Zack Snyder is directing “Superman.” Not Matt Reeves or Duncan Jones. Zack Snyder. And we’re going to have to start to get used to that. We’ve gone through shock, anger and denial, so acceptance can only be a matter of time, right? We mean, Warner Bros. and producer Christopher Nolan have had some time to pick the right guy, and some heavy hitters, from Robert Zemeckis to Darren Aronofsky, were in the mix. So, despite our dislike for Snyder’s body of work (and to be fair, we enjoyed “Dawn of the Dead” very much), he must have come in with a pitch that blew everyone away, a take on the film that’ll live up to Nolan’s Batman movies. Right?
Maybe not. Vulture is reporting that Snyder wasn’t Warner’s first choice for the gig — as previously reported, Ben Affleck turned it down, and possibly others. The issue, once again, is that the rights revert to the estates of the character’s creators in 2013, and a film has to be in production by next year or the studio could face more lawsuits so time was of the essence in terms of appointing a helmer. “Knowledgeable insiders” say that David Goyer’s script was “rushed” and “is still a bit of a mess,” and that Warner Bros. wanted someone who would get the film done on time, rather than an auteur, someone like Aronofsky (who was apparently pursuing the project), who would wait for the script to be right.
This isn’t exactly a huge validation of the pick of Snyder, and even he is said to have confided that the script needs work. To be fair, with Snyder finishing up “Sucker Punch” until the spring, the film likely won’t shoot before next summer, so there’s still time to get it right, but the short time frame and the Snyder/Goyer combo isn’t filling us with confidence.
And what of that script? Details are still thin on exactly what the Man of Steel will be up to, but Vulture suggest that the story, by Goyer and Jonathan Nolan, features the hero as “a journalist traveling the world trying to decide if he should, in fact, even become Superman;” a sort of “Eat, Pray, Leap Tall Buildings In A Single Bound,” if you will.
Vulture’s a great site, and very rarely not on the money, but some of this doesn’t quite add up. The rumor on Monday that General Zod would be the villain, for instance, doesn’t gel with the logline, nor the pick of Snyder for what sounds like a rather meditative take on the character — you don’t hire the director of “300” for “Superman Takes A Year Off After College To Work Out What He Really Wants To Do With His Life And Meets Some, Like, Really Amazing People On A Beach In Goa.”
Our best guess is that Goyer and Nolan have essentially recycled the structure of “Batman Begins” — a jet-setting first act, with our hero traveling the world to work out whether humanity is worth protecting — before returning to Metropolis for action-packed second and third acts. Drew McWeeny at HitFix hints at a possible immigration subtext (one that sounds a little reactionary, if we’re being honest, although with some of the political moments in “The Dark Knight,” that wouldn’t be a huge surprise), but it’s very unclear how much of a reality this might be. We’re still a few years away from seeing it on the big screen, and things may even change between now and the start of filming, but we’re sure more details will emerge sooner rather than later.
This gossip (or at least the plot oriented part of it) would seem to be debunked by MTV's quick, post-announcement chat with Snyder, who laughed at any whispers about Goyer's story or that alleged Man of Steel title: "Yeah, they don't know anything."
from here:
http://chud.com/articles/articles/25720/1/SUPERMAN-STORIES-ARE-FLYING-FASTER-THAN-A-SPEEDING-BULLET/Page1.html
I have absolutely no hope for this project.
I must admit i too enjoyed the "Dawn" remake, but snyder's body of work is at best laughable.
What the hell are they thinking calling this guy, i think we would be better off with Brett Ratner at this point…
…
Just Kidding!
Or am i?
Anon, READ The Chud piece. It takes the MTV piece out of context. Snyder's quotes have nothing to do with the Vulture article.
Why do you guys keep insisting that Jonah Nolan helped write the script? He had nothing to do with Superman…
"Superman Takes A Year Off After College To Work Out What He Really Wants To Do With His Life And Meets Some, Like, Really Amazing People On A Beach In Goa" — fucking genius, Oli.
That storyline that's being thrown around is from Mark Waid's Superman: Birthright, a semi-revisionist, alternaverse tale from a few years back. There is a some basis for that rumour.
Production on this movies probably won't start till next year. Plenty of time for a rewrite. And I doubt David Goyer's script is a mess. All his scripts are entertaining. They have some cringe worthy dialogue in them. His story and plotting are always on point for action movies. As long as he is not directing his own script everything will be fine.
This will be a brilliant movie. From what has been written on the net. I assume in a post 9/11 world Zod will be portrayed as a terrorist like figure kinda like the joker in Dark Knight. Except unlike the joker Zod will have a purpose with his terror, an Alien version of Bin Laden, Zod will of course want world domination and for everyone to kneel before Zod. Different from the Joker who was anarchist. Chaos for Chaos sakes.
Zod and his gang of Kryptonian terrorist will show up around the time when Clark is figuring out to be Superman. So then Clark shows up as Superman displaying the same abilities as these Alien terrorists. You’ll have a world that might be hesitant to trust him since he is just like these Alien terrorists. So the world will be split especially America with those who tolerate Superman and view him as the savior that he is. And others who lump him in with the other Kryptonians who wreak havoc throughout the world.
Superman will be like a Muslim or a Mexican living in America today. Which also could lead to a Lex Luthor in later films who is a rich industrialist, but he also could own a large media corp like Fox news and be like a Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck figure leading the charge against Superman and the other Kryptonians branding them all as terrorists and illegal immigrants.
WB was so desperate put out feelers to most directors that had been on the lot in the last year and any other name directors they could think of. 97% were wise enough not to bite.
You can guess the kind of names that turned this down and breathe a sigh of relief they didn't waste their time on this.
Well there's your answer to why so many directors were talked to about this…Nolan was trying to find anyone BUT Snyder who liked the concept and felt comfortable "rushing" into production next year.
Apparently, only Snyder (WB's safe choice) was up for it. That tells us either WB/Goyer/Nolan wield all the power creatively on this project and the director will always answer to them which turned off those other directors who consider themselves auteurs or the script was not a good enough bait to hook one of the other directors into hustling on a tight deadline.
Either way, this is not great news. Not completely terrible, but certainly not good.
Anon, love the 9/11 posit. Villain as a global terrorist. Would love to see something that chilling.
However, my guess is to make it less campy there is no trio, just Zod.