What Might Have Been: Spoiling the Supe
Posted by George H. Sirois on 06.27.2006
From Tim Burton & Nicolas Cage to Bryan Singer & Brandon Routh...
The anticipation is building. The early reviews are coming in. The excitement level is getting higher and higher. You can almost feel the gust of wind as he flies past you. You can hear the familiar opening chords in your head and your heart reacts as if it were given a shot of adrenaline. And suddenly, you realize that every other comic book adaptation you have seen since 1998 has been a slow build to this moment, to June 28, 2006. To the triumphant return of the most iconic superhero in the world.
It's time to once again believe a man can fly. After nineteen long years, Superman has finally returned to the big screen.
But did it have to take this long? What was the hold-up? You would think that when Marvel Comics was busy counting up all its money when the X-Men and Spider-Man completed their long journeys to theaters, Warner Bros. would be going full-steam ahead on bringing a new version of The Man of Steel to the table. Well, this might shock those who aren't familiar with all the sordid details, but that's exactly what they had been doing all this time. In fact, they've been going full-steam ahead for almost TWENTY YEARS!
That's right. Ever since the catastrophe of 1987's Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, the possibility of a fifth adventure featuring the Last Son of Krypton had been floating around three different companies: Cannon Films, Alexander & Ilya Salkind, and Warner Bros. What we'll be discussing here is a look at some of the different incarnations that Superman took before the version that we are finally being given was born. I've done quite a bit of research around the net and found a lot about this subject on various sites, so what you'll see is more or less a greatest hits package of all the different stories and developmental turns this project has taken. But keep in mind that all of this you'll read is (allegedly) true, as weird as a lot of it may be. So let's take a trip back to 1987, where this whole odd saga starts up
When Cannon Films owned by cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus was given the greenlight to make a fourth Superman film, they were given a $40 million budget. Golan & Globus promptly spent that money on other projects (which bombed) and only gave Superman IV: The Quest for Peace $19 million. The effects budget was completely destroyed take a look at the movie sometime and you'll see just how terrible they looked and the overall film was handled so badly that Christopher Reeve made his anger very vocal and walked off the franchise after Superman IV bombed at the box office. The Salkinds got the rights back when Cannon Films went belly up shortly afterwards, and they initiated the Superboy television series for syndication. The show went on to become a small success and the Salkinds flirted with the idea of re-booting the Superman film franchise using Superboy as the prequel.
The problem with this idea was that Warner Bros. had learned from their previous mistake of letting one of their characters get out from underneath their bubble, so they quickly scooped up all non-comic rights from DC Comics and ordered the Salkinds to cancel the Superboy television show. After four successful seasons, the plug was pulled on what would eventually become the pre-cursor to WB's Smallville. Meanwhile, now that Superboy was out of the way, Warner Bros. was free to pursue a new version of the legendary comic icon on the small screen, the hit show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman starring Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain.
Lois & Clark was, of course, a success. It did its job to keep Superman in the public eye, and of course, DC was doing the same in the comic book world. In fact, in 1993, the same year that Lois & Clark debuted, DC dropped a bombshell when they ran the Doomsday storyline. Doomsday was a vicious creature that smashed its way to the Earth's surface and tore through the entire Justice League of America. The only man that could stop Doomsday was Superman, and the two of them began an epic battle that ended in Metropolis. And in issue #75, Superman and Doomsday each delivered one final blow that would result in both giants losing their lives.
Word spread like wildfire throughout the country: Superman is dead! Of course, he wouldn't stay dead since all four of his comics Superman, Action Comics, Superman: The Man of Steel, and The Adventures of Superman continued the storyline that would show us his funeral, an attempt to clone him, sightings of four different supermen throughout Metropolis, his eventual re-birth and finally the restoring of his powers in Superman issue #82. Sales sky-rocketed as copies of issue #75 wrapped in its black plastic bags were the hottest items at comic book shops. A novelization of the complete storyline by Roger Stern hit bookshelves the same year to widen the readership of this powerful saga.
