MTV recently spoke to Diane Nelson, the newly-anointed head of Warner Bros.’ DC Entertainment Inc., and picked her brain about how the new venture will affect the DC films already in the pipeline and which heroes we can expect to see onscreen in the near future. In the midst of all this talk, Nelson let a quiet bomb (no, not that kind) drop: DC Entertainment has no current plans in the works for another Superman movie.

Why is this news such a big deal? It’s a bit of a convoluted story but luckily your friend Outlaw has been keeping his eye on Superman for a minute now. Keep reading to see what Nelson’s words may mean for the cinematic future of the Man of Steel and WB/DCE.

If you haven’t been following, the rights to Superman are currently in dispute. On one side of the courtroom are DC Comics and Warner Bros. – on the other side, the heirs of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The legal conflict started back in 1999, when the heirs of Jerry Siegel launched a lawsuit against DC/WB, claiming that they hadn’t been paid enough in licensing fees for the development of Superman TV shows (Smallville) and movies (Superman Returns). Later the heirs of Joe Shuster joined in the fight and as of this summer, WB has lost the right to use Superman’s origin story in any films or TV shows, and a judge has already ruled that unless the studio gets another Supes film into development by 2011, they will not be able to do so without first having getting the approval of the Shuster/Siegel heirs, who will own the rights to the character (his initial incarnation, at least) come 2013.

That’s a lot to follow, but if you get the jiist of it, then you understand how wild it is to hear that WB/DCE apparently has NO PLANS in the works for the next Superman film! Here’s the quote from Nelson:

“We actually don’t have any current plans for Superman…We’ve obviously done a lot of great things behind the property in our history, and it’s a key part of the family, but we don’t have current plans behind Superman…”

Well, 2009 is almost done and one year is a hell of a short time to get a massive tentpole like a Superman movie underway, so Unless the studio has a rabbit hidden under its hat, it looks like the chances of us seeing another Supes flick in the works before the legal deadline are pretty slim.

But does that mean we won’t EVER see another WB/DCE Superman movie?

I was toying with that very notion recently, when I suggested that the newly-formed Disney/Marvel team could concievably buy Superman – that is, purchase the rights from the Siegel/Shuster heirs in 2013. As was pointed out in our discussion threads, only those aspects of Superman originally created by Siegel and Shuster are being handed over, and at best, Disney/Marvel would own a severely limited version of the character. Now that Warner Bros. has created DCE (partly in order to keep pace with Disney/Marvel, no doubt), it’s looking more and more likely that the studio will invest heavily in their top player and throw the necessary zeroes onto the check they cut for the Siegel/Shuster heirs, in order to keep Superman in-house. Once that legal quagmire has been cleared, I suspect a new Supes film won’t be far behind.

For the meantime, let’s remember that the goal of DCE is to maximize the profitability of the ENTIRE DC brand – not just trying to find new ways of cashing in on the same sacred cow. The studio already has Jonah Hex, Green Lantern, Deadman, The Losers and Lobo – all lesser-known DC heroes – headed to the movies, so why not continue to focus efforts on turning no-names into show-names? Superman will always be king, whenever he should choose to return to the big screen.

However, I’m sure Nelson and DCE are all too aware of this. As I’ve stated: they’ll likely clear up all the legal woes (quietly), secure their hold on Superman, and worry about shelling-out big bucks for another movie later. We’ll keep you posted, though, just in case I’m wrong (gasp!).

Source: MTV News

Forget Krypton! Superman wants to be the hero of Azeroth instead!

It’s no secret that Brandon Routh is a gamer and a long-time player of the most successful MMORPG ever, World of Warcraft.

With his love of the video game, it’s no surprise that with the recent news of Sam Raimi signing on to direct the World of Warcraft film, Routh wants to be a part of it.

As we all know, Brandon Routh’s contract with WB for his role as the Man of Steel in the Superman franchise has expired along with that of director Bryan Singer. They’re going a different direction with Supes and rumors of who may be taking the reins have already began to surface in the aftermath of the latest court ruling on the topic of the ownership of Superman.

Well, Routh’s interest is on something else now anyway. In an interview with MTV, the 29 year-old talked about his excitement about Sam Raimi  being brought on to helm the World of Warcraft film adaptation and his passion for video games.

