Superman Flying Fast At Warners

In what should come as no surprise to anybody with a keyboard, Rob Sanchez over at IESB has some sort of golden ticket to Burbank as evidenced by another exclusive passed on to him from inside the cubicles at Warner Bros. Feeling some heat from the recent lawsuit ruling, the Brothers Warner are moving swiftly towards meeting the mandate set forth by the court of achieving production on a Superman film by 2011. Rob is reporting that the new film will not be a continuation of the middle ground that was "Superman Returns" but an entirely different take. Returns will act as the exclamation point or in some people's minds, the period for the "Donnerverse".

There will also be a new director behind the lense and some names that Rob has been hearing include James McTeigue and the Wachowski's. McTeigue's latest film "Ninja Assassin" is enjoying rave reviews and the Wachowki's were last seen hiding out in Germany costing WB millions with their migraine inducing work on "Speed Racer". It is hard to fathom that WB would hand over the keys to the car to the Wachowski's after they crashed and burned on the race tracks of their last flick. McTeigue on the other hand makes a lot of sense.

There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered. Who will be playing Superman? The studio could certainly still turn to Brandon Routh who seems to have a good relationship with the execs of both WB and Legendary. A search for a new Superman would be a long and arduous process but the studio could certainly go that route. In that case, I think they will go with a virtual unknown, not on the scale of Brandon Routh, but more of an "Oh THAT guy!"

What about a script? TMT is hearing from our guys in the sky that Grant Morrison is involved story wise on one level or another on any new Superman film going forward. It would fit with WB's plan of bringing in a comic book writer to lay out the groundwork before handing it off to a screenwriter or two as is the case with Geoff Johns, who just contributed heavily on the possible new "Flash" movie. In my "Superman Limbo" four part series I put forth what WB is looking for in a creative team and what directors and writers would fit this criteria.

This is just the beginning of the news concerning our favorite blue tighted friend that can fly. This story will surely crack open the gates for even more news and you can be sure the netmasters and forum dwellers will be along for the always bumpy ride.

Welcome To Smallville

When it comes to the film franchise, fans of Superman have been dragged through a meteor shower of rumors, vague quotes, and studio spin for the last three years. They have debated the possibility of a sequel or reboot, even throwing out buzz words like “Requel” and “Routhboot” to try and make sense of it all. Smallville fans haven’t been treated any better and this past week’s Comic Con is all the proof needed to present the case which all started with a Aint It Cool News report and went up, up, and away from there. This is a story of a phantom film called “Metropolis”, Rosie’s suit under the stairs, and the actor who made them all forget.

The madness commenced on June 24^th within the body of a seemingly harmless article courtesy of the previously mentioned, Ain’t It Cool News. Said article pointed to a possible “Smallville” related movie which was to be called “Metropolis”. The “untested source” by the name of “Yoda’s Bitch” relayed the below to AICN:

“On black, with crimson/red text in the same font lettering that Smallville uses, and a transparent grey Superman "S" watermark behind the text: 

METROPOLIS 

CHRISTMAS 2010 

Then at the bottom is a banner advertising the Smallville presentation, with the time/place (can't remember).'''

After receiving a “few bits of convincing detail” that AICN wouldn’t share, they suggested the possibility of both a direct-to-tv movie and a feature length film before warning their readers to “kindly take it all as a rumor”. AICN made the choice to report what they heard and presented all the necessary warnings according to the “Grain of Salt” rolodex, but it was too late. Numerous web sites started to pick up on the report. The speculation and rumor mill had been put into motion and fans of the show were eating it up like Ma Kent’s homemade apple pies 

The second part of the saga involves another scoop sent to AICN on July 23^rd  pointing to the possibility of Mr. Welling wearing an early prototype Supermanish style suit during season 9. According to scooper “X Anne” a woman named “Rosie” was pulling people aside at random next to a Starbucks at “Comic Con” and down a flight of stairs for a sneak peak at the “Red-Blue Blur” suit.

“it's gobsmackingly awesome! no spandex it looked like leather, its one suit, the top is blue at front and back, red on sides and arms, the trousers are blue at the front and back, red at sides. the superman symbol on the chest protruding out, its red. no cape. it was on a stand we could walk around.”

On top of that “X Anne” claimed that Welling was flying down to San Diego to wear the suit on stage at the Smallville panel. Another “confirmation” soon was added to the article from a source by the name of “Richerways” who insisted “the suit makes its on screen debut in the Season Nine premiere, which is called, “Superman”. If you write it, it will be linked. Some web sites ran with it, further exciting an already amped up fan base.

The news from AICN was already coming on the heels of TV Guide’s proclamation that a “major Smallville announcement is expected to come down at Comic Con International this weekend in San Diego.” The fans were geeked. Could it be a movie announcement? Was Tom finally going to be Superman? In the minds of the fans it is all connecting, things now make sense.

