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Friday
22Aug2008

Superman Returns Again

DateFriday, August 22, 2008 at 4:16PM
Breaking movie news first: It's The Wall Street Journal!

Following up a story we and every other online lackey reported this week, Warner Bros. company credit card holder Jeff Rubinov confirmed to the Journal that the current Superman motif would be scrapped in favor of a whole new storyline for the Kryptonian immigrant.

"It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned," said Rubinov of Superman Returns. "Had Superman worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. But now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all."

At the end there, he's referencing one of Warner's dream projects, teaming the heroes (which simply couldn't work within the two aesthetics in the most recent franchises.)

Of course, Rubinov gets credit from Christopher Nolan for allowing his Batman films to head in a darker direction; contrast that with reports about Fox bigwig Tom Rothman having Wolverine sets repainted so they'd appear brighter and more colorful.

When we talked about this before, I said that my feeling is Superman is harder to convey right now in a more cynical world that is drawn in by almost vulnerable heroes like Batman and Iron Man. I think starting over is definitely the best move. Going darker could make sense, but would it go Dark Knight moody? And when? Now? Three years from now?

According to the Journal, the odds are it'll be sooner than later. By 2011, in fact, Warner hopes to pair with DC Comics on two of their six to eight major blockbusters "in the pipeline." The studio will also cut back the number of films they release to around 20 from 25.

They would like a third Batman that year, and I suppose Superman could fit (although I'd rather they went with Sgt. Rock or something). I still don't know why Wonder Woman never took off, and if you're rebooting, why not take a new set of crayons to her; after all, Marvel's not hitting that demographic.

I would assume this is curtains for Bryan Singer working with The Man of Steel. If you weren't happy with the film, why would you bring back an expensive director who, in your opinion, took the character the wrong way?

Another interesting tidbit in the Journal article: Warner Bros. is apparently unhappy with the more than $200 million Get Smart has made around the world. So for those of you who still think everyone jumps for joy if a movie makes back its money, here's proof that you pretty much need to triple your budget in summer to be considered a big success. So imagine what that could mean for Superman.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment1 Comment |

Reader Comments (1)

Rebooting the franchise may seem like a good idea but I think they should give Singer another shot at it. If the sequel is gonna have more action and a better story then so be it (for the record, I enjoyed Superman Returns) but taking the "Dark Knight" route literally is really not the best way to tackle the character cuz lets face it Superman was never that dark or disturbing to begin with.like the Batman comics, Batman is dark because of the atmosphere and the characters and in the world he inhabits is necessary to convey that darkness and Christopher Nolan did tremendously well with BB and TDK. It worked well with TIH but a do-over would mean a lot of plot threads hanging from Returns. Superman doesn't need to take cues from TDK; Superman and Batman are polar opposites of each other and their methods for fighting evil are different. The only way Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Arrow can work is by standing on their own two feet and not overboard on darkness.

IMO give Singer another chance. No reboot.

Thursday, August 28, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterDarkGrittyMovieLoverX

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