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EXCLUSIVE: Warner Brothers film execs are telling Deadline there will be major announcements involving DC characters coming in 4 weeks. But I can tell you now that Superman producers Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas are getting closer to resuscitating the Man of Steel. I’m told they have begun meeting with a short list of directors for the job of directing Superman, the picture which will be financed by Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures. On the list: Unstoppable‘s Tony Scott, Let Me In director Matt Reeves, Battle: Los Angeles helmer Jonathan Liebesman (who just got the Warner Bros/Legendary job of directing Clash of the Titans 2), Duncan Jones, who just directed Source Code, and Sucker Punch helmer Zack Snyder. 
As Deadline first revealed back in February (Chris Nolan Will Mentor Superman 3.0), Nolan came up with an idea that put the Batman director in a godfather position on Superman, which besides from the Batfranchise is the linchpin of DC Comics franchise characters. David Goyer wrote a script. Several of these directors have movie commitments like Liebesman, which make then unlikely. Nolan has already started meeting with candidates and will submit his choice to the studio within the next few weeks. Warner Bros and Legendary have to get the picture made by 2012, because the studio stands to lose certain rights to the iconic character in 2013 after a judge ruled favorably on behalf of the heirs of Superman creator Jerry Siegel. As I’ve reported previously, the studio at one point wanted Guillermo del Toro to resurrect Superman… Will tell you more when I hear it.
Chris Nolan Looks For ‘Superman’ Director
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1) Brad Bird
A former Warner Bros Animation guy, Bird gets story almost too well. Best track record out of any director. MI 4 is supposedly amazing.
2) JJ Abrams
If he isn’t doing Star Trek 2, he should be hired to do this. Superman can’t mimic Dark Knight. It’s a totally different city/character/universe. I’d even argue that the last Superman was too jarring for the typical audience to enjoy (he has a kid, Lois married, etc). I love what Abrams did w/ Hoffman’s character in MI4 and even though people complain about Nero in Star Trek he was the perfect reboot villain. This is a story about Lois and Clark. Build it up so we love both and go from there.
2) Jason Reitman
Sort of “out of nowhere” but Reitman understands how to direct lead actors better than anyone (which was the main fault of Snyder and Singer. Superman is an American hero, who needs to have charm and sex appeal.
3) Robert Zemekis
He’s close to being a household name, won an Oscar for Gump. Made Back to the Future. He’s been Box Office great w/ Polar Express, Beowulf, and Christmas Carol yet none of those films have been fan-base heavy.
um..you have to understand that jj abrams is under a very lucrative contract with paramount and though he has a T.v deal with warner bros. i dont think paramount would like him making a movie for them..but he would be one of my top choices to.
Gore Verbinski
There’s nothing for someone with the last name Reeves working on the Superman franchise to be superstitious about. Nothing at all.
Zack Snyder. So the film will at least have good action sequences and a great visual look.
Nolan can write the script to make you fanboys happy.
If he was not directing The Avengers, I’d say Joss Whedon should direct this.
Enough of this crap about Tony Scott being the “poor man’s” Ridley Scott.
Tony Scott has made some really important films over the years and has more artistic integrity than these other men combined. I admit that some of his last few films weren’t the best, but please show some respect to a genuine talent.
Important? Whaaaa?
NAME ONE.
The HUNGER!
so good – great 80s art sleaze
woah, important? laughable.
Tony Scott is a homeless mans Ridley Scott. His flagship efforts are Beverly Hills Cop 2 and Top Gun (True Romance was Tarantino’s baby and probably would have been better if directed it himself). come on. are you kidding me? Have you seen Domino? Anybody but that guy. Anybody.
Other top notch Tony Scott films? Crimson Tide and True Romance (QT isn’t a good director, particularly at that point in his career, but hardly even good now). Tony AND Ridley need fantastic scripts to make good films — Ridley’s best films where 30 years ago. Only Gladiator since T&L was worth watching or even making.
Tony hasn’t made a good movie in years, the last being decent was Man on Fire. Sorry.
