Superman Sequel Canceled, Series Will Reboot
Lots of news coming out of Warner, but I wanted to focus first on the Superman series. Looks like Bryan Singer won't be coming back for a second go-round with Superman. Up until last week, Warner had planned to release Man of Steel sometime in 2010 (pushed back from the original 2009 release date after Singer decided to make Valkyrie).
Now, it seems that Warner wants to completely reboot the Superman series, with no continuation from Superman Returns. The studio chief is apparently looking to reboot the series and go for a darker storyline similar to the direction that the Batman series has taken. While I will say that Superman Returns was a disappointment, I just don't see the Superman series turning into a spinoff of The Dark Knight. To me, the audience accepts Batman as a shadowy vigilante who dances on the edge of the law, but I'm not so sure about an edgy or dark vision of Superman.
I thought that the Superman series had the potential to go in some interesting directions with a decent storyline and less of the messianic undertones. But, I guess that the execs were disappointed with the box office returns on Superman Returns and now see the box office records getting broken by The Dark Knight.
Kinda strange though given that Batman Begins and Superman Returns had about the same box office numbers. Granted, Superman had a bigger budget and Batman was much better received by audiences, but I'm not so sure that the returns will be that much better if the Superman series does a complete reboot.
Other news from Warner...
The studio plans to release fewer movies every year, and focus on expanding the number of big budget "tentpole" blockbusters. To do this, they now want to develop more projects based on the DC Comics characters -- smart move since DC is a division of Time Warner and the studio already has the rights. Some of the projects potentially include Green Lantern, Flash, and a Justice League movie.
They also want to solidify their box office prospects for next summer, so they've now moved the Harry Potter sequel from its scheduled November release date to next July.
Here's the full Wall Street Journal article ...
Warner Bets On Fewer, Bigger Movies
I can't say I'm too upset.
I was greatly disappointed in Superman Returns. There have been serious problem with the Superman franchise starting with Superman three and four where silliness reigned supreme.
By their trying to pick up after Superman Two admists that. And, by doing so, they left too much of a logical gap between Two and Returns. The plot was, even by comic book standards, silly.
Brandon Roush (sp?) seems selected to be a pale imitation of Chris Reeve and, as such, the differences were glaring. Reeves had a personality, both as Superman and Clark Kent. Roush lacked in either. The closest he came was in the plane after rescuing it and, even then, he just seemed to be playing Chris Reeve playing Superman.
But, by trying to make it darker, I think a disservice will be done also. There was always a conflict between the Batman, the dark knight, who suffered a great loss and made himself into a superhero and Superman, who was born with abilities and doesn't seem to share Batman's personal angst and subsequent pessimistic view on life.
Basically, Batman dewlled in the dark side of man while Superman could fly above it and maintain an optomistic attitude.
Perhaps they should try to see what worked in Superman's One and Two (and update it somewhat) before trying to change the tone.