10 Insane Movies That Were Almost Made
3. Superman: Flyby
The Movie: Way before the current DC film universe came to be, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Super 8 director J.J. Abrams wrote a script for a comic-book movie tentatively titled Superman: Flyby.
While it bore the framework of your typical Superman origin story, it was also needlessly convoluted and contained way too many unnecessary details. For example, Clark's glasses contained lead to help him manage his laser vision, and the Kents were no longer just a random family that adopted Kal-El - they had been chosen by Jor-El years prior.
Plus, Abrams was adamant that all Krypton scenes be spoken in Kryptonian, a brand-new language the production would've had to design. In addition, Kal wasn't sent to Earth to escape the destruction of his homeworld - he was sent to escape his evil uncle, Kata-Zor. There would also have been an epic fight between Supes and a bunch of huge robotic killing machines, and Lex Luthor would've been revealed as a Kryptonian agent. Because why not.
Why It Wasn't Made: Flyby actually came really close to being made, with directors Brett Ratner and McG each doing a lot of work on the project at different stages. It was even speculated that Anthony Hopkins would be playing Jor-El, and McG once stated that none other than Robert Downey Jr had been cast as Lex Luthor. Current Superman Henry Cavill was even in the running to play the Man Of Steel.
Sadly, the movie's budget became its downfall. Abrams' first draft was going to be too costly to produce, and while his second attempt toned things down a little, the fact that the movie was languishing in pre-production - all the while soaking up cash - eventually caused the studio to pull the plug.