Article: Bryan Singer Planning Superman Sequel
Date: 9th November 2006
Contributor: Galactus
Thanks for taking time to read the third instalment of CBM News: From The Archives.
I always think its interesting to look back at news stories from the past and look at how accurate they were when we look back now - this feature is really meant to get people thinking about how news is reported in a way that is usually as dramatic as possible - and sometimes entirely incorrect with the benefit of hindsight.
The sequel to Superman Returns was announced in February 2006, a full four months before the release of Superman Returns. Coincidently it was being produced under the name Superman: Man of Steel. The reason for the announcement of a sequel before cinematic release it widely put down to the huge buzz around the release of the teaser trailer on 17th November 2005. It was very well received by fans around the world.
It really is hard to argue with this trailer if you let it stand alone, the iconic score by John Williams, the voice of Marlon Brando. This trailer is epic, one fan said:
You have to look at this film for what it was... a fan's tribute to a great childhood memory. That's exactly what Singer did, and while it's not the greatest movie of all time, I found it enjoyable.
This teaser however... Is the greatest teaser I've yet to see in the history of film. Period.
However, lets look at the article that inspired this feature:
Bryan Singer Planning Superman Sequel
According to The Honolulu Advertiser "Superman Returns" director Bryan Singer along with producers Jon Peters & Chris Lee are all in Hawaii beginning plans on the upcoming sequel to this year's Superman film. Initially, Singer and Peters were in Honolulu this week to celebrate Lee's birthday.
Apparently, Singer acknowledged that he has also been approached to direct the sequel to another 2006 summer blockbuster, X-Men 3. Although the director says he won't have time to take on another large-scale project such as X-Men 4 before the next Superman gets underway. He is interested, however, in seeing the script for the "X-Men" spinoff "Wolverine" which is being targeted for a 2008 release.
Meanwhile, Lee said though planning for the next Superman film is just getting underway, he is once again looking at using Hawai'i-based businesses for some of the post-production.
The Superman sequel has been scheduled for a 2009 summer release with actor Brandon Routh quoted as saying "We probably won't start for another at least six months," earlier this month.
This was the long awaited confirmation really that Singer was committed to the project, and it really split fans down the middle. I can't remember a comic book movie that had split fan opinion so much. However there was hope for the fans who didn't like
Superman Returns as Brandon Routh was quoted at the DVD launch party speaking to
Rotten Tomatoes:
"There's a lot of talk about Braniac," said Routh. "Everyone wants to see Braniac. But I'll tell you what, in the video game 'Superman Returns,' you can play as Bizarro. Bizarro's pretty fun. I would lean towards one of those. Braniac, there's a lot of possibilities there. He's another mastermind villain so he can create any number of evil things."
This led to a flurry of internet activity with interviews and official releases stating that the sequel was going to be 'action packed' and feature 'other kryptonians' with the kryponite island floating through space serving as a plot device. But its no secret that in the four years that followed this article, there were a number of issues that pushed production back. First of all the budget was dropped from $209million in
Superman Returns to $175million for
Man of Steel. Then Singer halted production to work on
Valkyrie which resulted in writer Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty leaving the production to work on other projects.
In May 2008 Brandon Routh jumped into the mix speaking to
Syfy Wire:
"Bryan keeps me up [to date] with what's going on, and I think he'll get a script together later in the year, and we'll begin filming early next year," Routh said.
The actor joked about wanting to be able to hit more villains in the sequel and added that he has stayed in shape, albeit in a less-regimented workout routine. "I'm ready to get back into the swing of it, though," he said.
This gave fans everywhere hope that another film would be hitting theatres in 2010. But as we know it was never to be.
In December 2008
Cinema Blend reported that Bryan Singer had officially left the production:
Now the rumor that Bryan Singer has been given the boot for another Superman movie has all but been confirmed by the man himself. While being interviewed by UGO about upcoming movie Valkyrie, Singer was pressed for some information on his involvement in the talk of another new Superman movie. Despite valiantly trying to stay diplomatic over the whole thing, Singer eventually said, “I am not officially involved in the talk, no.” To be fair, he also said he was not "divorced from Superman at this point." But it still doesn't look good.
In the years since this announcement Singer has spoken a few times about what went wrong with his sequel, but this video really says it all:
Would you have like to have seen Singers 'balls to the wall'
Superman: Man of Steel?
Share your thoughts below. And thank you for reading.
Check out CBM: From The Archives Issue 1 :
Batman 5 In The Works
Check out CBM: From The Archives Issue 2 :
Nolan Defends Ledger As Joker
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