The latest Superman rumours: Zack Snyder wasn’t Warner Bros’ first choice, the suggested story for the film, and whether Brandon Routh will be back…
Yesterday, it was confirmed that the job of bringing Superman back to the screen once more has fallen to Zack Snyder. Snyder has a record of successful projects with Warner Bros (even Watchmen will make its money back), and once he's put the finishing touches to Sucker Punch for the studio, he's heading straight onto Superman.
And he'll need to as well. Warner Bros has a deadline to hit, with a need to get the new film in production in 2011 (due to be rights issues underpinning this). According to Vulture, though, the fact that Warner Bros is up against the clock may have been pivotal in offering Snyder the job.
Vulture reports that "We're told by knowledgeable insiders the reason Warner Bros. picked Snyder for Man of Steel is that the script by David Goyer was rushed, is still a bit of a mess, and that Warner Bros. needs someone who won't spend months or even years trying to get it just right." That's believed to be what tipped the project in favour of Snyder, over Darren Aronofsky, who has now entered discussions to direct Wolverine 2.
The site also notes, and its sources for information such as this are usually very good, that "Snyder was not really Warner's first choice to direct Superman, but that a director needed to be hired immediately."
Furthermore, Snyder is reported to have said that David Goyer and Jonathan Nolan's script for the film "needs work".
Elsewhere, the first hints of just what the new movie's story is have also appeared at Vulture. It reports that the film is one "in which Clark Kent is a journalist traveling the world trying to decide if he should, in fact, even become Superman". That ties into a Christopher Nolan-overseen style of superhero story, certainly, although inevitably this hasn't been confirmed.
It does seem that Brandon Routh is out of the running to appear in the new film, though. Talking to Variety, Zack Snyder has confirmed that it's unlikely that the actor will be asked to return to don the blue tights once more. A pity: whatever you think of Superman Returns, Routh can hardly be accused of putting much of a foot wrong in the film, and he's also expressed interest in returning to Superman too.
Ah, well. Let more casting speculation begin right now, then...