“They just announced that Sam Raimi is directing, so that’s very cool… My friends over at Legendary are working on that. … So I’m looking forward to what’s going to happen with that.”

When asked about his desire to get asked to be a part of the project, he teased about the fun he could have with the action and sword-fighting.

I’m always a big supporter of folks working on that which they are passionate and respectful of, so I’m all for it if he does get that chance. He’ll have to play a much grittier and harsher character though which we’ve not seem him do yet (assuming he would play some sort of Warrior or Paladin).

This could be the career-defining gig for Routh (replacing Superman Returns) as I believe when a big-budget live action World of Warcraft movie is finally made, it’ll spawn into a franchise with limitless potential and sequel/spinoff opportunities.

This film cannot fail. With 10 million or so people around the world paying monthly subscription fees to continue to play the game, it already has a strong and willing-to-spend fanbase of massive proportions and with all the hype, marketing and word-of-mouth that will accompany this thing, it’s destined to destroy the box-office and bring future installments.

If Routh does get his wish and becomes involved in a lead role, he could have himself a nice and long-lasting franchise to be a part of. It’s not like they can kill him off, they can just use another character to use a resurrection spell on him!

It’s a world so vast and full of different characters, creatures and environments so there are endless stories in endless locales that can be told – It’s about time they start.

If this works out, who knows, maybe we’ll get a Starcraft film someday!

What do you think of the WoW movie, and is there a role for Routh in it?

World of Warcraft is tentatively listed for a 2011 release but it will definitely be delayed. Raimi’s a busy man with Spider-Man 4 scheduled to open that year.

Source: MTV

Our friend Robert Sanchez at IESB has the scoop on the latest details leaking out of the Warner Brothers camp for the Superman franchise.

According to Robert and his search for information on the Man of Steel, WB is treating Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns as a sort of conclusion to the film franchise as it was before, and are heading in new direction with new people.

We knew this already with Brandon Routh’s and Bryan Singer’s contracts expiring, but Robert now has some clues as to who may be involved with the franchise’s future: James McTeigue and the Wachowski brothers!

From what he’s gathered, it sounds like the Wachowskis may produce with McTeigue at the helm, in the same way they’ve been working on the action-packed Ninja Assassin movie.

I guess our reports back in February on the rumors about the Wachowskis being looked at to create a new Superman trilogy weren’t so far off after all. What’s even more interesting is that those Wachowski rumors from the beginning of the year originated from an interview with James McTeigue himself! Now it’s all starting to come together…

There are several obvious factors making this a believable possibility: the history of the Wachowskis working with WB in the past (Matrix movies, Speed Racer), McTeigue’s relationship with the brothers, and the court hearings that are forcing WB to get this movie fast-tracked for a 2011 start at the latest.

A few weeks ago, Screen Rant Editor Kofi Outlaw wrote about the recent ruling by a U.S. District Court Judge on the ever-lasting legal feud between DC/Warner Bros. and the estate of late Superman co-creator, Jerry Siegel.

This court decision stated that WB needs another Superman film in production by 2011, or they’d be subject to potential lawsuits from the heirs of the Superman creators.

Click to continue reading ‘The Future of Superman & Who Might Be Involved’

With all the hype surrounding Watchmen, and all the internet chatter about  DC Comics’ uncertain cinematic future, I found myself wondering: Why hasn’t DC had as much success at the box office as rival company Marvel?

In an attempt to answer that very question I came up with this comprehensive guide to how DC Comics SHOULD be making movies.

This week, writer/director Joss Whedon (Dollhouse, Firefly) spoke up about why he believes DC Comics has had a hard time making the transition to the big screen. According to Whedon, Batman has been a cinematic cash cow in the last few years primarily because The Caped Crusader is one of the only heroes out of the DC stable who’s whole reason for being a “hero” is an all too human anguish that makes him easily relatable to the average person.

I get what Whedon is saying on that front: I’ve always maintained that Superman Returns flopped in large part because the film was this grand meditation on why Superman is better than the average person–not just because of his god-like powers, but rather the moral strength of his character. In this day and age what moviegoer wants to pay money to see a film where they’re being told that some Superman is better than them? If Superman Unleashed hopes to revitalize the struggling franchise, I hope the filmmakers are out there right now scouring comic shops and compiling the most celebrated Superman stories they can get their hands on.

