Nothing scientific here: what does your gut tell you about -

[Brainiac44]

Hello gang,

Obviously, Superman Returns will make lots of cash if strictly on the basis that it will be a novelty, then fans, ect...
However, what does your instinct tell you guys?  Are we going into a new Superman era that will be great (sequels et al)?  Or the movie will make movie alright but it's a quickie because WB knows people want to see some Superman?

Friend.

[nightwing]

Considering this movie's been in development hell for nearly 20 years, I don't think you can call it a "quickie."

I have some reservations about the film, but I'm also hopeful.  I find it's best to avoid knowing much about a movie in advance and just see it with a fresh perspective once it arrives, so that's my plan.

I predict even if it's just so-so it will do at least as well as the Fantastic Four movie...a boffo opening weekend box-office that in itself justifies a sequel.  But I should add that the last era of Superman sequels was hardly "great"...in fact the sequels to the Donner film were a mess and ultimately tarnished the original just by association.  History repeated with the Batman series...so I'm not so convinced we really want sequels.

If I have any real hopes at all, it's that the film will stay true to the spirit of Superman and bring in a new generation of fans.  Sparking, as a by-product, some quality reprints for me and decent toys for my kids.

[Super Monkey]

Considering this movie's been in development hell for nearly 20 years, I don't think you can call it a "quickie."

That is also why this movie will never make it's money back, the studio can only hope to make a killing here and overseas and on PPV and DVD. You can bet there will be loads of movie tie in with Happy Meal type stuff or Superman saving that creepy Burger King guy, and he gives him the new Super-burger and Superman eats it and gets a super-heart-attack, or something like that.

Also lots of toys, and endless merchandise. Since the studio and DC is own by the same company, they don't have to share the profits, so the studio can keep it all.

In other words, we are going to be seeing a whole lot of Superman next year leading up to and when the film is released.

[Super Monkey]

Trivia for Superman Returns

Trivia for
Superman Returns (2006)
When this project was originally in pre-production in the mid-1990s, Tim Burton was attached to direct, Nicolas Cage was attached as Superman, Jack Nicholson as Lex Luthor and Sandra Bullock as Lois Lane.


Bryan Singer was picked to direct after the studio was impressed with 'Christopher Nolan (I)' 's naturalized version of Batman in Batman Begins (2005) and thought that Singer could bring the same gritty real world feel to Superman.


Before Kate Bosworth was cast as Lois Lane, some other actresses being considered included Elisha Cuthbert, Claire Danes, and Keri Russell.


After Brett Ratner's departure, and with the success of Charlie's Angels (2000), McG was tipped to direct the film in 2001. He left the project in 2002 to do Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), and came back aboard the project in 2004, but left it again after disagreements over budget and filming location. Warner Bros. had wanted to move from New York City to Australia, but McG felt that "it was inappropriate to try to capture the heart of America on another continent."


While the project was under Brett Ratner's supervision, actors Josh Hartnett, Paul Walker, Matthew Bomer, Brendan Fraser, Ashton Kutcher, David Boreanaz, Ian Somerhalder, Henry Cavill and Jerry O'Connell were considered for the part of Superman. Brett Ratner left the project primarily because he and Warner Bros. executives could not agree on whom to cast as Superman.


Anthony Hopkins was set to play Jor-El of Krypton, but after Ratner left, Hopkins did the same.


Johnny Depp was considered for the roles of Lex Luthor and Jor-El.


Actors McG was screening before his departure include Jason Behr and Jared Padalecki for the role of Superman, Scarlett Johansson for Lois Lane, and Shia LaBeouf for Jimmy Olsen.


Warner Bros. bought the rights to Superman from producer Alexander Salkind in 1993. Since 1993, when Warner Brothers attempted to restart the franchise Superman, nearly $50 million had been spent trying to get the film going. This includes concept art and storyboards throughout the years, as well as having McG's version almost completely pre-visualized.


Kevin Smith's original script, to which Tim Burton was immediately attached, was based on D.C. Comics' 1993 series in which Superman was killed by a creature named Doomsday and then brought back to life more powerful than before. After a lengthy development process, Warner Bros. chose not to go with Smith's script and hired other writers, such as _Alias_ creator J.J. Abrams, to revive the series.


It took ten years and three vastly different directors to finally get the project off the ground.


Tim Burton's "Superman Lives" was far enough into pre-production at the time it was canceled that the studio had already designed a teaser poster to be displayed in theatres. It consisted of a stylized silver "S" shield set against a black background, with the phrase "Coming 1998" displayed across the bottom third of the poster. Finalized copies of the poster were printed up, but it's unclear how many were made before the movie was called off.


"Alias" (2001) creator and writer J.J. Abrams wrote a complete shooting draft of the script, which both Brett Ratner and McG were planning to shoot when they both left the project for both creative and budget reasons. Abrams' script has now been rejected by the studio, which is opting to go with X-Men (2000) writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty for a new screenplay.


