Scribes
Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris have opted out of the sequel to
Bryan Singer's 2006 flick
Superman Returns, says Variety's MARC GRASER, despite previous reports (from the writers and others) of their involvement.
Warner Bros now is accepting story pitches from other writers for
The Man of Steel.
Does this portend the imminent departure of helmer Singer himself (who worked with Dougherty and Harris on
X2: X-Men United)?
"I wouldn’t be surprised to hear later this week/month that Singer has also left the project," wrote Slashfilm's PETER SCIRETTA. "The writing already seems to be on the walls."
This development caught by surprise some who remember recent comments from the Singer camp about how smoothly
Man of Steel preproduction was proceeding. There even were postings that quoted at least one of the writers concerning plot points for the sequel.
"I wonder if the studio was unhappy with Dougherty and Harris’ take on
Man of Steel?" Sciretta wrote.
The studio obviously was unhappy with
Superman Returns, a sentiment shared by moviegoers. Skimping on action, dubious casting, and the controversial "Super-son" storyline resulted in a $200 million domestic haul (reports put the film's cost north of that number).
Industry rumors suggest that WB would prefer a series "reboot," akin to Universal's
Incredible Hulk, by which
Superman Returns would be retroactively erased.
But Warner insists that
Brandon Routh likely will return for
The Man of Steel. However, that film is taking a backseat to
George Miller's
Justice League of America flick and may not see a release date earlier than 2010.
Dougherty and Harris, meanwhile, are pursuing more directing gigs and non-movie writing projects.
A poster on the "DC UNIVERSE MESSAGE BOARDS" commented that "This is obviously one of those 'we have chosen to move on to other projects' statements you get from hollywood types after they got their Butt fired."