Superman To Get A Reboot

[Cadmus]

According to the latest by the officials at Warner Bros. Studios, they were disappointed with the lack of commercial success with Superman Returns. So much so that they have decided to do a reboot of the franchise, meaning, start from scratch again. The reboot idea became even more appealing with the recent major success that was/is The Dark Knight. Warner Bros. Bosses believe that now every one of their super hero movies should be dark like 'Batman'. Whether they mean character wise or setting wise, it is no clear. But, now, the reason why Superman Returns never got a sequel (there was supposed to be one, at one point it was almost confirmed that it was in talks) is because they're waiting to refresh the franchise.

Personally, I liked the movie, but I do agree there were quite a few flaws. The kid, for instance, was a mistake. The actors portraying Clark and Lois were too young. And Superman is supposed to be a being of hope and light, and lives in a optimistic city (compared to Gotham City). Though obviously in this day and age, the classic setting of Superman would be a bit naive and ridiculous, I don't think they should completely mess it up and turn him into what he's not.

But anywayz, if they're going for a reboot, I am hoping they will finally cast Tom Welling as the new Superman (he should've donned the suit a long time ago on Smallville but eh...) and bring Erica Durance (Lois on Smallville) as well to the cast. These two are fan favourites and considered to be the best Lois and Clark since... well... Lois and Clark: The new adventures of Superman. They're as good as Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder (from the original Superman movies).

So ... any other Superman fans here?

Or anybody who enjoyed the movie(s)?

[PNT510]

I'm not really a Superman fan. He's just too powerful and too hard to relate to. I also think that trying to make Superman more like Batman won't work. Superman is about inspiring hope while Batman is about lurking in the shadows. I think what we really need is a GOOD Superman movie.

[Drusilla]

Yeah, making Superman dark is just a baaaad idea. No thankies...

Batman pwnz Superman, anyway. =D

[mr_pikachu]

Yeah, making Superman dark is just a baaaad idea. No thankies...

I'm not a huge Superman fan, but I happen to know that Superman started as a fairly dark character. Frankly, he was a lot more like Batman than the "figure of light" he is now.

[PNT510]

What we really need is a Batman/Superman team up movie. The Worlds Finest.

[Blademaster]

According to the latest by the officials at Warner Bros. Studios, they were disappointed with the lack of commercial success with Superman Returns. So much so that they have decided to do a reboot of the franchise, meaning, start from scratch again. The reboot idea became even more appealing with the recent major success that was/is The Dark Knight. Warner Bros. Bosses believe that now every one of their super hero movies should be dark like 'Batman'.

...

They're going to... darken... Superman...?

...

You know what? Fuck it. I won't go into a huge rant about this. I'll just let Superman himself respond - he just heard the news:

[Cadmus]

Here is the full article: (The Superman related news is in bold, but they (WB) talk about a new strategy to the way they will make movies ...)

* * *

Warner Bets on Fewer, Bigger Movies
By LAUREN A.E. SCHUKER
August 22, 2008; Page B1

Emboldened by this summer's success with "The Dark Knight," Warner Bros.' movie studio is setting a new strategy.

The Time Warner Inc. unit, like some other Hollywood studios, is planning to release fewer films into the crowded marketplace. But the studio, known for making more big, expensive movies than most rivals, plans to make even more of those -- some centered on properties from its DC Comics unit, such as Batman.

Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov wants the studio to release as many as eight such movies a year by 2011. "The long-term goal of the studio is to take advantage of what has become a very global market by focusing on bigger films that require a bigger commitment," he says. Warner Bros. films released last year grossed $2 billion internationally, about 42% more than their $1.4 billion domestic take.

Mining the comic-book franchise is central to the success of Warner Bros.' strategy. Its lineup of "tent poles" -- Hollywood-speak for big movies that are the foundation of a studio's slate -- has thinned. Warner Bros. has been slow to capitalize on DC, and it now faces a rival in Marvel Entertainment Inc.'s Marvel Studios, the company behind box-office gusher "Iron Man."

Superhero films based on comic-book legends, like "The Dark Knight," have emerged as some of the strongest players in the global market, in part because they're natural candidates for tie-ups with consumer products and games that can also be marketed globally.