His new ‘edgy’ style is contrived and forced. Of course I think can easily say that True Romance, Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop 2 were entertaining, if not great movies. But as of right now, he’s slowly losing it.
Darren Aronofsky
I’d like to see Neill Blomkap take a shot at Superman.
How about they make “A Shot at Superman with Tila Tequila?” There’s your Lois, boys.
This is an interesting idea.
Although the problem with Superman is the concept is basically outdate in a post-9/11 world. Superman should exist within the Batman Universe like in Miller’s DKR, but as a stand alone, it’s not a quality property… UNLESS you go all cosmic with the villain, or use Brainiac (which I doubt WB would do), but we’ll see ANOTHER revised version of Luthor or the Phantom Zone villains. The villain is the key to any comic hero, and Superman’s greatest adversary is really himself.
Superman just isn’t that compelling, perhaps if the script followed Byrne’s revamp/reboot, then it MIGHT have some merit, but odds are that Goyer wrote a “good” script, but nothing exciting.
The Aliens franchise isn’t and shouldn’t be treated as a tentpole. It’s a one-note concept that only gains additional legs when treated in a social commentary. If you think Superman is a limited character, then the Alien is that minus the human element. So don’t blame Fincher for having trouble with a concept that reached its creative peak with Cameron’s offering. That said, I’d rather see Fincher attempt Preacher, but his Nemo will be great.
Alfonso Cuarón or Zack Snyder. Tony Scott would be Kryptonite to this project.
Absolutely. Tony Scott is the man. But I wouldn’t recommend him for the job. You know what, I’ll go out on a limb here and suggest Michael Bay. Yeah I know his characters are super thin and plotting is questionable, but he’s a showman, he’s got pizzaz, he’s all about the American iconographic landscape. That’s who Superman really is. And thats why Superman Returns ultimately failed because it tried really hard to distance itself away from that. Along with the stupid plot of the kid and kryptonite island which also proved to be a major detriment to the film.
Sorry but have to shout this:
WHOEVER GETS THE JOB, NO SHAKY CAM AND SLO-MO CRAP!!!!!! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!!!!THE TERROR OF THOSE STUPID STYLE DEVICES MUST STOP ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!!!!!!!!
My two top choices:
a) Zack Snyder (Quit bashing Watchmen, it was as good as the source material, even better in places! And have you forgotten 300??????)
b) Tony Scott (Would LOVE to see him do Superman in his edgy, stylized “Man of Fire” mode but you fanboy traditionalist assholes would whine too much)
How can Duncan Jones seriously be on this list? How do you go from little indie flick with literally 3 people in it (one of them a disembodied voice) to tentpole/blockbuster/CGI fest? Get real.
And scoff if you want to but MICHAEL BAY is an EXCELLENT choice to reboot the Man of Steel. Real balls-out summer action from an American character we can believe in, not some ambivalent gay shit. Imagine the LA street battle from Transformers only with Superman and Metallo???? Nuff said!
I certainly won`t scoff at Bay because Bay is excellent at doing Americana and Supes is all about it. Unlike Batman, Supes isn`t an emo/dark/whatever they call it now type of a character. He is all sunshine and virtues and Bay owns blowing up s*** in broad daylight so to speak.
But looks like they aren`t going in that direction.
Bay’s aesthetic choices, if you can call them that, always give a migraine headache after the 2nd action scene. And transformers 2 was UNWATCHABLE, walked out 5 minutes in.
NEVER suggest Bay for anything, he has no sense of nuance or emotion… unless he’s using slo-mo to convey a bevy of emotions… what hack work
Please god NO CAMP HUMOR THIS TIME. No Lex Luthor. Let’s have a Lois Lane who’s not only sexy but not a bitch or unsympathetic (like Margot Kidder & the Supman Returns’ Kate Bosworth.
Let’s have a story with real characterizatons; humor that is contextual; and a script that has decent cliffhangers. Let’s have a story that pits Superman against someone (or some Thing) that is as strong as he is… and lastly, a storyline that involves feeling without dumb sentimentality like the other Supermans.
