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Superman Returns

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Superman Returns
File:Superman Returns High Rez.jpg
Superman Returns Teaser Poster
Directed byBryan Singer
Written byMichael Dougherty
Dan Harris
Produced byGil Alder
Jon Peters
Bryan Singer
StarringBrandon Routh
Kate Bosworth
Kevin Spacey
CinematographyNewton Thomas Sigel
Edited byJohn Ottman
Elliot Graham
Music byJohn Ottman
John Williams (themes)
Distributed byWarner Bros.
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$185,000,000

Superman Returns is a 2006 American Superhero film based on the fictional character and superhero Superman. The film is being directed by Bryan Singer and the role of Superman/Clark Kent will be portrayed by Brandon Routh. The roles of Lois Lane and Lex Luthor will be played by Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey, respectively. The screenplay has been written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. Filming initiated in February 2005 and the movie is expected to be released in the United States on June 30, 2006. The continuity established in Superman: The Movie and Superman II will serve as its back-story, or as Singer puts it, a 'vague history'. Bryan Singer has incorporated unused vocal footage of Marlon Brando's performance as Jor-El from material directed by Richard Donner for Superman: The Movie and the original version of Superman II. In addition, pieces and motifs of John Williams' classic film score for Superman: The Movie will be adapted by composer John Ottman and incorporated into the film's new score. The film received a PG-13 rating as expected for "some intense action violence."

Plot summary

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After an absence of several years, Kal-El returns to Earth after investigating the remains of his destroyed homeworld of Krypton to determine if he was indeed the sole survivor of the planet. After re-uniting with his widowed mother, Martha Kent, Superman returns to the Daily Planet as Clark Kent and is shocked to discover the woman he loves has moved on with her life. In their years apart, Lois Lane is now in a serious relationship with another man - Richard White - and has had a young child. His return challenges him to bridge the distance between himself and Lois while finding a place in a society that has learned to survive without him.

In the meantime his old nemesis recently released from prison, Lex Luthor, plots to render him powerless by the means of data crystals stolen from Superman's Fortress of Solitude, which itself is only one part of a wider and elaborate villainous plot. As he struggles to stop Luthor's plans to bring about cataclysmic destruction upon his beloved adopted world, Superman embarks on a journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space.

The film is to be a loose sequel to Superman: The Movie and Superman II, which is reflected through the use of subtle references, in-jokes, set design and particularly the use of footage featuring Marlon Brando as Jor-El. Template:Endspoiler

Cast

File:Brandon Routh as Superman Returns.jpg
Brandon Routh as Superman

Project history

For a more detailed look at this project's history, see Superman Lives.

The project has had a long and protracted history stretching back to the early-1990s. When Warner Bros. bought back the movie rights from siblings Ilya and Alexander Salkind, Jon Peters, producer of box-office smash Batman, attempted to spear-head the project in the hopes of making another blockbuster superhero franchise for Warner Bros.. The closest the project came to fruition was with a script by Kevin Smith to be directed by Batman director Tim Burton.

File:Superman returns 04.jpg
Superman in the Fortress of Solitude

Other names attached during the years (some through rumour only) included directors Oliver Stone, Brett Ratner, Michael Bay and Charlie's Angels' McG, and actors Sandra Bullock, Beyoncé Knowles, Johnny Depp, Anthony Hopkins, James Caviezel, Henry Cavill and Matthew Bomer. J.J. Abrams turned in a script that not only substantially revised the premises of the franchise (e.g. Luthor as a Kryptonian masquerading as a human CIA agent, Krypton not destroyed) but was also leaked onto the internet, receiving a generally hostile reaction by fans.

For a brief period in 2001 and 2002 a Superman and Batman film, Batman vs. Superman, was also put on the fast track to production with Wolfgang Petersen set to direct from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker. Petersen eventually left to direct the film Troy and Warner Studios decided to concentrate on separate movies for each character.

Production

Shooting of Superman Returns initiated in Australia, on locations which included a farm located outside of the regional city of Tamworth, and in Sydney. This movie has been rumored to be one of the most expensive films ever, with a budget of $250,000,000, but director Bryan Singer recently debunked the rumors claiming it is "a little lower than $200,000,000". During production, Singer released a series of 'video diaries' on the internet at BlueTights.net, giving almost unprecedented up-to-date insight into the behind-the-scenes work being done, on what would normally be a very secretive production. After 28 installments, however, the video diaries suddenly stopped shortly before the teaser trailer debuted.

