Superman Director? (1 Viewer)

[Nick Sievers]

He was makign demands like no sissy pink costume, no flying and having him fight a giant spider.

Not to mention casting Sean Penn because he has the eyes of a killer.

Still, I hope Superman will razzle some Polar Bears and Brainiac will fight some of Superman's guards in the fortress of solitude.

 

[Bill Williams]

If there's any truth at all in Kevin Smith's story, Jon Peters didn't know the character. He was making demands like no sissy pink costume, no flying and having him fight a giant spider.

Smith doesn't know the character either. His "script" was completely unusable junk. He should stick to...whatever.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

It's generally argued that Smith's script only sucked because of all the restrictions placed on him, but I see your point.

I'd say don't bother with a Superman movie. Just keep doing Smallville and concentrate on Batman.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Smith doesn't know the character either. His "script" was completely unusable junk. He should stick to...whatever.

The whole point of the Jon Peters bit right there was to show the restrictions he placed on the project. If you had to write within the lines set forth by Peters you'd create unusable junk as well.

And while there are many people you can accuse of not understanding the character, it's pretty hard to make that arguement against someone who writes comics (though one could argue past tense considering how long we've been waiting now).

 

[Dennis]

Robert Rodriguez was offered the chance to direct Superman Lives (the original title back when Nick Cage first agreed to do it) and turned it down because it was pitched as a "corporate picture", meaning that he had to sell burgers along
with it. It would be interesting though.

I thought Terry Gilliam would be perfect for Batman but since Christopher Nolan is doing it, why not Superman? He might give it an edge.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I thought Terry Gilliam would be perfect for Batman but since Christopher Nolan is doing it, why not Superman? He might give it an edge.

Superman shouldn't have "edge". Not to say Gilliam would be bad, but I'd rather it bring out his whimsical side than his edgy one.

Spielberg would probably be the ideal Superman director, with Ron Howard a good second choice. But I doubt Warner would spring for them. In terms of someone affordable, how about Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, October Sky, Jurassic Park 3)?

 

[JonZ]

Last week it was mentioned McG may be back on this project.

If I worked for Warner, I have Burce Timm and/or Paul Dini write a 2 film script focusing on Brainiac or Darkseid and pay Richard Donner a ridiculous amount of money to direct it.

 

[Bill Williams]

I wouldn't mind if Ron Howard took a shot at directing it, he's proven that he can handle big-budget epics with films like Apollo 13 and Far and Away.

Another good one to consider would be Robert Zemeckis. His track record of solid visual-effects films speaks for itself with films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Back to the Future trilogy, and strong dramatic stories with plenty of effects including Forrest Gump and Cast Away. He would be a good choice.

And even Bryan Singer would be a good choice, though he's probably tied to doing a third X-Men feature.

As for writing the script, having people like Bruce Timm or Paul Dini aboard would be excellent, I agree. And here's a couple of other solid choices: Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. With the success of Smallville, they've proven that they can handle Superman properly.

Of course, I wouldn't mind seeing Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz back for another go-around. So it would be for the money. Heck, if it meant telling a solid film, it would certainly be worth it. Anything better than the junk that's been leaked out to the public.

 

[todd s]

I wonder with the non-success Charlie's Angels 2 was. Maybe it lowered McG's value with Warner?

 

[Dennis]

Superman shouldn't have "edge". Not to say Gilliam would be bad, but I'd rather it bring out his whimsical side than his edgy one.

Who says he couldn't?

 

[todd s]

Well the intrigue continues. Now, a producer is saying that Jon Peters and McG are still doing the movie. Although, McG is not officially signed. And what is scarier is that they say Peters is doing some re-writes to the script. This is the man who wanted a an Alien CIA agent Luther. :rolleyes

 

[Tony_Ramos]

I think Michael Bay would be the great choice. He can do special effects of course, but Pearl Harbor showed that he can do inspiring, patriotic imagery (Supes embodies the American Way after all).

I've seen all of Smith's filmis and they're overrated. Structurally they are nice (to me) but aside from writing potty humor, his dialogue is stilted and overly verbose. Not to mention that he thinks dogma was deep philosophy/theology.

Anyway, I thought Abrams script would be great if they made a few changes to make it a little more true to the comics. The death is out and Luthor is no longer a Kryptonian last I heard. I hope they use that script

 

[Bill Williams]

Amen, Tony! Smith is living proof that what comes out is a result of what is put in to begin with. Not to mention the fact that in his "movies" every other word that's uttered is a four-letter word. Who wants to hear that? Definitely not suitable content for a Superman film.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

He doesn't have to write that way. Take a look at the Clerks Cartoon, for instance. I understand Fletch Won will be pretty light on the swearing as well.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Hell, check out the Jersey Girl trailer that's floating around. Writers write different scripts for different genres. For instance, who could have thought the man behind the dialogue and plotting of Batman & Robin could pull off something like A Beautiful Mind.

Mind you, I'm not a big fan of Akiva Goldsman in either mode, but the two are completely different.

* * * *

As for Michael Bay, I don't know if he could make Superman an epic. If you want a pop art action film, Bay could make a great one. But if you want something with the classic status of the '78 film, you need someone else. And Superman is an epic. Spider-Man's a character drama, Batman's film noir, but Superman's the American epic.

 

[Tony_Ramos]

Well, I guess it all comes down to who really understands the character. and I thought that JJ understood the character.

Bay has yet to really prove himself as anything other than a commercial director.

Honestly, I think any technical director with a love for the character could give us a good movie, the question is, who has the artistry?

Honestly, I don't see any of the modern action directors like McG or Rodriquez being able to give this thing the poetic nuance that it needs. Iconography is easy to achieve, i.e. "saving the damsel in distress," "up up and away" "it's a bird, it's a plane..."

I think the script is almost secondary to the direction. I mean, there have been so many transfigurations of the character over the years that as long as it's still Clark Kent in the character's shoes, the story will work.

Now, as far as action, has anyone else really thought about what could be achieved with this character? I mean, unlike Neo, Supes doesn't really have to use finesse very often. He can just pummel 'em through a brick wall with a couple punches! What really got me going was after seeing Blade II. No matter what you thought of that movie, there were some hard hits. It just had the kind of over-the-top wrestling style that Supes would need. I'm not taking about the martial arts, I'm talking about when the villain swung blade around and smashed his head through a pillar. I want the fights to have THAT kind of OOMPH with EVERY hit.

Not to mention some awesome use of super powers, especially the heat vision and speed.

 

[Ron-P]

I just saw my friend Saturday who works for WB and she said she see's all the movie contracts. She said and I quote "Tim Burton is directing with Nick Cage as Superman". Now, I hope and pray this is not true. I'm a big Burton fan and Superman is not him and Nick Cage? No way.

Can someone confirm or deny this?


Peace Out~

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Wow. It must be 1997

Still...you never know

Take care,
Chuck

 

[Ron-P]

So I take it there was some talk of this way back and is not true.


Peace Out~

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

So I take it there was some talk of this way back and is not true.


Peace Out~

These contracts were signed back in 1998. I remember being in Pittsburgh on a consulting job, and the news was flush about Burton being in town scoping out locations to substitute Pittsburgh as Metropolis.

The deal fell apart, and Cage and Burton both got paid anyhow (upwards of $25 million for both, if the scuttlebutt is true.)

In any case, while the Cage/Burton information was true for a few months back in 1998, it has long since fell by the wayside. And thank GOD for that too, because this was a disaster in the making, and Burton wouldn't have gone on to do the wonderful Sleepy Hollow.