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.

Now here’s something to get excited about! Warner Bros. has reportedly sealed the deal for Christopher Nolan to return to the director’s chair for his rabidly-anticipated sequel to The Dark Knight. As if that weren’t good news enough, the A-list director is going to take on a “godfather” role to the Superman film franchise, overseeing the development of a fresh vision of The Man of Steel.

Deadline.com brings the report, and they try to make clear that Nolan is not attached to write or direct the new Superman incarnation, which WILL NOT be a followup to Bryan Singer’s 2006 Superman Returns. The studio is trusting Nolan to guide the movie into a new direction, and just in the nick of time – legal battles have been ongoing regarding the rights to Superman and as of right now, they expire at Warner Bros. and return to the heirs of creators Siegel and Shuster in 2013. This means that the studio has to get moving if they plan to meet that deadline, and I can’t imagine a better show of support for this franchise than bringing Nolan on board.

Collider speculates that there might be some further negotiations made in order to secure sequel rights for the studio (let’s be real – why would they jump-start this franchise without plans to make more?), and suggest perhaps Nolan will bring a grittier approach to Metropolis. Personally, I think Nolan accepted this job because of the property’s colossal differences with his Batman franchise. I don’t think we’re going to see a dimly lit, dark adaptation of Superman – I think Nolan knows the clean world of Metropolis is different from anything he’s ever done and is looking forward to seeing if he can contribute to such a world instead of conforming everything to his already-established style.

As for Batman, Nolan is finishing up Inception for a July release while his brother (and frequent co-writer) Jonathan and colleague David Goyer are tackling the writing duties on the newest adventures of the Caped Crusader. Deadline emphasizes that Superman 3.0 is in the earliest stages of development, and with Batman 3 barely in the script phase – the writing team just “cracked” the idea for the story – we won’t be seeing either of these properties on the big screen for at least a couple of years. But it’s great to know that forward momentum is being made, as Nolan’s involvement bodes extremely well for both franchises.

For a guy who’s not actually attached to direct the next Superman movie (whatever that will be) Ninja Assassin director James McTeigue has been talking about it quite a lot recently. This is most likely because he’s been asked about it, as rumours were swirling around that Warner Bros. were eyeing him up to direct. In August he shared his vision on what he would do with the caped one if he came on-board to direct, and now he has told FirstShowing that some discussions have taken place.

I asked James if there was any truth to that rumor that he, or the Wachowskis, might be involved in another movie. His answer started out short and sweet: “Maybe some truth to… I’ve had some discussions, the Wachowskis to a lesser degree, but the Superman franchise is in a strange kind of place at the moment,” McTeigue revealed. “I think they’re still trying to work out the mechanics of how that can come together.”

“I think I would be interested in doing it if they let me do it the way I wanted to do it. I would say that, if you take the Richard Donner Supermans and the last Superman [from Bryan Singer], I think that Superman is probably ripe for a bit of a change up. I think society has changed around the core idea of what Superman was.”

“And I’m not saying you do the ubiquitous dark Superman, I’m not saying that… I’m just saying that I think there are some things that you could excise from the Superman mythology that people would get into it, if you took the world that he was in and changed that a bit, and maybe even project that into the future a bit. I think you don’t really have to play into the origin story anymore. I think there’s a whole bunch of things you could do to make that film more alive and exciting again.”

Last month head of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson, said that no work on a new Superman movie is currently taking place, although Ninja Assassin will be released next month and if that become a hit then Warner Bros. may want to have more discussions with Mr. McTeigue.

Two events occurred recently that could potentially kick start work on a new Superman movie. The first was a legal case which meant Warner Bros no longer held the rights to Superman’s origins (they were given back to Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and his heirs). The case also ruled that Warner Bros. have to put the Superman rights into use by 2011, otherwise they will lose them.

The second event was the formation of DC Entertainment which Warner Bros. created to focus solely on D.C superhero movies. However, despite all this head of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson, has said that no work on a new Superman movie is taking place.

From MTV:

“We actually don’t have any current plans for Superman,” said Nelson when asked if the new environment (and the recent legal decision regarding the character) made a “Superman” movie more or less likely in the near future… 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,” she said.

As I said, these events are recent, so it could take a while before they start thinking about a new movie (and before they realise the rights deadline is upon them). I think they may have left it a bit too late for a direct sequel, so perhaps a reboot is in order (Yes, another superhero reboot) or perhaps a ‘ten years later’ kind of sequel.

I still watch V for Vendetta every now and again to remind myself how good it is, and if Ninja Assassin ends up being as badass as it looks then James McTeigue will become one of my favourite directors. However, it seems he is already one of Warner Bros. as there has been talk recently that McTeigue could end up directing the next Superman movie. In a recent interview McTeigue would “neither confirm nor deny” his attachment which probably means there’s something going on, and now he’s told MTV what he would do if he took the reigns.

“I think if I was ever going to go near Superman, I would do a complete reboot—take it in a direction that you would absolutely not expect, actually,” McTeigue told MTV News. “So, that would be my thinking on it, if I was ever going to go near Superman.”

Elaborating on the direction he’d like to take Superman in a potential movie, McTeigue said recent events would seem to work in favor of a new take on the Man of Steel.

