The Hamburger Who Directs to Make SUPERMAN
February 14th, 2002
We all know the story by now: Warner Bros. set out to make a new SUPERMAN. They hired BATMAN director Tim Burton to do it. Burton hired Nic Cage (who got a pay-or-play twenty million dollars). Kevin Smith wrote the first two drafts, which were horrible (Smith actually borrowed from the plot lines of WHO SHOT MR. BURNS?). Then Wesley Strick came in. Dan Gilroy and William Wisher followed.
The Cage/Burton SUPERMAN is dead, and it cost Warners enough money to produce four Woody Allen movies, two Hal Hartleys and one John Sayles.
In any event, now McG, the CHARLIES ANGELS director (who we lovingly call the hamburger who directs), is taking over. With a script by ALIAS creator J.J. Abrams.
McG and Abrams will start from scratch.
With Abrams on this and Jennifer Garner on DAREDEVIL, that show and its cast is going to corner the market on comic-book movies.
My feelings? I think McG is too much of a video-director to make SUPERMAN. I think comic-book movies work better as slightly hands-off, which is how Burton made the BATMAN films, and how Joel Schumacher did not. Comics -- especially one as knowingly hokey as SUPERMAN (no one recognizing him because hes wearing glasses!) -- cannot withstand that closeup, fast-cut assault of the average music-video movie.
Abrams show is a rocket-blast of a good time and he would seem more than capable to write the film, but...
...it might make more sense to have his staff write it.
Whatever the case, I think this has more of a chance to go ahead than Burtons version ever did. And itll be interesting to see who they cast as Supes and where these two whippersnappers will take the story.
-- Darwin Mayflower (darwinmayflower@yahoo.com)
(Source: Variety)
The Cage/Burton SUPERMAN is dead, and it cost Warners enough money to produce four Woody Allen movies, two Hal Hartleys and one John Sayles.
In any event, now McG, the CHARLIES ANGELS director (who we lovingly call the hamburger who directs), is taking over. With a script by ALIAS creator J.J. Abrams.
McG and Abrams will start from scratch.
With Abrams on this and Jennifer Garner on DAREDEVIL, that show and its cast is going to corner the market on comic-book movies.
My feelings? I think McG is too much of a video-director to make SUPERMAN. I think comic-book movies work better as slightly hands-off, which is how Burton made the BATMAN films, and how Joel Schumacher did not. Comics -- especially one as knowingly hokey as SUPERMAN (no one recognizing him because hes wearing glasses!) -- cannot withstand that closeup, fast-cut assault of the average music-video movie.
Abrams show is a rocket-blast of a good time and he would seem more than capable to write the film, but...
...it might make more sense to have his staff write it.
Whatever the case, I think this has more of a chance to go ahead than Burtons version ever did. And itll be interesting to see who they cast as Supes and where these two whippersnappers will take the story.
-- Darwin Mayflower (darwinmayflower@yahoo.com)
(Source: Variety)
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