Last year producer Brian Rogers said the intention was to reboot the Godzilla franchise in a similar fashion to how Legendary Pictures rebooted Batman with Christopher Nolan. Obviously Nolan won’t be involved with this reboot like he is with Superman, but Legendary Pictures are still hoping for some Batman Begins influence as they’ve hired writer David Goyer to re-write Godzilla.

The news comes from Deadline who says Goyer will write the screenplay based on a draft written by David Callaham (The Expendables), and they intend “to approach the film and its characters in the most authentic manner possible”.

British director Gareth Edwards landed the job of rebooting Godzilla for Warner Bros earlier this year. Edwards previously directed a small movie called Monsters which had a budget of less than $500,000, but went on to make over $1.5 million from various screenings and festivals and caught the attention of the studio. Edwards said back in February:

“I guess I will say I’m highly aware – and everyone involved is incredibly aware – of everyone’s opinions on what this film has to do and what it has to be. And no one will do anything but the right thing. Without addressing anything specific, everyone knows how important is to get it right.”

The original plan was to release the film in 2012, but a 2013 release is looking more likely.

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According to Heat Vision Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the duo behind Crank, Crank: High Voltage, and Gamer, are in early negotiations with Columbia to direct Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Despite reports in April that Columbia may move ahead without him, Nicolas Cage is also in early negotiations to reprise his role as Johnny Blaze, although Eva Mendes will not be returning.

Apparently Columbia has to begin production on another Ghost Rider movie by November 14th 2010, otherwise the rights will revert back to Marvel. This means they will want to begin filming later this year. David Goyer has been working on the script and he previously mentioned that the film is set 8 years after the first film.

“I hate to say it’s more realistic, because he’s got a flaming skull for a head, but it’s a bit more stripped down and darker. It’s definitely changing tone. What ‘Casino Royale’ was to the Bond movies, hopefully this will be to ‘Ghost Rider.’ This story picks up eight years after the first film,” said Goyer. “You don’t have to have seen the first film. It doesn’t contradict anything that happened in the first film, but we’re pretending that our audience hasn’t seen the first film. It’s as if you took that same character where things ended in the first film and then picked it up eight years later—he’s just in a much darker, existential place.”

What do you think about the team behind Gamer taking on Ghost Rider? Are you interested in seeing a Ghost Rider sequel?

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Vulture are reporting that if Nicolas Cage isn’t free to film Ghost Rider 2 at some point this year then Columbia Pictures may have to continue on with the movie without him. The reason? Rights. Apparently Columbia has to begin production on another Ghost Rider movie by November 14th 2010, otherwise the rights will revert back to Marvel. While fans may be happy about the prospect of the character going home, Columbia isn’t.

From Vulture:

Insiders tell us that Columbia is asking Marvel for an extension. But time is running out. Cage has spoken about his desire to make a second Ghost Rider; the issue is whether his schedule will be free before the deadline. Disney is also hoping to get him for a third National Treasure with Jerry Bruckheimer, which could be shooting as early as this fall and would presumably earn the star a hefty paycheck.

But Columbia desperately needs a blockbuster for 2011, now that Spider-Man has been pushed to 2012 — not to mention that no exec wants to lose a moneymaking franchise to a rival studio.

Would the film work without Cage? One unconnected producer who’s worked in the comic-book genre gave Vulture an emphatic no, pointing out that the Ghost Rider character isn’t particularly well-known; any familiarity with it comes from associating the face of Cage — a worldwide box-office draw — with the title. Compare that to Iron Man 2, for which billboards all over the nation show nary a glimpse of star Robert Downey Jr. You don’t need the star to sell that movie, you just need the suit.

I’m not particularly looking forward to another Ghost Rider movie, with or without Cage. The first film made around $250 million back in 2007 but the negative reviews meant that there wasn’t much demand for a sequel. I got the feeling Columbia were just going to ‘throw out’ another film just to keep the rights, although writer David Goyer said “what Casino Royale was to the Bond movies, hopefully this will be to Ghost Rider.”

David Goyer’s script is set 8 years after the first film and is apparently much darker and realistic, although if Nicolas Cage can’t return and they have to hire another actor they might as well just call it a reboot.

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Hero Complex got the chance to do two things movie fans everywhere would pay good money to do. First they were invited to the editing suite of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, getting a peak this summer’s most mysterious and intriguing movie. While there they also got the chance to talk to Nolan about a few other projects he’s working on. Nothing big. Just Batman 3 and a Superman reboot.

