Rumor: Wachowskis To Direct Superman Trilogy? [Updated]

[UPDATE: Just as we suspected (and noted below) this was nothing more than rumor and has been debunked by /Film]

A “reliable” source for Ain’t It Cool News has provided them with some interesting information regarding the future of the Superman franchise as well as an update on the current status of Ninja Assassin.

This source, while in Berlin, caught an interview James McTeigue (who’s directing Ninja Assassin) and in the interview McTeigue revealed that the Wachowski Brothers have been approached about rebooting the Superman franchise as a trilogy.

Here’s the juicy parts of the message he sent:

• McTeigue confirmed that Plastic Man was the next project in the pipeline for the Wachowski’s and he had been signed on to provide Second Unit support. Says the movie has been delayed indefinitely due to a major shake up of projects at WB.
• Bryan Singer has refused to undertake a re-boot of the Superman franchise and has left the Executives at WB with no choice but to take a fresh creative direction.
• He (McTeigue) stated the Wachowski Brothers had been approached to re-boot the franchise as a trilogy and they are currently reviewing their options as its like being asked to take the final play in a superbowl final.
• Says if they do agree, he will likely either succumb to providing second unit support on the movie or will champion the directorship of Plastic Man – He started to giggle as he stated its like a young child for the Brothers and they wont give that up easily.
• Says, the very thought of the brothers making a superman movie is unbelievable as they have grown up in the world of comic books and they would be ideal for the project.
• Stated that Bryan Singer is looking to move on to Logan’s Run a movie to be produced by Joel Silver.

We knew Bryan Singer wasn’t involved in the next Superman project and we expected he wouldn’t be since they wanted to reboot the franchise.

But having the Wachowskis takeover makes me curious. I don’t know if this is a good thing or bad thing if it actually happens. Speed Racer, while being an obvious kids film, was completely unwatchable for me. On top of that, I disliked the third Matrix film and thought the second needed improvement. I must however give them credit on their writing and producing credits on V for Vendetta and the upcoming Ninja Assassin – The second of which I know will be amazing without even needing to see a trailer. Just check out this fight training video for that here and you’ll see what I mean.

Since the interview was focused on Ninja Assassin wrapping up, the source also summarized a bit of what McTeigue had to say about that:

• Ninja Assassin is locked and complete. Awaiting a suitable marketing strategy and release from WB. Looking likely to be a late summer release.
• Action scenes are absolutely brutal, unbelievable vision from the Wachowski’s in blocking the fights with the Hong Kong stunt team.

I cannot wait to see Ninja Assassin and the one thing Wachowskis can consistently do very well is fight choreography – so having them involved as producers and attached to the project is a good thing.

To clarify the obvious, this is currently just a rumor. If true, being approached to do the films is different than being signed to do them. As long as it’s nothing like Speed Racer and not geared towards kids, I think it’ll be interesting to see the Wachowski Brothers’ take on the Man of Steel.

What do you think of the prospect of the Wachowskis directing the next Superman?

Ninja Assassin’s release date is still to be announced and the next Superman film has no official time frame as of yet.

Source: AICN