“I think it’s good that they just had a court case where, basically, if you make another Superman movie, you can’t touch Superman growing up—that’s part of the story that you can’t touch any more,” he said. “That wouldn’t be a bad thing. I think everybody’s a bit sick of seeing the origin story.”

While we can’t stress enough that McTeigue isn’t officially on board the potential big-screen reboot of the “Superman” movie franchise, it’s certainly interesting to know what one of the rumored top contenders would like to do with the character if he had the chance.

Warner Bros. have until 2011 to get a new Superman movie into production if they want to keep the rights, and I think it would be a good move to get James McTeigue on-board.

Warner Bros., DC Comics and Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel (and his heirs) have been in a legal war over the Superman rights and money for a while, and now Warner Bros. and DC Comics have won a favorable ruling according to Variety:

In a decision announced Wednesday, U.S. Judge District Court Judge Stephen G. Larson found that the license fees the studio paid to corporate sibling DC Comics didn’t represent “sweetheart” deals as they weren’t below fair market value. That means the heirs will be able seek profits only from DC Comics — which earned $13.6 million from Warner Bros. for the 2006 release of “Superman Returns” — rather than from Warner Bros. as well.

The judge, who conducted a 10-day bench trial, also noted that Warner Bros. chairman Alan Horn had testified that he hopes to make another “Superman” movie but added that the property wasn’t under development at the studio, that no script had been written and that the earliest another “Superman” pic could be released would be in 2012.

For whatever reason the Superman rights will revert back to the Siegel estate and that of co-creator Joe Shuster in 2013, so Warner Bros. only have until 2011 to start work on another Superman movie otherwise they will lose the rights. They’ve had since 2006 to decide what they want to do next and nothing has happened, so if they want cash in with another Superman movie they will need to decide what they want to do soon. Will it be a sequel or a reboot? Whichever route they decide go down we will find out over the next 18 months.

Nobody knows what’s going on with the Superman franchise. It’s unlikely Bryan Singer will be returning to direct the sequel. There has been talk of a reboot, as well as talk of a direct sequel to Superman Returns, however nothing has been announced. Warner Bros. have taken that long in deciding what the next move will be, that Brandon Routh’s contract to return as Superman has expired.

From Portuguese site Omelete (translated by /Film)

Here are the key quotes from Routh. Firstly, on the small matter of the contract:

The term of the contract expired. But if they call me again, I’ll go back to the character without thinking twice.

On Warners’ plans for the series:

I do not know anything. I’m sure that Warner Bros. is moving there, but everything is still uncertain. Actually, I do not know anything.

On why he thinks Superman Returns may have disappointed:

I think it is missing some beating.

I’ll assume ‘beating’ means action. I liked Brandon as Superman, and off the top of my head I can’t think of anyone else who could play him. If they do reboot/recast they will either have to get another unknown or go the opposite direction and hire a known actor.

The big event this weekend in the UK was the final of Britain’s Got Talent. The winners were a dance act called Diversity, however the reason I am posting this is because they managed to incorporate some well known superheroes and robots into their winning routine. At the beginning the group ‘transform’ to form a human Transformer, then for a few seconds we hear a remix of the X-Men: The Animated Series theme tune, and then half way through we get a visit from Superman. The choreographer obviously has a bit of a fanboy side to him. Watch below!

Diversity will perfom in front of The Queen in a few months time. Maybe they could throw some Iron Man, Spider-Man and Batman into the routine. I’m sure The Queen will like it.

Last year Mark Millar revealed his plans for a Lord of the Rings style 8 hour Superman trilogy that would ” start on Krypton, a thousand years ago and end with Superman alone on Planet Earth, the last being left on the planet, as the yellow sun turns red and starts to supernova, and he loses his powers.” It sounded epic, and Millar said that he had a big name director interested in taking it on, however he recently revealed to MTV that it probably won’t be happening.

“Warner’s talked to us and a few other writer/director teams, but things seem to be in stasis right now,” wrote Millar. “As far as I understand, nothing is happening with Superman at the moment and so the director and I are just working on another project. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, no biggie.”

But the “Wanted” writer is already looking on the bright side.

“‘Kick-Ass’ taught me that creating your own stuff can be at least as much fun and you don’t have to answer to anyone,” he concluded. “It’s the future, baby.”

Last month a page appeared on Legendary Pictures website called Superman Unleashed, with the synopsis “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.” It was swiftly removed and this hinted that Warner Bros are aiming to do a sequel to Superman Returns, however nothing has been confirmed yet.

We have heard some ideas about what Warner Bros may have planned for the Superman franchise, but nothing has been officially announced yet. We currently don’t know whether there will be a sequel to Superman Returns, or whether there will be a reboot. However, /film recently got directed to an interesting page on Legendary Pictures website:

/Film reader Alex L just sent me a link to a password protected page from the official Legendary Pictures website that lists “Superman Unleashed” as one of their upcoming films in development. The temporary plot synopsis included 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.”

So there you have it… Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros and DC are still working on a Superman Returns sequel, and not a complete reboot. The film will not be titled The Man of Steel, but instead Superman Unleashed.

One of my other sources claims that the title is just a working title and they are still hearing pitches from different writers.

It is interesting to note that since the page was discovered Legendary Pictures have removed the page from their website. Hmm…