Superman Starting Over?
An update on the sequel and Singer.
by Jim Vejvoda

August 19, 2008 - Warner Bros. is mulling over their comic book movie future right now, from their long in-development Justice League of America movie to Batman 3. But one particular project that appears to be bedeviling the studio most is their sequel to Superman Returns, which was considered a box office underperformer given its hefty price tag.



The project, reportedly titled Superman: Man of Steel, has lingered in limbo ever since the Bryan Singer-directed Superman Returns opened in 2006. It was reported in March that Singer would reprise his directing duties for the sequel, which he previously said would feature more action and spectacle. (Returns writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris will not be back.)



But now, according to an item today from Variety columnist Anne Thompson, Singer's involvement is not such a sure thing after all.



Thompson blogged, "Today I was told that it is a priority at the studio to find the right direction and if Bryan Singer is willing to do that, fine, but if he gets in the way, he may not stay on the project. There are no writers working on a Superman script now. The studio wants to figure it out. 'It might be better to start from scratch,' one exec admitted."

I honestly wouldn’t care if they just dropped Superman entirely. I’ve never really liked any of them, and the latest one I didn’t bother to watch in the first place. Oh well.



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Any thoughts?

That link doesn't seem to work any more did they pull it?

August 22, 2008 - Turns out those rumors that Warner Bros. wants to reboot their Superman franchise rather than make a sequel to Superman Returns are true.



In a move reminiscent of how Marvel Studios ignored Ang Lee's Hulk when making this summer's The Incredible Hulk, that notorious fanboy rag The Wall Street Journal reports that Warners plans to "reintroduce" the Man of Steel to audiences by 2011. The studio "is focused on releasing four comic-book films in the next three years, including a third Batman film, a new film reintroducing Superman, and two movies focusing on other DC Comics characters."



Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov told WSJ that the Bryan Singer-directed 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." 



The exec added, "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."



Given the astounding commercial success of the grim and gritty Dark Knight, Robinov says Warners's upcoming DC movie slate is "going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it," and the next Superman movie will be no exception.


The WSJ article also confirms that the live-action Justice League of America movie has been indefinitely shelved so that Warners, a la Marvel Studios' plan for an Avengers movie in 2011, can introduce that team's key members -- including Superman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern -- in their own individual films before producing a team-up movie.

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Guess they are just going to start over.

Above confirmed rumor

Ok, now this is just lame. There's no "do-overs" in Hollywood. Your movie either was good or it sucked. In which cases, the only other movie I know of to pull this manuever is The Hulk.