Of course, Warner Bros. decided that the Death & Rebirth storyline would make for a great movie, and so they got the ball rolling to bring what would eventually be called Superman Reborn to the big screen. The first step was to decide on who would produce this film, and they quickly chose Jon Peters. Now, Peters has a reputation of being a narrow-minded, flash-and-smash, mean-spirited tyrant who can only look at what was a hit last week as what direction to take his projects. And all of those accusations are well-founded, but he's not an idiot. When he puts everything he has into the films he is working on, he creates something really special. All you have to do is look at 1989's Batman, and you'll see a breakthrough in film marketing. Remember that Batman logo that you saw all over the country with June 23 underneath it on the poster? That was Jon's idea, and that's the ironic thing about him. When he tried to copy from other people's ideas, those movies would disappear quickly. When he tried to do something innovative and groundbreaking, the result was a classic.
Warner Bros. knew this about Peters, and thought he would be the perfect choice to repeat his success with Batman by producing Superman Reborn. There was one major problem with this choice: Jon Peters didn't care for Superman at all. So he did everything that he could to change around the character to give it a more "90's feel." Never mind that Superman was created in 1938 and became truly timeless. The 90's were what mattered, and so Peters went about molding the Man of Steel in this radically different vision.
First Jonathan Lemkin was hired as the screenwriter, and Lemkin went on to write a script that dealt loosely with the Death of Superman storyline. Only in this case, Superman stayed dead, his soul passing into Lois Lane, who quickly gives birth to a brand-new Superman. This new hero grows up into a 21-year old in only three weeks and not only avenges his father, but also his mother since Lois dies halfway through the film. Despite the intense violence that takes place in this script, everyone who read it could see the campy and jokey tone throughout, and Warner Bros. passed on it since they felt this was too close to another project that was already in development, Batman Forever. To this day, Lemkin is proud of the camp that he loaded into his script, saying that if Joel Schumacher could put nipples on the Batsuit, then he could write Superman like this.
Next up to the plate was Gregory Poirier, who did more of a faithful interpretation of the Death & Rebirth storyline, with Brainiac taking the place of both the Eradicator and the Cyborg. The main element that was different from the comics was the angst that Superman was feeling because of the constant pressure from keeping his secret identity of Clark Kent. Warner Bros. was on the fence about this script, and nothing moved forward on it from 1995 1996, especially since Christopher Reeve's paralyzing accident in 1995 had the studio looking for a new Superman. (They more than likely were looking elsewhere anyway since Christopher Reeve never showed any desire to come back to the franchise after the botched job that was The Quest for Peace.)
During 1996 1997, Kevin Smith came into the picture. The script for Chasing Amy had made its way through the studios and Warner Bros. was interested in bringing him in for some re-write work. He was told of three different projects that were in development: an adaptation of an episode of The Outer Limits called "The Architects of Fear," a sequel to Beetlejuice called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, and Superman Reborn. Kevin read the Superman script and hated it, and he was very vocal with his hatred, saying that Superman was never about angst; that was Batman's role.
Kevin was given the go-ahead to re-write the Superman script, but only if he was approved by Peters. And Kevin found out what he was in for when he asked Peters who he would see playing Superman. Jon's answer: Sean Penn. "Look at him in Dead Man Walking. He's got the eyes of a violent caged animal, a f***ing killer!" Kevin's response, according to the story he told in his DVD, An Evening with Kevin Smith: "Dude, it it's Superman." Kevin was then told the three stipulations for writing this script that are now legendary in this saga:
1. Superman is not to be in the red and blue suit.
2. Superman is not to fly.
3. Superman must fight a giant spider in the third act.
Despite these bizarre limitations (and other instructions Peters had that Kevin reveals in his DVD), Kevin came up with a script that seemed to satisfy everyone involved. Warner Bros. used this draft to not only sign a director but an actor to play Superman. And who are these two, you ask? Batman's director Tim Burton and Raising Arizona's actor Nicolas Cage. An interesting combination, to say the least, but since they both signed pay-or-play deals, they were a pair that would stick around for quite a while.
As soon as Burton signed on, he told Warners he wanted to take the script in a different direction, so Kevin Smith was relieved of duty in favor of Wesley Strick the screenwriter of 1991's Cape Fear and Batman Returns. The new draft had Brainiac melding with Lex Luthor to become one being, "Luthiac." Warners gave the movie a blinking greenlight and Burton started scouting for locations in Pittsburgh. They even commissioned a teaser poster to announce the return of Superman to the big screen.
Not only was Superman making the big comeback, but he was doing it as a brand-new 1990's-style Tim Burton re-creation. Would it be the Superman that we all know and love? You tell me.
