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The Next Superman — Page 3

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Well, I dunno... I can smell a bad director miles away. And knowing McG, and knowing what Hollywood is capable of, it would be one hell of a bad movie. Here's the life and death of "McG's Superman":


McG is hired. Internet forums posters go bananas.

The script is written:

Imagine Daredevil. Wait, there's more.

Now, take out Daredevil and put Superman on it.

Now mix the whole thing with the plot of Batman and Robin.

OK, now imagine McG trying to surpass the awfull Charlies Angles 2, WHILE directing this stinky cheeseburger of a flick.

Now, insert some cutting-edge techno soundtrack, and some bullet time, GOD knows you gotta have bullet time ina McG flick.

And what comes along with bullet time? Yep, CGI characters. What is the main character? Yes, Superman, so it'll have a CGI Superman.

The studio directors will look at the rough cut and say "Wait a minute, this movie is aimed males aged 12 to 17. What do they want to see onscreen? Yes, undressed women!" - so there goes the second unit director, probably Piton or someone with the same talents as McG, and shoots some women with almost no clothes at all, cheering for Superman, or fighting aliens or anything like that.

The studio asks for more CGI. So there goes the special FX crew, animating more sequences. McG is pleased.

There HAS to be a reason for the extra scenes, so the screenwriter is called at 3 AM by the producer and asked to do a re-write. He does it over the phone, in 2 minutes, than hangs up and gets some more sleep. The next morning he'll think that phone call was only a nightmare.

The whole shooting is done on blue screen in two months, followed by 4 months of half-assed post-production.

There are some audience tests with the rough cut of the movie. The audience tells it sucks, but the studio ignores it, as they "have not seen it with the CGI and the soundtrack yet"

Harry from AICN sees the movie, and gives it two thumbs up.

The movie is released in august, it reaches #1 at the box office and remains there for exactly 3 weeks, the time needed for the people to realize that movie sucked. It drops to #3, and the following week to #8.

Eight months later it's released in a double, special, colectors edition DVD. The pre-selling is very good, for some reason.

People buy it, see it two times and ignore the movie forever. People will be reminded of the existence of McG's Superman every 4-18 months, when they spot it on TV. By this time McG will be busy re-shooting "2001 a space odissey" with Colin Farell as Dave.



That's NOT what I want the next Superman film to become.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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You're not cynical, are ya, ric?

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Ahhh...the saga that is the making of the fifth Superman movie.

There were a couple screenplays that started going around WB shortly after the whole "Death of Superman" comics extravaganza. And then Kevin Smith was brought in to advise. He thought they were crap, and WB hired him to re-write the "Death of Superman" script. He met with Jon Peters, who was (is still, but in name only, I believe) producing, got the orders (which involved Superman a) not wearing the suit b) not flying and c) ending the movie by fighting a giant Spider) and wrote the script.

The script got Tim Burton onboard. Once Burton got onboard, he scrapped Smith's script completely, and started rewriting. He cast Nicolas Cage. The thing started pre-production, and then was shut down after Burton got tired of the whole ordeal. He and Cage were pay or play, which means they got paid whether or not the movie got made.

WB went after Michael Bay. Bay turned it down, saying he didn't like the character or the Comic Book conventions. They then got McG. McG got writer JJ Abrams (Alias) to do a draft. The draft leaked. the story elements went like this:

Krypton didn't blow up.
Superman couldn't fly. his SUIT could. His suit pops out of some sort of container and wraps him up, giving him his powers.
Lex Luthor was a Kryptonian.
Superman died, and was brought back to life.
Superman's cousins flew to Earth to kill him. Superman fights the battle using Kung Fu moves in his flying suit.
Superman wins, and then flies back to Krypton, to help in the Kryptonian civil war.
This movie is the first of a planned trilogy that will see Superman crowned the ruler of Krypton.

McG got to pre-production, couldn't cast a Superman, the above synopsis leaked via Moriarty on AintItCoolNews, both the site and it's visitors crapped their collective pants in disgust, and raised hell. The bad feeling raced across the internet. Abrams emailed Harry at AICN to defend his draft. No one bought it. Even more bad word of mouth rained down. The project stalled. McG still couldn't decide on a superman, and combined with the acid hate fanboys were spewing at the film, WB kicked him.

WB went after Bay again. Bay again turns it down.

Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon) signs on, and is using the JJ Abrams script, though this fact is nicely hushed. Pre-production starts again, and Ratner approaches Johnny Depp to play Jor-El. He narrows the Superman casting down to Matthew Bomer vs Brandon Fraser. WB wants Fraser. Ratner won't budge. Ratner is off the project.

Singer pitches his idea to Donner. Donner says go for it. Singer approaches WB. WB likes it. Singer signs on. Gets the writers of X-Men 2 (Harris and Dougherty) to sign on. They do a page 1 re-write, using Donner's Superman movies as a very vague backstory so as not to do the origin over again. They won't be direct sequels, but they're not going to do anything that will contradict either Superman I or II. Singer gets John Ottman, longtime collaborator (Composer and Film Editor) to sign on. Ottman will use some existing Williams Superman score in his own music. Williams is not scoring, as everyone seems to think. Singer merely said Williams music will be used. Think more like the use of the Krypton Theme in Smallville, or Ken Thorne's reworking of the scores in Superman II and III. Casts Brandon Routh as Superman, talks to Kevin Spacey about Luthor. Pre-production and a solid start date locked in.

This is pretty easily the most optimistic of behind the camera teams for a fanboy. Plus, I think Singer is a pretty visually interesting director. X-Men is sorta bland, but that movie had it's budget chopped by a third in the middle of production, and the movie was moved up almost SIX MONTHS while filming. X2 looked a lot better, and both "The Usual Suspects" and "Apt Pupil" Singers first two studio films, were very well shot and definitely visually interesting. Plus, Singer manages to get VERY good performances out of his actors. The fact he got STEPHEN BALDWIN to turn in a performance many critics hailed in "The Usual Suspects" should say something

McG might be a visual director, but his films are typically VERY poorly edited, plot suffers horribly, and the script he would have been working from (Abrams') would have been Superman in name only. It would have been a total nightmare.
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Originally posted by: The Bizzle

Krypton didn't blow up.
Superman couldn't fly. his SUIT could. His suit pops out of some sort of container and wraps him up, giving him his powers.
Lex Luthor was a Kryptonian.
Superman died, and was brought back to life.
Superman's cousins flew to Earth to kill him. Superman fights the battle using Kung Fu moves in his flying suit.
Superman wins, and then flies back to Krypton, to help in the Kryptonian civil war.
This movie is the first of a planned trilogy that will see Superman crowned the ruler of Krypton.


oh my god. Please tell me they are not going to make this?

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Nope. Like I said in the previous post, That draft (which was what the McG and the Ratner movies were working from) was scrapped when Singer signed on and brought Dougherty/Harris onboard. No one knows any details about the Dougherty/Harris script except for a)Superman comes back after a 6 year hiatus b) Luthor will be in it, and c) they're using the Donner films (I and II only) as a very vague history so that they won't have to tell the origin again. This movie will NOT be a direct sequel, but they're going to make sure they don't disrupt any continuity with the Donner flicks so if the viewer so chooses, they CAN watch the movie as a sequel and the movies will still work.
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Originally posted by: Warbler
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Originally posted by: The Bizzle

Krypton didn't blow up.
Superman couldn't fly. his SUIT could. His suit pops out of some sort of container and wraps him up, giving him his powers.
Lex Luthor was a Kryptonian.
Superman died, and was brought back to life.
Superman's cousins flew to Earth to kill him. Superman fights the battle using Kung Fu moves in his flying suit.
Superman wins, and then flies back to Krypton, to help in the Kryptonian civil war.
This movie is the first of a planned trilogy that will see Superman crowned the ruler of Krypton.


oh my god. Please tell me they are not going to make this?


See?! See?! That's why McG must NOT be allowed to direct anything at all! Except for Charlie's Angels movies, let him have it.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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Different is good.

Superman is a very malleable character.

Personally I think they should go with a hybridised John Byrne's "Man Of Steel" and Mark Waid's "Birthright" WITH McG at the helm.

Ric your very cynical and jaded outline of the potential McG Superman sounds a LOT like how the prequel films were made, with the exception of test screenings.
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Goering.

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." - Goebbels.

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - Orwell.
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Originally posted by: StarTrooper3000
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Originally posted by: Bossk

I can handle Ashmore as Lane. He visually fits the part.


WHOA! Typo I hope?! Lane a guy?


Whoops. Meant "Ashmore as Olson". My bad.