"Superheroes are more global than ever in today's commercial world, existing in 30 languages and in more than 60 countries," says Paul Levitz, president and publisher of DC Comics. The characters are "a world-wide export," he says.
[Marvel's 'Iron Man,' was a big success at the box office.Warner has been slower to capitalize on its DC Comics characters.]
Paramount/Everett Collection
Marvel's 'Iron Man,' was a big success at the box office. Warner has been slower to capitalize on its DC Comics characters.

"Films with our DC properties have the opportunity to support other divisions in the company in a way that our other movies don't," Mr. Robinov says, for example, with products such as a Superman game or toys. By 2011, Mr. Robinov plans for DC Comics to supply the material for up to two of the six to eight tent-pole films he hopes Warner Bros. will have in the pipeline by then.

While big ambitions can result in a huge payoff, they can also end in huge losses. Warner's car adventure "Speed Racer" bombed at the box office in May. The film, said to have cost as much as $150 million, has taken in only $43.9 million in the U.S. Some other big-budget Warner films, such as spy comedy "Get Smart," also have failed to meet expectations.

Earlier this year, Warner Bros. shut its two art-house labels, Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures. The studio currently releases 25 to 26 films a year. By 2010, Mr. Robinov plans to pare production to 20 to 22 movies a year.

A movie referred to internally as "Justice League of America," originally said to be for next summer, was planned as one of the studio's major releases. With that film, starring a superhero team, Warner hoped to spark interest in DC characters like Green Lantern who haven't yet attained the level of popularity of Batman. But script problems, among other things, have delayed the movie.

The studio said last week that "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," originally slated for November release, would come out next July -- on the same weekend that "The Dark Knight" opened this year. The Batman sequel made more than $150 million in the U.S. that weekend. "We just needed a July movie," said Alan Horn, president of the studio, at the time.

Warner Bros. also put on hold plans for another movie starring multiple superheroes -- known as "Batman vs. Superman" -- after the $215 million "Superman Returns," which had disappointing box-office returns, didn't please executives. "'Superman' didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to," says Mr. Robinov. "It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned." "Had 'Superman' worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009," he adds. "But now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all."

One of the studio's other big releases planned for 2009, "Watchmen," is the subject of a high-profile copyright lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox.

Based on the premise that superheroes are real people grappling with their own problems, "Watchmen" is an apocalyptic vision of their world. Fox says it is seeking an injunction to enforce its copyright interest in the film. Last week, a federal judge ruled that it may have rights to the property. News Corp. is the parent of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co.

With "Batman vs. Superman" and "Justice League" stalled, Warner Bros. has quietly adopted Marvel's model of releasing a single film for each character, and then using those movies and their sequels to build up to a multicharacter film. "Along those lines, we have been developing every DC character that we own," Mr. Robinov says.

Like the recent Batman sequel -- which has become the highest-grossing film of the year thus far -- Mr. Robinov wants his next pack of superhero movies to be bathed in the same brooding tone as "The Dark Knight." Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.' DC properties. "We're going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it," he says. That goes for the company's Superman franchise as well.

The studio is set to announce its plans for future DC movies in the next month. For now, though, it is focused on releasing four comic-book films in the next three years, including a third Batman film, a new film reintroducing Superman, and two movies focusing on other DC Comics characters. Movies featuring Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman are all in active development.

Many of the studio's directors credit Mr. Robinov for taking Warner Bros.' films in a darker and deeper direction. Christopher Nolan, who directed "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," says Mr. Robinov "really encouraged the logic of the villain" from "Batman Begins." That led to focusing heavily on the Joker in the sequel. "At the script stage, Jeff really wanted us to be very clear on the Joker's lack of purpose," he says.

[Crystal Mew]

But anywayz, if they're going for a reboot, I am hoping they will finally cast Tom Welling as the new Superman (he should've donned the suit a long time ago on Smallville but eh...)

This is all I can hope for for the next superman movie, and I hope they do it! I was so disappointed when I heard he wasn't going to play superman, he'd be awesome at it.

Superman Returns wasn't that bad, I liked it...and the actor was pretty cute, but I still think Tom Welling should've done it.