Marvel on the other hand, has always had the luxury of building their movie franchises on the backs of characters that Stan Lee purposefully created as allegories for the experiences of the common man, so that the common man would better be able to relate to them. Peter Parker is the geek who never gets the girl; X-Men are minorities who face discrimination and prejudice at every turn, etc… etc… We relate to these characters because they’ve been fashioned for us to do so. It’s easier for a fanboy to believe he can be Spider-Man than Superman; therefore it’s easier for the moviegoer who doesn’t read comics to believe the same.

However, I do think Whedon’s comments overlook an important point. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were big $uccesses at the box office (IMHO) because the filmmakers drew their screenplays from some of the most celebrated Batman lore that is currently in print. Batman Begins borrowed heavily from Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s now-classic reimagining of The Caped Crusader’s origins, Batman: Year One. The Dark Knight’s intricately woven crime-saga was built off the comic book bones of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s noir-epic, The Long Halloween, while Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as The Joker borrowed from the more dark and modern renderings of The Clown Prince of Crime such as Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke.

And for those who’ve been paying close attention, DC/Warner Bros.’ next big venture, Green Lantern, has generated positive early buzz primarily because the script for the film will reportedly adhere closely to “Emerald Dawn,” one of the most famous GL stories ever told.

Do you see the pattern here?

The powers that be over at DC/Warner Bros. need to start thinking not only of which DC characters deserve a box office run, but also which famous DC Comics stories need to be told. To phrase this another way: DC, let Marvel worry about the character stuff; you worry about the many, many celebrated storylines you have at your disposal.

Watchmen is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. It’s one of the most famous Comic book stories ever told under the DC banner–now it’s poised to be one of the biggest movies of 2009. Watchmen has endured not because of people’s fascination with the particular characters (aside from maybe Rorschach), but rather because of the impact of the story as a whole. Name me one Marvel storyline (storyline, not character) that has had THAT kind of social impact.

So what other famous stories does DC have to tell? Obviously there is Frank Miller’s iconic vision of Batman’s future, The Dark Knight Returns–a subject which resurfaced once again this week, in an interview First Showing conducted with Watchmen director Zack Snyder. (Snyder would still like to tackle the project, but there’s no guarantee yet that he will. Maybe Watchmen will change that if it does well enough at the box office.)

DC/Vertigo’s The Losers is on track to becoming a feature film. The comic had only a small cult following, but many of those that read it have had good things to say about it. We’ll see how the film turns out.

If I ruled Hollywood (and I aim to), I would love to see the early Preacher storylines compiled into a film (I’m talking the “Gone To Texas” and “Until The End of Time” storylines). There’s also Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s Batman: Hush, or Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All Star Superman–arguably one of the best Superman stories I’ve read in the last decade. Another safe bet would be ANY of the stories Grant Morrison told during his run on Justice League, should a JL movie ever crawl its way out of the grave.

Of course I’m just scratching the surface here. There are many, many, great DC Comics storylines that I’m totally blanking on at this moment. But then, that’s why I have you my wonderful, knowledgeable, readers. What DC Comics Storylines do you think DC/Warner should be adapting for the big screen? Hit us back and let us know.

Sources: Slash Film & First Showing

It was just last week when we heard the crazy rumor of the Wachowski brothers possibly directing a new trilogy of Superman films that was later debunked – and now we have more Superman rumors!

Peter over at /Film apparently got into a password protected page on the Legendary Pictures website with the help of one of their readers and this particular page listed some interesting information for the next Superman project.

Listed on this page of films in development was a movie titled Superman Unleashed, a supposed sequel to Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns. The synopsis of the film listed on the page went as follows:

“Ramping up the action of its esteemed predecessor, the sequel to ‘Superman Returns’ promises to raise the stakes and take the audience to heights of action that no other superhero movie can achieve.”

What does this mean? Probably not much.

I highly doubt the film will be called that for obvious reasons. To me, it’s just the temporary name of the project which emphasizes the increase in action and excitement that they want the movie to achieve.

We already knew there were going to be more Superman films down the road but this suggests that the next will be a follow-up to Superman Returns as opposed to a complete reboot which has been hinted at for a while now (since we found out Bryan Singer would not be involved in the next Man of Steel project).