Fans weren't too happy, but Warner Bros. wasn't showing any concern over it. They were confident that Tim Burton's vision would win them over just like it did back in 1989. However, that confidence waned quickly when Warners Co-CEO Terry Semel got cold feet and put the whole project on hold. Wesley Strick left the project, as did composer Danny Elfman. And as time passed, more tension mounted between Burton and Cage. Burton wanted the same angst-ridden, revisionist 90's Superman that Peters demanded (never mind that the 90's were about to end), and Cage a comic book fanatic if there ever was one (he named his kid Kal-El, for Christ's sake) promised fans that he was going to give them a Superman that would stay faithful to the character they all knew for so long. He even went so far as to demand a costume and make-up screen test wearing the classic red and blue suit, but that did nothing to persuade Burton, who openly laughed when he watched the test. (The black wig he wore definitely didn't help.)
At this point, rumors were flooding the internet about what would be in this new version of Superman. One of my favorite rumors was all over the Corona Coming Attractions website, telling of a possible character called Roger Unicron. This Unicron was to be a CGI character voiced by James Earl Jones, and he would be responsible for the destruction of Krypton. Weeks after this rumor was planted, webmaster Patrick Sauriol felt the need to remind people that Unicron was a character in TransFormers: The Movie, and told them that any rumors of Unicron's involvement with Superman were completely false. Considering that Superman's a DC Comics character and Unicron was last seen in the TransFormers comic published by Marvel, this was as empty a rumor as there ever was.
Meanwhile, in the real world, screenwriter Dan Gilroy was next to try out the Superman script. Like all other drafts, the Death & Rebirth storyline was used with elements from the preceding films and a few original twists and turns along the way. Instead of Brainiac and Luthor becoming Luthiac, they become "Lexiac." Superman is revived because of a crystal that calls itself K, which is later revealed to be the embodiment of his parents, Jor-El and Lara. And the movie ends with Superman and Lois Lane living happily ever after with Lois pregnant!!! With Superman's baby!!!
At this time, word started coming out that Warner Bros. wasn't happy at all with this draft. The original release date of Summer 1998 was pushed back to Summer 1999, and Burton and Cage still had yet to resolve their differences. The fans that found out about all of this remained unconvinced of Cage playing Superman and Burton & Peters changing around the character so drastically. Ain't It Cool News joined up with a lot of other web sites openly criticizing the project. The feeling about Superman was so uncertain that even an aspiring screenwriter like Alex Ford was able to get a meeting with Warner Bros. about his unique take on the character and the film.
Ford completed his draft just as Superman was put on hold once again by Warner Bros. The WB President of Production at the time, Lorenzo di Bonaventura bought Ford's script, which was to be the first of a seven-part franchise. This first film would have dealt only with Clark Kent first becoming Superman and dealing with both Lex Luthor and a character he brings in called Metallo. Throughout the rest of the franchise, Luthor was to be more of a shadowy character, bringing in other villains from Superman's Rogue's Gallery including Doomsday for the sixth film and even Darkseid for the seventh and final installment.
Things seemed to be on a completely different track, but one that seemed to satisfy fans much more than the previous scripts. Unfortunately, since the script dealt a lot with various comic characters that Jon Peters knew nothing about, he dismissed both the script and Ford. At this time, millions of developmental dollars had been tossed away on a project that seemed to be spinning its wheels so badly, there was barely any rubber left on its tires. Peters even pulled back on his insistence of a giant spider, having satisfied that craving in another film he produced for Warners, Wild Wild West. That movie bombed.
Tim Burton finally had enough of this and left the project for good. He blamed studio interference and denied any disagreements with Nicolas Cage. He still believed that, if they were left alone to make the movie, they could have had something interesting. "I made the movie; we just forgot to shoot it." Of course, the question remains, which of these versions of the film did he make?
For the next two years, Warners tried out drafts by William Wisher, Jr. and Paul Attanasio, but neither prompted any reason to pull the film out of development hell. By mid-2001, Nicolas Cage followed Tim Burton out the nearest exit.
Between 2001 and 2002, word started spreading of a possible team-up film called Superman Vs. Batman. Charlie's Angels director McG was signed so his style could reach out to the critical MTV-age crowd, and Alias / Felicity writer J.J. Abrams was brought on to write the screenplay. Abrams went on record saying that this should be a stand-alone project for Superman since both he and Batman were comic icons that deserved their own films. WB went ahead and put both the Superman stand-alone and the Superman Vs. Batman projects into development, allowing Abrams to come up with a whole new version of Superman. Wolfgang Petersen attached himself to the Superman Vs. Batman film.