And lets face it, the majority of people saw the Dark Knight because Heath Ledger was in it, and did a great job. RIGHT??

[Drusilla]

And lets face it, the majority of people saw the Dark Knight because Heath Ledger was in it, and did a great job. RIGHT??

Partly. Partly because well-done Batman movies make me happy. I've been a Batman obsessee since I was a kid. Heath Ledger did a WONDERFUL job... I giggled all the way through to movie.

It'll be interesting to see what's done with Superman, but honestly, I don't think that trying to copy the Batman formula will work. They have similar characteristics all ready, and if WB isn't careful, they'll end up with a clone on their hands.

[Drago]

I had this massively fantastic theory on how Superman is dated because when he premiered, in 1938, a certain kind of hero was desired, the image of the ideal man at the time; brave, hardworking and loyal. I was going to support this with how, by 1962, when Spider-man premiered, superheroes had to be hip and appeal to a younger generation, but then I took a look at Batman and, lo and behold, the bastard premiered in 1939. So that completely ruined my whole theory. Thanks a lot, Bruce Wayne you malicious son of a gun.

Anyhow, I can kind of salvage it I guess, because, ignoring the time of their creation, the aspects I alluded to remained the same in the recent movies; the new Batman movies are dark and edgy, Spider-man remains hip and fun, while Superman is still... vanilla. Though infinitely superior than all other contenders with the presence of Kevin Spacey, it could've been considered pretty generic as far as superhero films go, because that's what old Superman is and always has been - generic.

It'll seem like a good idea to Warner Bros. to make it darker and edgier, because Batman has taken the superhero crown with that approach, but it simply remains a fact that it's hard to make a definitive mark on audiences considering there's been such a massive boom in the superhero movie market.
If you want to truly make a movie with a difference, you need Matter-Eater Lad.

[PNT510]

DragoKnight I would actually agree with you. Because the Batman of today isn't the Batman of 1939. The Batman of today is a result of the darkening and reinvention of the character in the 80's.

[Heald]

Superman: Doomsday is the most recent Superman film. It's animated and it is actually awesome.

Superman Returns was good, but I think people were expecting more fight scenes. You'd need a proper villain this time round for that. Metallo is a good bet, but so are Darkseid and Mongul.

[Bulbasaur4]

I definately think Tom Welling should step up into the Superman role. He's still rough around the edges as far as acting goes, but he does fit the Superman role extremely well and it'd be a HUGE pleasure to see him on the big screen.

And as far as being darker... well, you guys obviously haven't watch Smallville then if you don't think Superman can be 'dark'. Obviously it isn't going to be Dark Knight quality, because let's face it- the Joker and Twoface nomnom that market. But it definately can take a darker tone instead of being all fluff and stuff.

[Blademaster]

And as far as being darker... well, you guys obviously haven't watch Smallville then if you don't think Superman can be 'dark'.

Watched it. A few times.

Hated it.

[DarkTemplarZero]

Ok, Superman does not have angst. He is just the man. I mean come on, if that were to happen it would spoil my favorite strategy for responding to bad interview questions:

Q: So, what would you say is your greatest weakness?
A: *straight face, no hesitation* Kryptonite.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

The Finnish dub of the Superman cartoon was quite laughable. And why does he have to tear up his shirt when he goes Superman. I hope his tailor gets paid well.

[Cadmus]

Watched it. A few times.

Hated it.

If you watched the filler episodes, no wonder you hated it, lol.

Smallville tends to have quite a few bad episodes and one really good gem. Season six had a few of those; "Reunion" and "Justice" come to mind. And in season seven, well, that's in my opinion the worst season so far, but there're a lot of great moments in there.

[ssj4supernerd]

The only reason The Dark Knight was so OMFG THIS OWNS YEAH WOOT AWESOME was because The Joker was awesome. I always preferred Batman to Superman(even tho Superman doesn't have an irritating boy named Robin running around him) and I always preferred Batman villains over Superman villains. I really liked Smallville tho, because it wasn't as I'M AN UNDEFEATABLE HERO UNSTOPPABLE THOU CANT KILL MEEE and had some like really character development and whatnot in it...so yeah.