Exactly one month ago today I wrote an article entitled the word on BATMAN 3: "nothing's happening", explaining how Warner Bros. had put the dark knight franchise on hold to give Christopher Nolan, busy directing his sci-fi epic Inception, the breathing room to decide if he wants to make a third movie in the franchise or not. I thought it be apt to use the same title for an an article updating us on the Superman film franchise which is in an even worse kind of limbo right now. This isn't much of an update in truth, just a reminder of the tricky situation that has left us without a Superman movie for over three years and currently no clear hint of when we might see another.
At least if we have to wait a long time for a Superman movie, it'll be worth it if they get it right this time. After comic book writer Mark Millar and Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn's pitch was turned down for a Superman trilogy retcon at WB, The Wachowski Brothers, who madeSpeed RacerandThe Matrix trilogyat the studioswooped in as favourites to produce a new reboot over the summer. Disinterested in returning to direct anything right now after their troublesome last movie, The Wachowski's were keen to nurture an adaptation from their pet project director James McTeigue (V For Vendetta, Ninja Assassin). Even though Warners highly preferred giving the helm to the Wachowski's, they were coming round to the idea of a McTeigue adaptation and just when things were starting to pull in the right direction, BAM, that lawsuit hit. As we reported on 14.08.09, a court ruling had been won in the favour of the Siegel estate (the co-creator of Superman) which blocked WB the use of the Krypton origins of Superman being used in any future film. This included the rights to Superman's parents, his descent to Earth from Krypton, etc. Basically the famous opening scene of Superman (1978), Warners wouldn't be able to repeat in any reboot or even make reference to it... Which in it's own way is a little bit of a blessing (as everyone knows the origins of Superman by now, surely?) but as WB didn't want to continue Bryan Singer's franchise, it left them scratching their heads over how to do a reboot without the rights to Superman's origins. Legally, WB don't own the rights to any of part of that Superman mythology. And worse, by 2013... the FULL Superman rights, both in print and film will revert back to the original creators estate. The Siegel's and Schuster's could then negotiate with Disney/Marvel, or a whole host of other companies and film studio's. Even though it's pretty much what we know already, Anne Thompson updates us on the situation...
The studio is still seeking the right direction. No writers are working on a Superman script. Were working on a strategy for DC, says one Warners exec. Superman is the trickiest one to figure out. In fact WB consumer products guru Diane Nelson, who liased with JK Rowling on the Harry Potter series, has been charged with putting the integrated DC/WB house in order.
So for now, nothing is indeed happening and until all the legalities over the rights issues are resolved (which could take a very, very long time), then we can only dream of the possibilities of a new Superman reboot. We're all in it for the long haul though aren't we? Supes will return on screen sometime, eventually, but your guess is as good as mine as to when that could be.
Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.