What Abrams came up with became infamous as soon as word hit the Internet. His first part of a trilogy took a huge left turn away from the canon that everyone knew so well, with the Planet Krypton NOT BLOWING UP! That's right, Abrams kept Krypton and had Superman interacting with both his home planet and Earth. This draft even had Lex Luthor revealing himself to be Kryptonian!
Warners loved the draft and put it into development. Rumors started about who would be selected to play Superman. Names like Josh Hartnett, Tom Welling from Smallville, and even Ashton Kutcher were being thrown around, while names like Kate Hudson, Liv Tyler and Beyonce were mentioned for a possible Lois Lane. It looked like Warners was finally going to get somewhere with a brand-new Superman franchise to capitalize on the newfound comic book film popularity thanks to Marvel but then McG left the project in 2002 to film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. McG went on record after leaving that he wanted to shoot the movie in New York City and Warners was insistent on shooting in Sydney, a much cheaper location. (It didn't help that McG hates flying.)
Once again in need of a director, WB found one in Brett Ratner. He quickly announced that he was going to use Anthony Hopkins as Jor-El, automatically giving the film some star stature to calm Warner Bros. down. Things started to move once again at a steady pace, until a draft of Abrams' script found its way to Ain't It Cool News.
Drew "Moriarty" McWeeny published a savage script review, using "You will believe a film can suck!" as his tagline. Even though he admitted to some elements handled correctly, he still gave it a negative review. Later on that year, site owner Harry Knowles interviewed Abrams, who told him that the draft Moriarty reviewed was a "work in progress." Harry read a more recent version and gave it a more positive review than Moriarty, allowing the tension about Superman to calm down at least a little bit.
2003 came and went without any word of progress on this Superman project. Producer Jon Peters became uncharacteristically quiet. Whether or not he's still involved with the project at all is anyone's guess. But in the higher levels of WB, Lorenzo di Bonaventura was ousted and replaced by Alan Horn, who was insistent on a Superman movie going into production to latch onto the success of X-Men 1 & 2, and Spider-Man.
In fact, Horn was looking very closely at the X-Men franchise, close enough to start a dialogue with director Bryan Singer. Singer was very interested, but he didn't want to work with anything that had been already written. He had his own idea, one that would incorporate elements of Superman I & II, but would also be the first in a whole new trilogy. Horn went nuts over this idea and quickly greenlit the project, hiring Singer away from 20th Century Fox and firing both J.J. Abrams and Brett Ratner. The supposed Superman Vs. Batman project was also scrapped, allowing Wolfgang Petersen to move onto another project.
J.J. Abrams went on to write and direct Mission: Impossible: III. Brett Ratner went on to take Bryan Singer's place in the director's chair for X-Men: The Last Stand. Wolfgang Petersen directed Poseidon. (Sorry, man.)
So when all is said and done on Superman, almost twenty years and millions of dollars had already been blown by the time Bryan Singer came aboard at the end of 2004. And with all of that time and money spent, and all of these screenwriters and all of these drafts, how many ideas survived to take place in front of the cameras?
Zero.
In the end, Singer came aboard and quickly brought Superman back to life by making this an un-official sequel to Superman II. He cast an unknown named Brandon Routh to play the part (just as the now-late Christopher Reeve was, and both men started in soap operas). He brought in archived footage of Marlon Brando as Jor-El. His music composer John Ottman made sure to incorporate the famous John Williams themes. Everything about this film, now called Superman Returns, shows that not only is Singer respecting what came before, but he made sure to hold onto the elements that made Superman both the franchise and the character so special.
Whether or not Singer accomplished this mission, we'll all find out together. In the meantime, just sit back and wonder what we could have gotten instead. Just take your pick from all the different writers and directors.
Jonathan Lemkin. Gregory Poirier. Kevin Smith. Wesley Strick. Dan Gilroy. Alex Ford. William Wisher, Jr. Paul Attanasio. J.J. Abrams.
Tim Burton. McG. Brett Ratner.
And of course, Jon Peters at the heart of it all.
Considering how many cooks were involved, it's a miracle that none of them spoiled the Supe.