This information from that page has been taken down since the story was first put online.

What do you think of the synopsis for a possible next installment in the Superman franchise?

Source: /Film

As we all know, Hollywood is the epicenter of not only fads, but also ripping off copying what works from other studios. We’ve all seen this before many times. One studio puts out a successful movie in some genre and within 6-9 months we see a bunch of movies coming out trying to capitalize on the popularity of the first one.

This phenomenon really took off in the early 1980s, with movies like Star Wars launching a new era in Sci-Fi films (yes, I know Star Wars was released prior to 1980), Superman starting the superhero movie trend, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street giving us the wonderful teen horror genre (at least they were rated R back then). Rambo started the lone hero with enemies that were lousy shots and couldn’t kill him even with machine guns and Porky’s gave us the start of the raunchy high school comedy.

So I suppose it was only appropriate, and a matter of time before Hollywood, bereft of new ideas, decided to re-visit those old gold mines to search for a fresh vein to tap. But now we’re not doing remakes any more… oh no – now the big buzzword is: Reboot.

The first recent film to tackle this concept (and succeed) was Batman Begins in 2005. Warner Bros. took a once successful franchise that had been ruined utterly and completely by descending into tongue in cheek, replete with nipples on the Bat-Suit. As we all know, director Chris Nolan exceeded everyone’s expectations and cleansed our palates of the abomination that was foisted upon us by Joel Schumacher.

Warner Bros. followed this success with Superman Returns, which while it was profitable, was a disappointment to many, and didn’t really “reboot” the franchise. It seems like the next Superman film may actually try to do that (again). We also had the rejuvenation of the James Bond franchise with Casino Royale, which gave us Daniel Craig as the closest thing to the early days of the series and Sean Connery.

The Incredible Hulk reboot didn’t go as well as planned for a variety of reasons including poor marketing and internal conflicts.

So now that the studios have seen that it’s possible to do a reboot well (as opposed to recent failures like Planet of the Apes and The Pink Panther), the reboot trend is moving full steam ahead. Interestingly, the main target for source material seems to the very same era I mentioned above: the 1980s (give or take a couple of years).

Now technically some of the projects haven’t been reboots – a similar trend that’s emerging is to create an additional sequel to a movie franchise that ended 20 years ago. An example of this was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – which while successful, was not as huge a hit as Paramount had been hoping for. The fact that the term “Nuke the fridge” has entered the vernacular has more than a little to do with it, I’m quite sure.

On the “delayed” sequel front we also had Bruce Willis returning as John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard (aka Die Hard 4). While that was controversial due to dropping the rating from the usual R to a PG-13, it did well at the box office and was fairly well-received. We also had not one but two Sylvester Stallone sequels: Rambo and Rocky Balboa, both of which kicked butt IMHO.

Projects ready to hit the screen next year include J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek and McG’s Terminator 4. Other “dust off the concept” movies that are in the works include Child’s Play, Hellraiser, Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills Cop 4.

So this got me thinking… what movie reboots/delayed sequel possibilities are out there that haven’t been tapped yet? Now I’m not saying this is a good idea – I’m just saying that I’m betting there are “scriptments” floating around Hollywood for these well-known franchises.

Whether they get made before this trend runs out, I don’t know – but if they DO, you heard it here first.

Here’s the list, in no particular order:

1. Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Here’s the movie that made both Burt Reynolds and Sally Field stars and beloved by the public. Just a fun, against the establishment, redneck fun movie.

Logic: Are you kidding me? With Sarah Palin as the Republican Vice-Presidential pick and the whole Liberal vs Conservative angst, the timing for a new version of this couldn’t be better!

2. Crocodile Dundee (1986)

This is the movie that made Aussie Paul Hogan a star. With his low key charm and self-confidence, he became and instant audience favorite. It spawned a sequel which wasn’t bad, but in 2001 they did a third movie which was a stinker.

Logic: Someone needs to make a casting trip to Australia to find a new Dundee – shouldn’t be too difficult… Australia seems to have a good supply of “manly men.”

3. Home Alone (1990)

The original starring Macaulay Culkin and directed by Chris Columbus is a classic. There was one sequel and a failed attempt at a reboot back in 1997.