Interestingly, the best Superman was really George Reeves. He was not a boyish, soap opera stud; but a man (read the comics, people) with maturity and intelligence. And as Clark Kent, he never played the goof-off fool, with slicked-back hair like a yokel – like Reeve and Routh. This was the real Superman of the comics as he should have been, not a dick-of-a-producer’s idea. I sincerely hope that this Superman is a man and not a kid. The movie’s not called Superboy, yeah’know?!
How can there be a superman movie without Lex Luthor? Next to superman he is the most importent character in that series. I say have Lex as a supporting villian and not a main villian. Mob bosses should always be written that way unless the writers plan to kill them off.
RIDLEY SCOTT SHOULD DO IT OR LUCAS…THEY WOULD GIVE IT A MORE EPIC MAYBE BIBLICAL WEIGHT.
1) Duncan Jones – “Moon” proved that this guy is a master in the making. Simple, Brilliant, Beautiful, Haunting…and CHEAP! A true auteur.
2) Matt Reeves – “Let Me In” shows lots of promise, especially for a remake of another excellent film. He’s proven he can adapt classic material in new and exciting ways.
3) Darren Aronofsky – Nuff said.
*Zack Snyder = Disaster! His vision is way too homoerotic!! You might as well give Bryan Singer another shot (please don’t!).
*Tony Scott = Terrible! His editing style and his entire approach are beyond dated. Super 90s. No thanks.
MOON is over-rated. While I liked the film, it doesn’t demonstrate that he has a “vision” or has mastered the craft — 50 different 1st timers have done better.
What about the Hughes Brothers? or F. Gary Gray? Or Peter Jackson? I can’t give Matt Reeves any props, Let Me In “looks good”? Uh, see the movie before recommending that he do a franchise; not to say that he’s good or bad, but the jury is still out. Might as well suggest Lars van Triers!
Honestly, you’d need a director who can stand up to the WB brass.
Isn’t Tony Scott directing another train film with Denzel Washington in 2012? I thought he had one more train movie left on his deal.
Ben Affleck directing. Jon Hamm as Superman.
Hamm as Superman is a good choice. Tina Fey as Lois Lane? Mmmmmm…..
I honestly dont care as long as Brandon Routh plays Superman!
Kathryn Bigelow
Alfonso Cuarón
Neil Blomkamp
These are the folks I’d be calling.
Snyder is probably the front-runner, being in the Warners family. I can’t imagine they want to hand it over to a younger director that doesn’t have experience with this kind of budget/logistics…just like what happened with Berlanti on Green Lantern.
Tony Scott is too frenetic and not character-driven enough, especially for Nolan. The best new idea would be Cuaron–Gravity may not happen but he’s proven that he’s gifted with character and large-budget filmmaking. That would immediately give the project a legitimacy that the other options, as talented as they may be, do not.
Duncan Jones!
keep zack snyder the hell away from this property.
he demonstrated no understanding of the watchmen material.
the fact it turned out ok visually is the whole thing had been storyboarded for him some 20+ years ago – in comic form. everything else was terrible. nixon’s prosthetic nose pretty much summed up that movie. the nose might have been anatomically correct but it looked ridiculous and fake. Likewise imbuing screwed up and very human heroes in funny costumes with super-strength shows how he was miles away from that story’s whole raison d’etre.
he is incompetent and vacuous, but i guess that chimes with the audiences appetites. a visual director but visuals are only a fraction of what makes a good movie.
brad bird would be awesome though…
Why does every Superman have to be a “return to roots” affair? That always consumes half the movie! Why not assume the truth: everyone knows his story, and make a movie about Superman saving the world from some dastardly villain(s), and needing the help of Lois and Jimmy to make it happen?
The 50s TV series did something like this every week, as did the 60s Batman TV series. Why the constant Hollywood need to “reintroduce” us to characters that every native-born American KNOWS?