What Does Christopher Nolan Mean For The Superman Franchise? Dan Koelsch, February 10, 2010March 13, 2010 A report from Deadline Hollywood has Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, taking on a “mentoring” role in the next Superman film that Warner Bros is trying to get off the ground (pun intended). Both DC Comics franchises are WB productions, and many have suggested for the studio to take The Man of Steel in a darker direction. So, what does this really mean for the Super movie? Well, first of all, it’s important to know that Nolan will not produce or direct the film, and his mentoring role is just to help focus the production so it can finally see the light of day. Still, many hope that Nolan’s skills and vision that reinvigorated the Dark Knight saga might help make the new Superman movie have a more interesting story and character. The more successful TV and film adaptations deal with Clark Kent (Superman’s mild mannered alter ego for those just coming out of that rock) coming to terms with his powers and responsibilities as the last son of Krypton, then having to manage his two lives. This new movie is expected to be a complete reboot and would most likely dive into these two areas. But didn’t Warner Bros already reboot the franchise with 2006’s Superman Returns, starring unknown Brandon Routh? Welcome to the wild story that is the making of a Superman movie. Since the last of films in the Christopher Reeve-led franchise (Superman IV: The Quest For Peace) in 1987, Hollywood has tried to reboot the franchise with no avail. The first time Warner Bros came close was around 1996, when Kevin Smith was hired to write the screenplay for producer Jon Peters, who interestingly enough produced the 1990s Batman franchise. Tim Burton was set to direct, and Nicholas Cage was cast to play the Man of Steel. To hear the hilarious story about how that fell through, check out this video of Kevin Smith explaining it. The franchise looked like it was coming out of development hell when McG came on in 2002 to direct. Finally, after many people passed through the gates of Krypton, Bryan Singer left the X-Men franchise to direct a sequel of sorts to the original franchise, which came to be Superman Returns. While the film made almost $400 million worldwide, this fell short of expectations, and Warner Bros actually lost money between the film’s $250 million plus budget, marketing, and development costs over the previous 10-15 years. You would think making a Superman movie would be easy enough. It’s one of the world’s most well known and beloved brands, and the scope of the world, along with his wide array of super powers, is practically made for the big screen. The problem with Superman (disclaimer: my favorite superhero) is that he is too powerful and too clean. In storytelling, that’s boring. How are we supposed to care for an omnipotent being, and how can his character arc if he has no dark secrets, regrets, or behaviors? The answer is make Superman darker, but does that ruin his iconic image? As you can see, that’s a lot of pressure on Nolan’s shoulders. Can he help successfully reboot the franchise after all these years and attempts? What do you think? News BatmanChristopher NolanDC ComicsKevin SmithSupermanThe Dark KnightWarner Bros
Cinema Expo Shows New Tron Legacy Trailer June 28, 2010June 28, 2010Slashfilm got word of a new Tron Legacy trailer that debuted at the Cinema Expo International, held in Amsterdam. The event focuses on the the theater industry, and no press were allowed. Fortunately, one loose-lipped Slashfilm reader was in attendance. Read More
Surrogates: Interviews and iPhone App September 19, 2009September 19, 2009A few tidbits on Surrogates this weekend. First, Trailer Addict has several short interviews with the cast and crew, including the stars of the film Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell. Willis, in as monotone a voice as possible, talks briefly about what interested him in doing the film and goes… Read More
The Buzz: The Hangover Part II, Superman News, Anime, Charlie Sheen, Netflix and More February 25, 2011The Buzz is a feature in which we round up the biggest and most popular film and television stories of the week. Why go through pages of blogs just to find out what everyone is talking about? We’ve got it all right here. Check out all the stories after the… Read More
Superman is too powerful… The only thing that gets him down in movies is kryptonite, and that’s been overplayed to death.That said, the comic book, Smallville, and Lois and Clark never would have done so well if there wasn’t more that could be done. One of his biggest weaknesses is that he can’t be in two places at once. The thing with Superman is that you have to put him in spots where he has to make impossible choices. Think of the first Superman Reeve movie. Choose Lois? or be Superman? Save Lois, or stop the missles? Those things added the drama that made it interesting. Of course then they gave him an out with the time travel stuff, but imagine today if he had to make that choice and Lois actually died. That’s what happened with Batman in the Dark Knight when he had to choose between Dent and Rachel. That’s where you make a movie that is dark, but without having to make Superman dark. He’s not evil himself, but he can’t stop all the evil around him. Superman Returns just went for the easy kryptonite line. Superman stopped the disaster in Metropolis without breaking a sweat, and then flew a mountain of kryptonite like it barely hurt him when it should have made him powerless. No real drama, no big ticket sales.