Logic: It’s been 11 years since the last one, so you know that someone out there thinks “if we could only find the right child actor” they could make a go of this one again.

4. Back to the Future (1985)

Another beloved series, which starred Michael J. Fox and was directed by Robert Zemeckis. While the first two were great, the third left a bit to be desired.

Logic: Yes, this one should remain untouched, but it’s got a brand name, was a big hit for its time and I can just see some new spin on this (no doubt with characters that are annoying instead of endearing).

5. Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

Having been pretty nerdy myself at the time this originally came out, I thought it was hysterical. As usual, the sequels got progressively weaker.

Logic: You could almost argue that with the unending string of teen comedies, this is unnecessary. Well, yeah, it IS unnecessary – but remember we have a known title plus lazy screenwriters (no, not ALL of them, but we know they’re out there).

6. Rambo (1982)

Logic: Considering the fact that we just had a sequel, maybe some bright-eyed exec will think it’s time to re-cast this with a younger actor. Instead of a Vietnam vet I’m sure they’d be happy to use a black-ops Iraq war veteran as the hero.

7. Porky’s (1982)

If memory serves, this was the first really raunchy high school comedy (yeah, we had Animal House but that was college, big difference, right? RIGHT?).

Logic: See #5.

8. Mad Max (1980)

Mad Max was a little film that gave us the first big screen appearance of Mel Gibson (dubbed horribly with an American voice). Immediate cult classic -spawned two sequels, one good, one not so much.

Logic: You could almost argue that a reboot has been attempted already with this year’s clunker Doomsday. But it’s not really a reboot unless they use the original title.

9. Rocky (1976)

Logic: Similar to #6, Rambo and the same logic applies.

10. Lethal Weapon (1987)

The original team-up of Mel Gibson as the manic cop and Danny Glover was awesome. Again, each subsequent film was not as good as the one before.

Logic: While there have been many “buddy cop” movies since this one, again we have the “Lethal Weapon” brand name. Definitely reboot material – PLEASE do not bring Glover and Gibson back for this.

So what do you think – do you have any that should be added to the list, or ideas for how any of these should play out?

Thanks to DenOfGeek for sparking some ideas.

Thankfully, Smith had the presence of mind to turn it down.

According to MTV:

“There is no way I’m playing Superman!’ Because I had already done Jim West [of 'Wild Wild West'], and you can’t be messing up white people’s heroes in Hollywood! You mess up white people’s heroes in Hollywood, you’ll never work in this town again!”

Well, I don’t know about never working in Hollywood again, but would there be an outcry?

Are you kidding?

The only thing I’d like to know is what brilliant Hollywood mind floated that idea? I mean heck, maybe they could have suggested Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to play Muhammed Ali instead of Smith in Ali. I’m sure there might be a bit of controversy had that been the case.

This is complete speculation, but I’m wondering if there’s any chance it was director Bryan Singer who floated the idea… after all he didn’t have a problem with making Superman the father of an out-of-wedlock child.

I’m actually quite glad that Will Smith dipped his toe in the superhero genre with Hancock – I only wish the studio had kept their hands out of it and allowed the film to be released as an R-rated film as originally intended. I’m sure it would have turned out to be a better film.

This whole story is just a plain head-shaker as far as I’m concerned.

Source: MTV via ComicBookMovie

According to The New York Times:

“A federal judge here on Wednesday ruled that the heirs of Jerome Siegel — who 70 years ago sold the rights to the action hero he created with Joseph Shuster to Detective Comics for $130 — were entitled to reclaim their share of the U.S. copyright to the character.”

Apparently, the international rights to Superman remain the property of Time Warner.

There’s also the chance that if this decision sticks it will open a can of worms with the heirs of ‘Supes’ co-creator Joseph “Joe” Shuster in 2013.

And it’s also become a question-mark as to whether or not the Siegels are owed any profits for film ventures like 2006’s Superman Returns or its currently-in-development sequel Superman: The Man of Steel for 2010; not to mention, the increasingly looking-like-its-not-going-to-happen-anyway Justice League Mortal!

Personally, I don’t see this delaying any of them directly; no more than any other factors which would delay said film projects.

This thing will continue to be dragged out in the courts for years.

Time Warner (via their legal muscle) will probably get this decision over-turned. At least, that’s what I see happening.

Source: The New York Times