looking at a 10 or 11 year old version of that kid.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I think there's at least as much risk in asking audiences to accept yet another new set of actors in the next Superman film. Rebooting with the cast of SR might sound risky right now, but I'll bet that audiences can make the leap, especially if the new film has a better script.

I think it's going to take long enough for another Superman film to be made that a complete reboot with a new cast will be the best option.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

No. Brett Ratner wanted an unknown, he found an actor in Matthew Boomer, but WB did not want an unknown. McG looked through many established and unknowns and hadn't yet decided before he was let go of the project. It was the indecisiveness between the director and the studio that kept an actor from being cast. People forget that when Singer came onboard WB came him cart blanche basically. And Routh was so easily chosen because he was a candidate for McG, and Singer reviewed all the actors that the previous directors auditioned. WB gave him the creative control that he didn't get on the X-Men movies and that WB didn't give Ratner or McG, which is partially why Singer jumped ship so damn quickly (the deal for Singer to direct was made in 72 hours).

You're right Ratner also wanted an unknown. But, like I said, if you have a director and producers with a clear idea of what they're looking for in an actor (and backing from the studio) then finding one doesn't have to be a huge, long ordeal. Obviously that's a big "if", but such is filmmaking.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I think there's at least as much risk in asking audiences to accept yet another new set of actors in the next Superman film. Rebooting with the cast of SR might sound risky right now, but I'll bet that audiences can make the leap, especially if the new film has a better script.

I think it's going to take long enough for another Superman film to be made that a complete reboot with a new cast will be the best option.

You don't know that for sure. And while I don't know this for sure either, I suspect once Singer is done with Valkyrie we'll find out soon enough what is going on with him and the Superman franchise.

 

[davejames]

If they do a reboot then Routh has to go in my opinion. Keeping him but casting a new Lois and dropping Jason would be too discordant and it would seriously muddy the clean break WB would need in marketing terms for a Superman relaunch.

I think there's at least as much risk in asking audiences to accept yet another new set of actors in the next Superman film. Rebooting with the cast of SR might sound risky right now, but I'll bet that audiences can make the leap, especially if the new film has a better script.

Agreed. In fact, I don't really see how a SR2 would be any less a reboot than a "Superman Begins." Yeah there would be this son of Lois and Superman's in the background, but I doubt we'd see much of him anyway. For the most part what we'd be looking at is a new set of actors, a new design and style from the previous movies, and a new story and villain.

Personally, that's enough of a reboot for me. No reason to scrap the whole thing just to get rid of one little kid that some fans don't like.

 

[Captain Craig]

I think there's at least as much risk in asking audiences to accept yet another new set of actors in the next Superman film. Rebooting with the cast of SR might sound risky right now, but I'll bet that audiences can make the leap, especially if the new film has a better script.

I think it's going to take long enough for another Superman film to be made that a complete reboot with a new cast will be the best option.

You don't know that for sure. And while I don't know this for sure either, I suspect once Singer is done with Valkyrie we'll find out soon enough what is going on with him and the Superman franchise.

And that is reason enough to be glad to have Valkyrie behind us.

 

[JacksonArcher]

You're right Ratner also wanted an unknown. But, like I said, if you have a director and producers with a clear idea of what they're looking for in an actor (and backing from the studio) then finding one doesn't have to be a huge, long ordeal. Obviously that's a big "if", but such is filmmaking.

And judging from the previous discord between the studio and the filmmakers, I don't know if I want to possibly deal with that again. Who's to say that the next branch of filmmakers have any solid idea on how they want to proceed, and if the studio will back them?

I'm not trying to say that just because Bryan Singer managed to make a movie, regardless of quality, that he's the only person who can make a Superman movie but I just don't think he's that incapable that he should be disregarded so easily. Give him another chance. He's talented enough to make it work.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

You don't know that for sure. And while I don't know this for sure either, I suspect once Singer is done with Valkyrie we'll find out soon enough what is going on with him and the Superman franchise.

No, I don't know for sure. It's an educated guess.

Who's to say that the next branch of filmmakers have any solid idea on how they want to proceed, and if the studio will back them?

They could have great ideas and have full studio backing, delivering a knockout film that's both a commercial and critical success, or they could have lousy ideas and/or discord with the studio that louses things up. Those possibilities exist on every film, even sequels with the same cast and director.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Yeah as much as I'd love to see a followup to SR, and see the relationship with his son explored further, it's getting to the point where the kid actor is going to be too old to make the idea even worthwhile.

I mean there was already a big gap until Superman met him the FIRST time; by the time we get to continue the story, we'll be looking at a 10 or 11 year old version of that kid.

I'd love to see where Singer wanted to go with it, too. And I don't think that the kid getting older would necessarily be a bad thing, as I'd always envisioned the story moving forward in that way, picking up on where he and Supes were at years later. Kids do grow up.

But...the vibe I'm getting from what the TPTB are saying in the quote in the OP is that their idea of a new direction would be to drop the kid angle. And since that was Singer's baby (pardon the expression), I doubt he'd be willing to play ball, and thus he wouldn't return.

I think we're looking at some sort of reboot here; whether it's an all-out origin movie or not, whether it gets right off the ground or spends a decade or more in development hell. I don't think we're getting Singer or SR2.

 

[Supervisor 194]

The latest from Steve Younis at www.supermanhomepage.com

"I received an email earlier this week stating that writers have been hired, and Bryan Singer (who is still attached to direct) is having writing sessions with them twice a week. I'm unable to get the names of those writers at this point in time, but have put in a call to my source to get a response to Anne Thompson's report."

 

[Bad Bishop]

The latest from Steve Younis at www.supermanhomepage.com

"I received an email earlier this week stating that writers have been hired, and Bryan Singer (who is still attached to direct) is having writing sessions with them twice a week. I'm unable to get the names of those writers at this point in time, but have put in a call to my source to get a response to Anne Thompson's report."

Best Superman news all week. I hope it's reliable. Supervisor 194, we thank you for your update.

 

[Supervisor 194]

I hope it's reliable, too.

At this point, I just can't see WB completely scrapping everything that went into Returns only to start again from scratch. Even if Singer doesn't return, I'd expect them to keep much of the design work and cast--especially Routh. Other rumors I've seen point to WB wanting to have a 'loose' sequel to SR, using the same cast but taking the story in more of a comic book oriented direction.