Cut to the “Smallville Panel” at Comic Con on Sunday Morning on the Left Coast where all the faces of Smallville were present, including Tom Welling himself. Tom Welling had never before attended a Comic Con, the fans thought, this must be it. Why would Tom show up if nothing big was going down? There were questions, there was footage, Tom and his pearly whites were there. However, there were no Metropolis banners, no “Big Announcement”, no “Red-Blue Blur” suit. There was a shot in the sizzle reel of a black Columbinesque type suit, ironically with a bluish “Superman Returns” \S/. Smallville fans were duped again, first it was rumors of Tom Welling playing Superman on the big screen back in 2004, then it Welling suiting up for a Justice League feature. Now this.

These reports just screamed fake to most people who read them, but when you are fan, of course you would love it to be a possibility and you look for ways in which it “could be” rather than why it “wouldn’t be”. All of us have been guilty of it at one time or another, hoping an obviously flawed rumor turns out to be true. I think in the age of the internet, any fan has to be on their toes, weeding through the falsities in order to uncover the truth. This applies to me and my fellow web jockeys as well, we all have been bitten in the ass by an untested source.

There were a couple of winners in all this, the major one being Michael Ausiello, who scooped everybody’s tights off regarding the upcoming season of Smallville. Ausiello debunked the “Metropolis” rumors on July 8^th along with the tidbit that fans would see an \S/ on Clark’s chest and later being the first to officially report Welling would be in attendance among other season nine spoilers. Superman Homepage also came out on top, having people in place at Con that actually did the leg work and checked up on this phantom Rosie and her mysterious suit rightfully calling it a hoax.

The losers? Well to me it is the fans, sure Welling was in attendance, but this was most likely due to the fact that this is the last season of Smallville. Granted that really was special for the fans at the panel but I don’t see how they can’t feel duped after going through this whirlwind yet again. Smallville fans are the most loyal group of television fans out there and they continually are hit in the face with a disappointment pie perpetuated by the rumor mill that is the internet. Can you blame the fans? Something they wanted for so long seemed well within their grasp and now they are forced to settle for something of lesser value. Thus the trials and tribulations of being a fan.

Do you blame the web sites that are running these rumors? What about TV Guide and AICN in all of this? The link to the AICN article regarding the suit has disappeared, “node 41794” now takes you to a Brett Ratner article which was written in 1969. Not sure what the benefit is of erasing the article, it is still linked on dozens of web sites, so although it has been taken down at AICN it surely still exists. AICN is one of the pioneers of internet based film and television news and have helped to pave the way for other web sites but I disagree with pulling the article. Gone but not forgotten.

Smallville Season premieres September 25^th.

Brandon Routh Talks Superman Sequel Momentum

Sometimes it seems just like it was yesterday, but 'Superman Returns' flew into theaters over three years ago. The film didn't pull in the box office that Warner Bros expected as indicated by Alan Horn, "I thought it was a very successful movie, but I think it should have done $500 million worldwide." Superman's return to the big screen couldn't be looked at as a complete success nor could it be looked at as a complete failure leaving the character in a state of flux over at the "The Brothers Warner".

Brandon Routh has been very vocal about his desire to strap on the red boots again but after announcing that his contract expired the chances of this happening seemed to be as realistic as "Otisburg". Then the judicial system decided to throw a curveball at Warner Bros. while ruling in their favor in the case of Joanne Siegel and Laura Siegel Larson vs. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Time Warner Inc. and DC Comics Inc. The ruling featured the one sentence that created a wave of speculation across some of the movie related website and forums; If, however, by 2011, no filming has commenced on a Superman sequel, plaintiffs could bring an accounting action at that time to recoup the damages then realized for the Superman film agreement's failure to contain a reversion clause."

Would WB/DC now be forced to make a Superman film instead of continuing to drag their feet? Some assumed that the best course of action would be just to rehire Routh which would help speed up the process. Today at the SDCC "Dead of Night Panel" Routh chimed in when asked about a possible follow up to "Superman Returns",

The Superman Returns leading man said that there appears to be new momentum on the project and that he and Sam are both interested in returning for the sequel if it happens.

Routh also talked superman with MTV about his many comic book related roles and he was asked how he would feel if somebody else threw the cape on their shoulders.

"That's a tough question to ask, but I trust that everything goes as planned and I'd love to return to the character," said Routh. "I love the character and loved working with Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures and I'd be happy to come back."

Just when you thought it was safe Routh has spun the earth around yet again. What do you think? Is this more spin or is Routh destined to display that \S/ on his chest yet again one way or another?

George Reeves: June 16, 1959

USA Today To Feature Superman Comic

It may not be the Daily Planet, it may not be an interview with Lois Lane, but Superman is returning to a newspaper near you. USA Today has announced that Superman will be featured in a weekly comic strip on July 8th that can also be found on the USA Today website. The Superman comic strip will run for 12 weeks in USA today and also in comic book stores under the title "Wednesday Comics" along with other heroes including Batman and Hawkman. The Superman run will be written by John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo will provide the artwork. Each comic will be printed on full size newspaper pages resembling the funnies we all grew up with on Sunday mornings.

"There's a certain romance to the history of the big old Sunday funnies that I wanted to try to recapture in Wednesday Comics," says DC art director Mark Chiarello. "Why not dust off the format and have a little fun?