Prior to the debut of Superman Returns in the United Kingdom, Brandon Routh hinted at the possibility of the sequel at a press conference, saying "At the end of this film we see that there is so much more to explore." Newsarama reported from the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con that director Bryan Singer had been in talks to direct a sequel for 2009. According to the article, Singer said that while Superman Returns allowed him to introduce the cast, the sequel would allow him to 'go Wrath of Khan on it.' He added that there would be an alien villain. In another interview on Superherohype.com, Singer indicated a possible return of the New Krypton island.
On August 18, 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Warner president Alan Horn thought that Superman Returns "was a very successful movie" and that he was planning on a sequel for 2009. It had been thought that a Superman Returns sequel hinged on the film's domestic box office performance, with some media outlets suggesting that Warner Bros. wanted it to take in at least $200 million in the United States for a sequel to get the green light. The film officially passed the $200 million domestic mark on October 22, 2006. On October 25, 2006, IESB.net reported that a deal between director Bryan Singer and Warner Bros had been finalized for a sequel. The budget was reportedly reduced; however, the existing sets would contribute to lower costs across the board for the upcoming movie. The sequel was expected to be more action-focused than its predecessor.
The focus was ging to be on a tighter story with more villains and bigger action sequences. On July 10, 2007, Variety reported Kevin Spacey would return for the sequel. They also referred to the sequel as Man of Steel and reported Singer was about to pitch the sequel to Warner Bros. with Michael Dougherty now writing the screenplay. Plans were to start production in 2008 for a 2009 release.
Production
In February 2006, Warner Bros. announced a summer 2009 theatrical release date. Legendary Pictures would co-finance the film 50/50 with the studio, with Bryan Singer directing. Gilbert Adler, Jon Peters, and Singer would produce while Chris Lee would executive produce. Singer dropped out of directing films such as Logan's Run and The Mayor on Castro Street in favor of Man of Steel. Warners and Legendary Pictures were disappointed by Superman Returns' theatrical box office, and were looking forward to a far lower budget for the sequel. In the words of Warner Bros. President Alan F. Horn, "I thought it was a very successful movie, but I think it should have done $500 million worldwide. We should have had perhaps a little more action to satisfy the young male crowd." $175 million was the maximum budget the studio is aiming for.
In November 2006, work on the storyline was starting, with an eye to start filming in summer 2007. In March 2007, Singer halted the sequel in favor of Valkyrie. Filming was then set to begin in March 2008, while in April 2007, Singer, Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris were still working on the story, and Peters hoped to have a script by the end of the year, with pre-production to start in January or February 2008.
Singer then announced that filming would begin in summer 2008, while Variety reported in October 2007 that Dougherty and Harris left in favor of other career opportunities. The release date was then moved to 2010 because of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Despite various reports that Singer was no longer directing, and the film was in search of writers after Dougherty and Harris' departure, Singer denied the reports, saying the film was in the early development phase. Routh has stated that he expected filming to begin in early 2009 for a '10 release. However, with Warner Bros. deciding to make a reboot, Singer left the sequel in favor of directing a film adaptation of Battlestar Galactica.
Reboot
In June 2008, Mark Millar claimed to have approached Warner Bros. on restarting the franchise, hoping for a 2011 release. A very well-known American action director (later revealed to be Matthew Vaughn) asked Millar to "team up with him and his producer to make a pitch." However, Millar later clarified his comments: "[...] you have to wait and see if Bryan [Singer] is going to do any more. You can’t just go in there and nick a project off a guy. If Bryan ends up standing back and goes to move on and do something else, we’ll be in there like a shot." His idea is to have an epic 8-hour Superman trilogy, each released a year apart, similar to the Lord of the Rings. Millar compared it to the Godfather trilogy, in which it will chronicle the entire life of Superman, from the early days of Krypton to the finale where Superman loses his powers as the sun starts to supernova. However, Millar has revealed that they are not involved yet.