For those who haven’t keen keeping up on Nolan’s Superman/Batman situation (shame on you!) here’s what’s happening in one sentence: David Goyer and Jonathan Nolan are co-writing the script for Batman 3, which Nolan will direct, and they will also be co-writing the script for a Superman reboot, which Nolan will produce. Exciting stuff.

Here’s what Nolan had to say about The Dark Knight co-writer David Goyer coming up with a Superman concept:

“He basically told me, ‘I have this thought about how you would approach Superman. I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get Emma and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.

“A lot of people have approached Superman in a lot of different ways. I only know the way that has worked for us that’s what I know how to do.”

On Batman 3:

“My brother is writing a script for me and we’ll wait to see how it turns out…he’s struggling to put it together into the epic story that you want it to be.”

“Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story, and in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story. We have a great ensemble, that’s one of the attractions of doing another film, since we’ve been having a great time for years.”

It looks like Nolan is preparing the third Batman film to be the last, well for him and the world/story he has created at least. I’m sure we’ll be getting more Batman movies after Batman 3, just like we had other Batman movies before Batman Begins.

Nolan also said that the Superman reboot will be in a different universe to his Batman world, so we shouldn’t be expecting any Marvel-like crossovers or a Batman vs. Superman movie.

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Update: According to AICN who called Thomas Tull at Legendary Pictures the story is not accurate, and the project isn’t at the script stage yet.

Update 2: Variety say that “Goyer pitched a more action-packed idea that involves Superman battling arch nemesis Lex Luthor and super villain Brainiac”. It seems the original report was correct after all.

Update 3: Now IGN are saying Jonah Nolan will be co-writing the script with Goyer, and that Christopher Nolan will executive-produce. Warner Bros. have basically got the Batman team to work on Superman, which is very exciting indeed. Batman 3 should begin to gear up after Chris Nolan has finished work on Inception .

[Original story below]

Following the announcement that Chris Nolan will be overseeing the production of the new Superman film at Warner Bros., there has been a lot of speculation about what direction the movie will take. Will it be darker, ala The Dark Knight, or will Nolan and Company guide the Man of Steel toward a brighter light?

While those questions can’t be answered just yet, we do have some news that might give us an idea of what to expect. David Goyer, the co-writer of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, has been brought on as the writer for the movie, and Latino Review‘s source confirms the long-rumored title: The Man of Steel.

The site claims that Goyer is just helping with the story for the upcoming Batman 3, so work on that script shouldn’t interfere with his writing for Superman. Even if this isn’t the case, I think the guy is talented enough to pull off multiple scripts at the same time. Just look at Kurtzman and Orci: those guys wrote Star Trek, Transformers 2, and were producing multiple films (and a TV show!) all at the same time.

According to their source, Brandon Routh and Bryan Singer are definitely out of the running as actor and director. While no director is signed on yet, word is that Lex Luthor and Brainiac are part of the story and the film will not cover the origin story. Could this finally be the Superman movie we’ve been waiting for? Things are certainly looking that way; this could be a great turnaround for the Man of Steel after the bitter taste left in the public’s mouth from Superman Returns.

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News has been dry on the Batman 3 front lately as director Christopher Nolan is busy working on Inception, which will be released in a few months time. However Deadline Hollywood may have got a scoop which suggests a script for The Dark Knight sequel may be in the works.

Recently David Goyer left his position as showrunner on TV show FlashForward, which he said was due to his movie projects ‘ramping up’. We already know one of them is Ghost Rider 2, and another may possibly be Batman 3:

…Goyer’s feature career is really heating up, since he co-wrote Batman Begins, and penned the story for The Dark Knight, and is now writing the third Batman instalment with Chris Nolan’s brother Jonah.

If true that would suggest Warner Bros. want to get a script ready so that Christopher Nolan can start work soon after he has finished on Inception. It is also likely Nolan will be working with Goyer and his brother on the script, just like he did with the previous Batman films.

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Collider recently got the chance to talk to Ghost Rider producer Mike De Luca and he gave a bunch on updates on the sequel, including that it may be called Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and if things work out it could begin filming sometime this year.