As for sequel, I'm not sure if it will be or not. Look at the age of Routh. The kid is 19 years old. I don't see how it can be a sequel. I think they might tackle early or lost years. Not follow-up years. Might be similar to the new Batman movie in its relative chronology.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
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Originally posted by: Bossk
Look at the age of Routh. The kid is 19 years old.


According to IMDB he's 25

-Darth Simon

Why Anakin really turned to the dark side:
"Anakin, You're father I am" - Yoda
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" - Anakin

0100111001101001011011100110101001100001

*touchy people disclaimer*
some or all of the above comments are partially exaggerated to convey a point, none of the comments are meant as personal attacks on anyone mentioned or reference in the above post
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Which is about the same age Chris Reeve was when he started the Superman movies.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Whoops again. You guys are right. He's 25. Even my article that I first posted said he's 25. I swore I read somewhere else that he was 19. Maybe it was a typo or a reference to someone else. But still, 25 is too young to make this a sequel. Figure that Reeve was somewhere in his 30s when he stopped the Supes flicks.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
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He's young because it's a three picture contract and they don't want to give teen idol hearthrob status to anyone over thirty, gotta get the young girls moist for Superman and woe-be-tide any executive who dares to suggest Superman could ever be mature AND sexy at the same time.

But in interviews the writer and director have stated that the character will be in his late twenties which is the age that Superman was in the first two Donner films. This doesn't exactly make sense alongside the missing for several years storyline but whatever.

They also stated that the earlier films will be referenced as a vague history and that clips may be used.

At this point I'm not even sure that after such a long gestation period WB even gives a crap anymore as long as they have a reason to slap Superman logos onto plenty of merchandise in a few years time. Not that I blame them, if anyone actually added up the expensive decade long preproduction on this puppy the budget would surely tip the scales as the most expensive movie ever made which has to be better than the most expensive movie never made.
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Goering.

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." - Goebbels.

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - Orwell.
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Originally posted by: Regicidal_Maniac
At this point I'm not even sure that after such a long gestation period WB even gives a crap anymore as long as they have a reason to slap Superman logos onto plenty of merchandise in a few years time.


See? Now you're thinking like a marketing executive! Warner needs to give you a call.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
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Originally posted by: Bossk
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See? Now you're thinking like a marketing executive! Warner needs to give you a call.


Aww. You take that back.
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Goering.

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." - Goebbels.

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - Orwell.
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Reg... are you blushing?

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Originally posted by: Warbler
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Originally posted by: The Bizzle

Krypton didn't blow up.
Superman couldn't fly. his SUIT could. His suit pops out of some sort of container and wraps him up, giving him his powers.
Lex Luthor was a Kryptonian.
Superman died, and was brought back to life.
Superman's cousins flew to Earth to kill him. Superman fights the battle using Kung Fu moves in his flying suit.
Superman wins, and then flies back to Krypton, to help in the Kryptonian civil war.
This movie is the first of a planned trilogy that will see Superman crowned the ruler of Krypton.


oh my god. Please tell me they are not going to make this?


Sounds reminiscent of what the nutcase before wanted to do w/ Superman. I swear the guy was insane...
I just hate stupid people.

GO JETS!!!!

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I think he means Jon Peters the producer that was attached to the storyline that Bizzle described.
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Goering.

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." - Goebbels.

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - Orwell.
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Could have also meant JJ Abrams, who wrote that particular script. But yes, Peters is a nutjob. The prerequisites he gave to Kevin Smith back in like, 94 or 95 were ridiculous.

Peters is illiterate, as well. He got his break in the industry by being Barbra Streisand's hairdresser.
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Of course Peters is a nutjob; he was once romantically involved with Barbra Streisand, and that should be enough to screw anyone up.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Yes, peters. I was searching for the name. HE WAS A PSYCHO. He made Shimraa's typing seem like a minor flaw in his person
I just hate stupid people.

GO JETS!!!!

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Shimmy's typing is only a minor flaw, but his saving grace is that he makes a nice dead human puzzle; right, DAYV?

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Lol. Anyone ever read what Peters intended to do? W/ the polar bears guarding the Fortress of Solitude and the gay R2D2 robot sidekick for superman?
I just hate stupid people.

GO JETS!!!!

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Sadly, Jon Peters is still a producer on this project.
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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Hell no. U MUST be kidding. The man who intended to bring us a superman who can not fly & wears all black? The idiot who feels it is necessary to put a subplot in involving Lex & a dog who loathes him, given to him by Superman? That can't be right.
I just hate stupid people.

GO JETS!!!!

Petition signer # 34,865