Warner Bros Officially Kicks Superman Returns To The Curb

**min0 lee** · 08-22-2008, 03:28 PM

WARNER BROS OFFICIALLY KICKS SUPERMAN RETURNS TO THE CURB

Two huge pieces of news come out of a Wall Street Journal chat with Warner Bros' Jeff Robinov:
The studio is rebooting Superman, ignoring Superman Returns
and all DC characters will now be going the dark and brooding direction, thanks to the success of The Dark Knight.
Let's take that second, mind-boggling bit of info first: 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.

Ugh. The Flash doesn't need to go dark. Neither does Superman, Green Lantern or most of the DC characters. It's like Robinov doesn't realize that the Marvel movies are less dark and still make bank. It's like Robinov thinks it's the darkness that propelled The Dark Knight to be the current #2 grossing film of all time.

What's funny is that the Marvel characters, when they were introduced, were the 'darker' alternative to the DC characters! The Marvel characters had real world problems and were examined from a more realistic point of view. Robinov expects four more DC movies in the next three years, including Batman 3 (no word on Nolan's involvement), a rebooted Superman and two unnamed other heroes, with The Flash, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern being the characters with the most current development heat.

Meanwhile, Robinov is essentially writing off Superman Returns. "'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."

It's important to note that what he's talking about in the final sentence when he says "a Batman and Superman movie" is the long-talked about (and apparently still discussed at Warner Bros) Batman vs Superman film. Still, he's talking about 'reintroducing' Superman, a phrase that can only mean backing away from what Singer did and starting essentially fresh. The best recent example must be The Incredible Hulk, although that film cost more than and made about the same as Ang Lee's Hulk. Is there simply a Hulk ceiling, or does this mean that audiences aren't ready to forget an unsatisfying first installment?

In the article Christopher Nolan gives a lot of credit for The Dark Knight's darkness to Rovinov, so good for him, but I don't really understand why he would think that all his superhero movies need to move in that direction. It's especially daffy when you think about the rest of DC's heroes - who operate in more science fiction/supernatural worlds than Batman - being saddled with the oppressive 'reality' that made Batman Begins so intellectually unsatisfying and more than once threatened to capsize The Dark Knight. The Flash doesn't need to live in a real world, and he shouldn't be forced into a situation where the examination of his dark side is the basis for a movie.

I wait with grave concern to see what Warner Bros comes up with for its comic book franchises.

**lucifuge** · 08-22-2008, 03:56 PM

this will be the biggest mistake DC could make at this point.
How the hell can you make Superman dark?
He's a frikkin boy scout, always has been, always will be... besides, apart from Batman, DC characters generally suck... I doubt there'd be much hope for making a good Flash or Wonder Woman film while staying remotely faithful to the character.

**min0 lee** · 08-22-2008, 04:19 PM

The Green Lantern is a bad MoFo.

**lucifuge** · 08-22-2008, 04:30 PM

kinda... for an intergalactic cop, but I don't see how they could really translate it to film.
And then you run into the problem of which GL do you use - Hal Jordan or Guy Gardner? I always preferred Hal, but Gardner was the 'darker, more realistic' incarnation... I dunno, most of DC's characters are just too fantastic (for lack of a better term) to really translate successfully to film.
Just imagine the SFX budget that would be required to make a passably decent GL movie....

**lucifuge** · 08-22-2008, 04:32 PM

But, I must admit as a comic fan, I've always been biased against DC.
(except for Batman.... who is one of, if not the greatest character(s) ever created)

**min0 lee** · 08-22-2008, 04:59 PM

We used to call them Dumb Comics back in the day.

For some reason I think the most comparable Marvel character to Batman would be DareDevil.

**lucifuge** · 08-22-2008, 05:08 PM

I've always thought DD was an attempt to 'rip off' Bats.

IMO the coolest Marvel character has to be Wolverine.

**min0 lee** · 08-22-2008, 05:18 PM

Could be, I need to look into his past ......

There are a few I like in Marvel.

**maniclion** · 08-22-2008, 05:25 PM

I know Spawn isn't DC but I wish they would do another movie, the first one had such cheesy effects they could certainly do it better justice with the latest in visual effects..... They did a great job of morphing his suit last time but the demons and hell were so poorly done. Plus it would be the darkest comic movie they could do without having to sacrifice straying from the original.....how much darker can you get than a soul devourer torn between heaven and hell? I'd imagine it being like Constantine only better....