In July 2008, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. were listening to various screenwriters to pitch their solutions for a second installment. Singer was still attached, while busy with post-production on Valkyrie. Comic book writers Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid and Brad Meltzer also pitched their ideas for a reboot. Morrison stated, "I told them, it’s not that bad. Just treat Superman Returns as the Ang Lee Hulk." Waid said, "The Incredible Hulk has proven the audience will forgive you and let you redo the franchise."Morrison's idea was similar to his work on All Star Superman, while Waid's was akin to Superman: Birthright.
In August 2008, Warner Bros. suggested to reboot the film series. Studio executive Jeff Robinov plans to have the film released either by 2010 or 2011, explaining "Superman Returns didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to. It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned. Had Superman worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. Now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all." Paul Levitz says that Brandon Routh is still set to return as Superman.
With the financial and critical success of The Dark Knight, Warners said of the reboot Superman film, "We're going to try to go dark to the extent that the character allows it."Legendary Pictures president Thomas Tull added that "Superman needs a powerful antagonist, a worthy opponent," wanting to evoke Superman as an "angry God".
Paul Levitz stated in an interview that Batman holds the key to the Superman reboot. He elaborated, "Everyone is waiting for Nolan to sign on for another Batman, once that happens, the release date for Superman and all other future projects will follow." In February 2009, McG, who previously planned to direct Superman: Flyby, expressed interest in returning to the Superman franchise.
August 2009 saw a court ruling in which Jerry Siegel's family recaptured the rights to Superman's origins and Siegel's copyright in Action Comics 1, while the Shuster estate had also won a court ruling similar to the Siegal case. It was ruled that Warner Brothers and DC Comics still retain ownership of certain aspects of Superman's character that appeared outside of the original Action Comics 1, such as the S-shield logo, the name of the Daily Planet Newspaper, the character of Jimmy Olsen, most of Superman's villains (including Lex Luthor), and Superman's established set of powers (including flight). In a related ruling, a judge ruled that Warner Brothers did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films, however if they do not begin production on a Superman film by 2011, then the Shuster and Siegel estates will be able to sue for lost revenue on the unmade film.
Christopher Nolan
Rumors began to circulate in February, 2010 that director Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) was being brought on board to oversee the Superman franchise and help bring the Man of Steel back to the silver screen.
In March, 2010, LA Times writer Geoff Boucher spoke with Nolan and received some confirmation that the rumors were indeed true.
While Nolan wass pleased with the excitement stirred, like the magicians in his 2006 film "The Prestige," he saw no value in revealing all of his tricks before the curtain goes up. Still, he wanted to answer some of the early questions about his plans for Superman — as well as his third visit to Gotham City. Here's as excerpt from the article:
[Christopher] Nolan said that he admired Brayn Singer’s film (Superman Returns), especially the way it connected in to director Richard Donner's version of Superman and the first two movies starring Reeve. Nolan added, though, that this new movie will stand on its own.
"A lot of people have approached Superman in a lot of different ways. I only know the way that has worked for us that's what I know how to do," Nolan said, emphasizing the idea that Batman exists in a world where he is the only superhero and a similar approach to the Man of Steel would assure the integrity needed for the film. "Each serves to the internal logic of the story. They have nothing to do with each other."
Still, it was a frustrating moment in the Batman franchise that led to this new Superman revival. Nolan and David Goyer, a key collaborator on both Batman films, were at a story impasse on the third Batman film (which is now picking up steam as well) when, as a distraction, Goyer gave the filmmaker a daydream version of how he would tackle a story about the last son of Krypton.
"He basically told me, 'I have this thought about how you would approach Superman,'" Nolan recalled. "I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get Emma Thomas and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way."
Goyer is now writing the screenplay and Nolan is keeping it close to the vest.
This much is certain: Nolan and Thomas are completely focused on the movie-of-the-moment, which is "Inception," which opens July 19 and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a dream thief of sorts in what may be Hollywood’s first metaphysical heist film. The movie is the most complicated undertaking of Nolan’s career — it was shot in six countries and tells a tale that flips between reality and three levels of dream-time — and, well, all things considered, he’d rather Superman stay in his Fortress of Solitude and off the front page for a while longer since that project is a matter for 2012 or 2013 at best.
Check out the complete LA Times article here.
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