Here’s a summary of the main points of interest from the interview:

– Mark Steven Johnson is not directing the sequel

– Eva Mendes will not return as Roxanne Simpson

– Ghost Rider 2 (or Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance) will be a hard PG-13

– The film is going to take place in Europe

– De Luca is open to David Goyer directing the sequel but it all comes down to his very busy schedule

– Says the sequel will be like “pushing the reset button” on the franchise

– As you might expect from the success of Avatar, Ghost Rider 2 might be done in 3D

– Says Goyer has just delivered his updated outline to the studio

– And says Ghost Rider 2 could easily be in front of the cameras this year

Last year David Goyer said that the film would take place 8 years after the first film, and that “what Casino Royale was to the Bond movies, hopefully this will be to Ghost Rider”. While this sounds encouraging, I’m not that hopeful it will be that much of an improvement from the first film. I suppose the fact that Mark Steven Johnson won’t be returning to direct is a good thing.

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In September David Goyer was brought on-board to tone down his 9 year old R-rated Ghost Rider script and set it up as a sequel to 2007′s Ghost Rider cheesefest. He recently spoke to MTV and revealed some more details on Ghost Rider 2, saying it will be “what Casino Royale was to the Bond movies”.

“It’s not exactly a reboot,” said Goyer, who’s currently hard at work on his “FlashForward” television series. “I hate to say it’s more realistic, because he’s got a flaming skull for a head, but it’s a bit more stripped down and darker. It’s definitely changing tone. What ‘Casino Royale’ was to the Bond movies, hopefully this will be to ‘Ghost Rider.’ This story picks up eight years after the first film,” said Goyer. “You don’t have to have seen the first film. It doesn’t contradict anything that happened in the first film, but we’re pretending that our audience hasn’t seen the first film. It’s as if you took that same character where things ended in the first film and then picked it up eight years later—he’s just in a much darker, existential place.”

Nicolas Cage will be back as the man with the flaming skull, and filming will take place next year.

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X-Men Origins: Magneto has been in development hell ever since the writers strike in 2007/2008 and it’s been a frustrating two years. They were scouting for locations and budgeting before the WGA put down their pens, but then David Goyer started working on The Unborn (12% on Rotten Tomatoes) and then he moved onto the his TV show FlashForward.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox were waiting to see how X-Men Origins: Wolverine fared ($371 million worldwide), and have since been developing a Wolverine 2, Deadpool and X-Men: First Class. Magneto, however, looks like it will be in development hell for a while.

Collider recently asked Goyer for an update on the project, and he basically said what he’s been saying for the past few months: “I’m busy, Fox are thinking”.

I’ll pretend I didn’t see the part where he didn’t know how to pronounce Magneto (the same Magneto he’s apparently co-wrote a script for, and the same Magneto that’s been in 3 X-Men movies).

I don’t think I want David Goyer to direct Magneto. In the past I was up for it because I wanted to see the movie made and he worked on The Dark Knight, but that has really been the only great thing he’s done and it’s mainly down to Christopher Nolan. Goyer is busy with FlashForward and Ghost Rider 2 anyway. If only there were another director interested in it…

…oh wait, there is! V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin director James McTeigue. From FirstShowing:

To wrap things up, I asked James about the rumor that IMDb lists his name as a co-director (with David Goyer) on the still-in-development X-Men Origins: Magneto movie. As you might’ve expected, that is pretty much a completely BS rumor. “I think David Goyer would probably be surprised about that, actually. I think that’s just one of those rumors that kind of starts… Until he drops out!” McTeigue said he would love to do it, but it’s Goyer’s project, he wrote it, he’ll probably direct, and he won’t touch it since it’s entirely Goyer’s baby.

Imagine having a baby you can’t pronounce the name of! Fox I suggest you give McTeigue a call before Warner Bros. sign him up for the next Superman movie. You don’t want to make the same mistake twice do you!?

(If you do may I suggest Bryan Singer, you may have heard of him, or Alfonso Cuarón. He made Children of Men)

[Magneto and Sentinel image by Livio]

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Last month it was reported that David Goyer had been brought on-board to create the story and supervise writers for Ghost Rider 2. Collider recently caught up with Goyer and he spoke a little about what his involvement was.

“I wrote a script for that about 9 years ago. Sony decided and the producers that they wanted to make that as the sequel script. In this case I’m coming on as a producer, and we’re basically just doing a polish. There’s not as much work involved.”

His script was apparently written for an R rating so he will now be working to cut out the violent and sexy stuff to make it PG-13 material. David Goyer co-wrote The Dark Knight which was pretty violent for a PG-13, so it shouldn’t be watered down too much.

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