**lucifuge** · 08-22-2008, 05:27 PM

Mrvel is full of interesting and engaging characters, I've just always preferred Wolverine.... they kinda jacked it up a bit with the 'memory implant' nonsense, but other than that.... pretty good stuff

**lucifuge** · 08-22-2008, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by maniclion

I know Spawn isn't DC but I wish they would do another movie, the first one had such cheesy effects they could certainly do it better justice with the latest in visual effects..... They did a great job of morphing his suit last time but the demons and hell were so poorly done. Plus it would be the darkest comic movie they could do without having to sacrifice straying from the original.....how much darker can you get than a soul devourer torn between heaven and hell? I'd imagine it being like Constantine only better....

I agree 150%.
Spawn could have been sooooooooo frikkin awesome, but they just kind of half assed it.
I'd like to see a good Sandman film as well.

**min0 lee** · 08-22-2008, 05:56 PM

I may actually be the only one who liked Spawn, what I didn't care for was John Leguizamo in that film...I found him obnoxious.

**min0 lee** · 08-22-2008, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by maniclion

I know Spawn isn't DC but I wish they would do another movie, the first one had such cheesy effects they could certainly do it better justice with the latest in visual effects..... They did a great job of morphing his suit last time but the demons and hell were so poorly done. Plus it would be the darkest comic movie they could do without having to sacrifice straying from the original.....how much darker can you get than a soul devourer torn between heaven and hell? I'd imagine it being like Constantine only better....

Ghost rider?

**lucifuge** · 08-22-2008, 06:53 PM

Oh, I forgot about Lobo, that's a DC character I'd love to see made into a movie

**KelJu** · 08-22-2008, 07:09 PM

Originally Posted by maniclion

I know Spawn isn't DC but I wish they would do another movie, the first one had such cheesy effects they could certainly do it better justice with the latest in visual effects..... They did a great job of morphing his suit last time but the demons and hell were so poorly done. Plus it would be the darkest comic movie they could do without having to sacrifice straying from the original.....how much darker can you get than a soul devourer torn between heaven and hell? I'd imagine it being like Constantine only better....

Spawn fucking rocked! I loved it.

**danzik17** · 08-22-2008, 07:39 PM

Make a freaking Lobo movie if you want dark. I would go see a Lobo movie in a second.

**busyLivin** · 08-22-2008, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by min0 lee

I may actually be the only one who liked Spawn, what I didn't care for was John Leguizamo in that film...I found him obnoxious.

I liked Spawn!

**busyLivin** · 08-22-2008, 08:25 PM

Though I liked Superman Returns, I wished they had just started the series over instead of continuing off Part II of the Christopher Reeve series.

Whatever they do, Superman is always going to be my favorite superhero... and I'll be first in line to see the movie. (Though the Dark Knight is my favorite superhero movie, second favorite movie overall).

Was I the only kid to jump off my couch with a towel tucked in the back of my shirt pretending I could fly? Maybe so...

Anyone else have those superman pajamas with the velcro cape?

**The Monkey Man** · 08-22-2008, 08:59 PM

Dude...
TIm Burton is just a badass with scary good vision...

Superman Dark?? NAWT.

Batman Beyond? (Nice)

I guess they could do a bizzaro movie?

How about a movie where the villian is the star
and we have cameos of several super heros trying to stop him?
The Lex Luthor movie?

hmmm... The riddler movie where he is scary insane and the riddles are diabolical like SAW

**Zaphod** · 08-23-2008, 11:56 AM

Superman and Batman are probably the only two DC heroes that translate nicely into a movie. They're too cheesy. Their abilities, while occasionally cool, don't lend them to a wide range of villians.

**Doublebase** · 08-23-2008, 05:48 PM

I just watched Superman Returns for the first time last night. It was ok. Not great but not horrible. Solid C.

**KentDog** · 08-23-2008, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by Doublebase

I just watched Superman Returns for the first time last night. It was ok. Not great but not horrible. Solid C.

I agree. If anything, I thought it was more bad than it was good. It felt as if they were going solely for visually stunning and virtually no story. I also did not like Spacey as Lex Luthor.

**The Monkey Man** · 08-24-2008, 09:39 PM

Here's my idea...

Anyone in hollywood submit this to the right people...

The riddler movie (dark) with batman, superman, and any chick hero...
(plus a bad supervillian female, HOT)
But remember, super heroes are sub-characters... Riddler is the star.
Riddler is dark, insane... Movie focuses on voices in his head, crazy thoughts, ETC.

the original hollywood plan
Robin Williams (straightman) as the riddler

Patrick Bateman as batman
Pick any other stars and hot chix as heros.

directed by Tim burton...
screenplay and creative input by Charlie Kaufman...

executive production: Spielburg
Effects production: George Lucas

I rock!

Make it happen!

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