Superman Returns

[MacGuffin]

The Skinny on Superman Returns
Everything we know so far. Source: IGN.FilmForce

Superman Returns to the big-screen on June 30, 2006, courtesy of Warner Brothers. The long-awaited (and long-in-development) Man of Steel movie has been filming in Sydney, Australia since March (through August) under the direction of Bryan Singer.

Singer also co-produces along with Jon Peters and Gilbert Adler from a screenplay by Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris. Chris Lee serves as executive producer. The director of photography is Newton Thomas Sigel A.S.C.; the production designer is Guy Dyas; the film is edited by John Ottman and Elliot Graham; the costume designer is Louise Mingenbach; and the music is by John Ottman. The film is based upon Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics.

Newcomer Brandon Routh, a former bartender at the Lucky Strike bowling alley in Hollywood, stars in the dual roles of Clark Kent and Superman. The first official photo of him in costume as the Last Son of Krypton was released.

The rest of the cast includes Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane; two-time Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey as the evil Lex Luthor; James Marsden as Richard White; Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent; Frank Langella as Perry White, and Sam Huntington as Jimmy Olsen. Luthor's underlings include Parker Posey as Kitty Kowalski and Kal Penn as Stanford. Noel Neill, the Lois Lane on the 1950s Superman TV series, has an unspecified cameo.

"We are thrilled to have such a stellar cast starring in this exciting and innovative new chapter in the Superman legend," said Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures, in a statement announcing the commencement of principal photography. "With Bryan Singer at the helm, we look forward to creating a film that electrifies audiences and deepens the rich mythology that continues to make Superman one of the most popular and intriguing superheroes of all time."

"Rather than being a remake of the original movie," Singer added, "this film explores Superman's influence on our global culture and the impact of his return to Earth after an absence of several years. It's my great pleasure to bring this new chapter of the Superman legacy to the screen with this incredible cast."

Today Warner Bros. released the official plot synopsis:

"Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel comes back to Earth in the epic action-adventure Superman Returns, a soaring new chapter in the saga of one of the world's most beloved superheroes. While an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all, Superman faces the heartbreaking realization that the woman he loves, Lois Lane, has moved on with her life. Or has she? Superman's bittersweet return challenges him to bridge the distance between them while finding a place in a society that has learned to survive without him. In an attempt to protect the world he loves from cataclysmic destruction, Superman embarks on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space."

There have been other rumored plot elements, such as the return of the Phantom Zone villains (possibly played by Jude Law and Famke Janssen) and literally the ghost of Marlon Brando's Jor-El, but those haven't panned out.

Singer is a huge fan of Richard Donner's 1978 Superman: The Movie and wants his film to be respectful of the series' established chronology, right down to keeping the distinctive star-shaped spaceship that baby Kal-El traveled in to Earth.

Singer's defection from X-Men 3 in favor of Superman reportedly ticked off 20th Century Fox so much that they nixed his deal with them. When James Marsden was cast as Richard White (said to be Perry White's nephew and Lois Lane's love interest), the rumor mill suggested that his character Cyclops would either be killed off in X-Men 3 or recast. Marsden will indeed be in X3 but in an even lesser role than he's had. Make of that what you will ...

Taking a page from King Kong and LOTR director Peter Jackson, Singer has reached out to fans online by posting regular behind-the-scenes video updates at BlueTights.net. Viewers have been able to see the Kent family farm set in Breeza, as well as stunt training.

And that's really all that's known about Superman Returns. As you can tell, the facts are pretty slim. Big questions remain unanswered: why did Superman leave Earth? How is the world endangered? What is Lex Luthor up to? Will he bald? And, most importantly, what ever happened to Otis and Miss Teschmacher?!

The answers to these and other lingering questions will be answered June 30, 2006 when, finally, Superman Returns.

[Gamblour.]

There must be some badass CGI they're planning on doing, because it seems their sitting on it for almost a year. I know they want next summer, but geez.

[meatball]

My personal favorite.

[modage]

i love the caption on that cover.

[Myxo]

Some great test footage and journal entries from http://www.bluetights.net/ for this film.

[Myxo]

Looks like Bryan Singer has taken Superman to a whole new level of gayness.

[cron]

go back one page

[MacGuffin]

'Superman' debuts Genesis

Warner Bros. Pictures' "Superman Returns" is taking a historic flight as the first movie to shoot with the Panavision Genesis digital cinematography cameras. Director Bryan Singer is filming with a fleet of the latest digital cinema cameras developed over a three-year period as a collaborative effort between Panavision and Sony. In creating the Genesis, Panavision, the storied Hollywood camera house, took some of the best attributes of its professional film cameras and adapted them for the digital world. At the heart of the Genesis is a Sony high-definition digital imaging device that allows use of all existing Panavision 35mm lenses with which most Hollywood motion picture film crews are very familiar.

[MacGuffin]

Lex Luthor Has Hair!
A peek at Superman Returns.

Blue Tights was in attendance at the 2005 Licensing International show in New York City, which is where the studios go to sell entertainment licensing for their biggest releases. Warner Brothers had a booth there promoting Superman Returns and Blue Tights has the lowdown:

"In the WB area there was a very cool overhead display of comic book Superman saving a crashing truck, beneath which was rubble and a pair of glass doors with METROPOLIS emblazened across them. A brief turn around the corner and there was a giant pillar-type display of what appears to be the possible teaser poster for Superman Returns. Now I don't know 100% if this will be the actual teaser poster, as last year there was a similar display for Batman Begins with just the symbol and release date information below. However, this would make one helluva teaser poster, as our photos will illustrate."

Blue Tights has also posted this promotional art work from Superman Returns, which shows a bespectacled, brunette Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor ... with hair. While it could be that Lex wears a toupee, fans expecting a proudly bald Luthor will likely be disappointed.

[modage]

all three of those photos are underwhelming.  i like bosworth but i dont know if the brown hair is workin'.

[grand theft sparrow]

all three of those photos are underwhelming.  i like bosworth but i dont know if the brown hair is workin'.

The brown hair is definitely workin' for me... but not as much as the glasses are.  

I'm hating Orlando Bloom right about now... but not as much as the idea of Luthor with hair.

[Stefen]

this movie looks so cheesy right now.

[jtm]

this movie looks so cheesy right now.

did it ever not look cheesy?

[cowboykurtis]

he has a point

[cine]

im fuckin hungry now..