On November 17 2005, Warner Bros. released the first teaser trailer. The full theatrical trailer debuted online on May 2, 2006. It will appear in theatres on May 5 2006 along with prints of Mission: Impossible 3.

Reactions

A website called changethesuit.com was formed as a means of protesting the Superman costume designed for the film and trying to persuade the filmmakers to reconsider the design. The negative reaction to the costume revolved around it being different in shape and coloring than the traditional costume. The protesters argued that the costume should be instead based on the interpretations of the post-John Byrne comics.

At the San Diego Comic-Con, Bryan Singer showed a five minute montage of clips from the film to over six-thousand viewers, who were so enthused by the footage, they gave it a standing ovation and had Singer show it again.

Christopher Reeve's widow Dana Reeve, in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2005, was shown the press release photo of Brandon Routh and gave her nod of approval to the actor and the suit. She later sent Routh two pendants emblazoned with the Superman "S" and the words "Go Forward" to show the actor that he had her blessing.

A new montage of footage was shown in March 2006 at the National Association of Theatre Owners ShoWest convention and was favorably received by the audience.

In a video segment at ShoWest ([1]), Richard Donner is featured giving his nod of approval to Routh as Superman, stating "He looks so much like Chris it's extraordinary. …I'm ready to see this guy take a flight, and I know Bryan [Singer] is going to make it happen."

In late April of 2006, a Coca Cola commerical aired in Australia, advertising for special premiere tickets, showed the first glimpe of Superman flying. The reaction was a little mixed, but the majority approved. A clip from the commerical with the scenes of Superman can be downloaded by clicking on the link: http://www.aintitcool.com/downloads/Superman_Returns_Coke.mov

Connections to Superman: The Movie and Superman II

Singer has said that this film will be using the first two films in the Superman film saga that began with 1978's Superman: The Movie as a vague history to the events of Superman Returns. As such, there are many references to the previous series. These include:

  • Director Bryan Singer says he plans to use the late Marlon Brando in the new film. Brando, who played Superman's father, Jor-El, in the 1978 Superman and died in 2004, will return in the same role. Singer says he found stock footage of Brando shot by director Richard Donner in 1977, which will provide Brando's voice. Special-effects crews will digitally re-create Brando's image, Singer says. [2]. It is Brando's voice that is featured in the teaser trailer for the film.
  • Ben Hubbard, the man who takes care of Martha Kent, was mentioned in Superman: The Movie and later in the comic books but is actually going to be seen in this film.
  • The score composed by John Ottman will feature themes created by John Williams for the original film. The teaser trailer relies on the cue "The Planet Krypton", featured in the 1978 film.
  • The Kryptonian pod in this film closely resembles the ship baby Kal-El was placed in for his journey to Earth in Superman: The Movie.
  • One of the Bluetights video diaries suggests an opening sequence that uses comic-book style images to relate the events of the 1978 film.
  • The opening credits of this film will use a similar three-dimensional, "zooming" text style to the one used in the first two films.
  • DC Comics will be releasing four comic books detailing what happened between the events of Superman's departure (Presumably after the ending of Superman II) and his return in Superman Returns.

Trivia

  • Warner Bros. announced plans for a sequel months before the release of the movie, with production beginning in late 2007-early 2008, for a Summer 2009 release. [citation needed]
  • Producers of Smallville were allowed to visit the set during production.
  • This will be the first Superman movie to be distributed domestically and globally by Warner Bros. Pictures.
  • This will be the first Superman movie to be released simultaneously in conventional movie theaters and IMAX theaters. It will also be the first Hollywood live-action film to be shown (in part) in IMAX 3D.
  • This will be the first Superman movie to receive a PG-13 rating.
  • Fan reactions have been greatly divided. Many eagerly anticipate the film as a return to form for Superman films, while others have already decided that the film will not be worth seeing. Most complaints have risen from the new costume design, the choice of Routh as the lead and most of all the decision to make the film a sequel of sorts to the first two of Christopher Reeve's Superman films.

Spin-offs

DC Comics will release four comics to tie in with the movie besides the official comics adaptation. They will be released throughout the month of June 2006. The four comics are each 40 pages and will serve to bridge the story of Superman II and Superman Returns. The four comics are Superman Returns: Krypton to Earth, Superman Returns: Ma Kent, Superman Returns: Lex Luthor and Superman Returns: Lois Lane.[3]

A Superman Returns video game will be released two days before the movie arrives in theaters.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Superman_Returns&oldid=51327609"