Director Bryan Singer decided on using stock footage of Marlon Brando that was originally shot by Superman (1978) director Richard Donner for the Singer version. Brando and Christopher Reeve were once filmed interacting with one another to be used in Superman II (1980), but due to a lawsuit against the Salkinds for a percentage of the sequel, the scenes were deleted and re-shot using the mother instead.


Jude Law was Bryan Singer's only choice to play General Zod. After Law turned down the role several times, Singer eliminated the character from the script.


When Bryan Singer took over this project, he immediately brought over his production staff consisting of cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, composer/editor John Ottman, production designer Guy Dyas, and writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty from the upcoming X-Men 3 (2006), which is in pre-production, to meet Warner Bros. release date for the film in 2006.


Actors including Eric Christian Olsen, Topher Grace, and Shawn Ashmore were being considered for the role of Jimmy Olson before Sam Huntington was cast.


James Caviezel expressed great interest in the role of Superman, but director Bryan Singer refused to cast him because he felt that Caviezel was "too famous" after starring in The Passion of the Christ (2004).


The crew in Tamworth grew their own corn. It took twelve weeks for them to get the corn just right.


The Kent farm was originally built on a sound stage and was then disassembled, moved to Tamworth, Australia, and reconstructed and redressed.


The movie was filmed in Sydney, Australia at Fox Studios. The Kent family home was filmed in Tamworth, Australia.


Mischa Barton and Keira Knightley were considered for the role of Lois Lane.


Hugh Laurie was cast first in the role of Perry White. However, the popularity of his TV show "House, M.D." (2004) caused schedule conflicts. Frank Langella was then cast.


Eva Marie Saint (Martha Kent) made her theatrical debut in On the Waterfront (1954), coincidentally opposite the late Marlon Brando (Jor-El).

[Great Rao]

However, what does your instinct tell you guys?  Are we going into a new Superman era that will be great (sequels et al)?  Or the movie will make movie alright but it's a quickie because WB knows people want to see some Superman?

This movie will be BIG.  HUGE.  It will be good.  There will be sequels, and they too will be good.

Name one person on this planet who doesn't know who Superman is.

The Christopher Reeve Superman movies are world famous, and people love them - both because the first one was the greatest film of the 20th century, but more especially because of Christopher Reeve himself and the incredible strength of character he displayed and love he engendered after his tragic accident.  Everyone wants to see Superman.  Everyone wants to hope and to believe.  People want some good news for a change.

I've been following the development of Superman Returns in the "video blogs," and the more I see, from all the small details to the big overall picture to the brilliant casting (Jude Law as Zod?  Completely perfect.  Hopefully in the sequel.), the more impressed I am.  Bryan Singer is putting together an incredibly fantastic film, and it's obvious that he absolutely loves and understands all the source material.

Then, on top of all that, you'll have the gigantic WB Marketing Machine(TM) pushing a product that's actually a good product and you can't lose.

Also, with recent movies like Batman Begins and Spider Man 2 Hollywood has shown that they are perfectly capable of making excellent super-hero movies.

I'll be there 7th row center on opening day.

[Chris Mortimore]

I have a friend who didn't know the Superman movies were based on a comic. Does that count?  :lol:

I'm leaving judgements of Superman Returns until i've seen it. I don't know enough about it right now to give an impression but I have high hopes for some of the things I have heard.

I think it will at least be worth watching and I think it will do similarly to Fantastic Four unless it's incredible which would place it up there with Batman Begins.

We can only hope.

[Super Monkey]

Most people on Earth know who Superman is and his whole Sliver Age origin, of those billions of people, maybe 700,000 have actual read a Superman Comic, LOL.

[JulianPerez]

DISCLAIMER: I have no head for business, so take everything I say as educated guesses from an amateur.

Sure, it'll have a big opening weekend - a new SUPERMAN movie is not just another movie opening up, it's a pop culture event like LORD OF THE RINGS or STAR WARS.

But I predict it will ultimately make it into the top five movies of whatever year it comes out simply on word of mouth. GODZILLA, THE MUMMY RETURNS (which I liked in a goofy way) and ARMAGEDDON had big opening weekends, but their sales petered out soon after because of how empty and committee-written these movies really were. If a movie is good, it will do business long after the date it comes out, propelled by repeat business and people flocking to see the film as a result of recommendations.

Jude Law as General Zod, eh? Not my choice, but apparently there's a law somewhere that Jude Law has to be in every single movie after 2004, so if he HAS to be involved with Superman somehow, General Zod's as good a choice as any. Remember how great he looked made up as Giggolo Joe? Jude, with the right makeup man, works great as a physically perfect but unnervingly strange alien. (Incidentally, he'd be my choice for MIRACLEMAN.)