Superman Returns director Bryan Singer talked with Ain't It Cool News about the film's box office take and the likelihood of a sequel.
Here's highlights:
AIN'T IT COOL NEWS: So, what'd you think of the overall reaction to the film? I know it's really hard to find anything positive online. People seem to be quick to call anything that's not a record breaker a failure. I saw that happen with KONG.
BRYAN SINGER: Well, there's great affection for the picture and I feel... You know, it comes in all different ways. Sometimes it comes with the domestic box office, sometimes it comes in the international box office. Sometimes it comes in letters from your idols who have never written to you before and from their families. Sometimes it comes from coming down here and having a few people say, "Why didn't you do this?" and a few people who say, "Thank you so much." I can only make a movie I think someone will watch 10 years or 20 years from now and say, "Oh, I'm affected by it!" Or a movie that maybe a woman who doesn't come to these kinds of movies will actually watch and get choked up about. That's kind of the idea here.
AIN'T IT COOL NEWS: And it seems that across the board people agree on Brandon Routh as Superman.
BRYAN SINGER: Well, that was the key. That was the key. I had to introduce this guy and if that didn't work... And sometimes it takes a certain kind of movie. And by the way, in terms of people's perceptions on domestic box office, this is going up in the face of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, a sequel, but secondly... the last time a SUPERMAN movie was out was a long time ago and its cumulative domestic gross was $15 million.
AIN'T IT COOL NEWS: I think that once you have that audience in place you'll hit it big. That why I keep telling people that a SUPERMAN sequel only makes sense for Warner Bros. It's a good time to have franchises right now... SUPERMAN RETURNS will make its money back no matter what...
BRYAN SINGER: It already has!
AIN'T IT COOL NEWS: ... and they'll want the franchise to keep going.
BRYAN SINGER: Yeah. You know, we come out here, we come out foreign, we have the DVD and we build. Suddenly now this group of people, and it took them a while, but they've all finally seen SUPERMAN RETURNS. And now, when you make another one, if they don't like it, then it's not as easy to sell them on another one. My average feedback has been very positive. I feel very good about the picture.