Will Superman Return?

Bryan Singer has finished his film "Valkyrie" and is working on a remake of "Logan's Run," but now according to the LA Times he may be taking a break from making movies.
Does this mean he won't be making the next Superman film, "Man of Steel?"

"At the moment, I haven't decided. I really don't know.," Singer told the LA Times. "I'm taking a genuine break. The last four years have been really busy with the miniseries, the TV and the movies.

"I'm taking a few months to collect myself and figure out what I'm going to do in that regard. We did a lot of development on [Logan's Run] and a lot of work. To start it up again, I wouldn't start it up again without a full commitment. So I have decisions to make. Right now, that's just hanging around."



Back in April, Singer was already talking about doing a follow-up film to "Superman Returns," the latest Superman film that dealt with a lot of harsh criticism.

That movie made $400 million!" Singer said to Empire Magazine. "I don’t know what constitutes under-performing these days...Look, I can understand, I suppose, what some people mean. Perhaps some people went in with the expectation of it being like an X-Men film, and Superman is a tougher character than that. Especially bringing him back. It really goes back to the fact that you can only please some of the people some of the time. But, yes, I’m just getting back with writers after the strike. We’re just in the development phase. I’m starting to develop a sequel...with the intention of directing it.

“The first one was a romantic film and a nostalgic film,” Singer said. “I’ll be the first person to own up to that without making any apologies for it. I knew it was going to be that from the outset. And now that the characters are established, there’s really an opportunity to up the threat levels...Clearly there’ll be a body count [laughs]. From frame one, it will be unrelenting terror! All those teenage girls who found the movie and mooned over James Marsden or Brandon? Well, I’m going to wake them up!”

Then in August, Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov said, "'Superman Returns' didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to. It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned. Had Superman worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. But now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all." [The Geek Files]

Robinov said no team movie of DC characters was going to come out and that Superman was going to have a reboot, with the possibility of the character going darker in tone (such as "The Dark Knight").



In October, Brandon Routh told IESB that he was still going to play Superman in the sequel.

Routh said that he was contracted by Warner Bros for the Superman sequel.
"I confer with them on my schedule because they have a contractual obligation to my time for a certain amount of time until that contract expires at which time I have to say 'hey I'm going to be unavailable during this time, do you want to exercise your right to use me in another Warner Bros film?' But, that's all the power they have over me right now."

He also confirmed reports that he had met Paul Levitz, president of Warner Bros comic-book division DC Comics, to talk about playing Superman in a sequel.
"We talked about what Warner Bros were thinking and what the situation was and obviously, thankfully, he is still wanting me to be a part of it and I certainly want to be a part of it.

"I don't have a time-frame. I haven't really heard the studio's stance, I've just heard what's in the media and that every time I see somebody from Warner Bros they tell me that they are working on it and are going to figure it out soon. But that's about the answer I get."

In December, UGO Movie Blog asked Singer if he was still going to be directing "Man of Steel."

"I wish I had an answer," Sinder said. "I love Superman and I cannot tell you anything else. I wish I could, but there's nothing I have to tell." Asked if he was officially involved in talk of the new film, he said, "I am not officially involved in the talk, no. I have relationships with Warner Brothers and with the character and it's just the way things work out." He added he was not totally 'divorced' from Superman at that point.



So where are we now? Warner Bros. is currently still trying to reboot the franchise. Will Bryan Singer be involved? Will Brando Routh return as Superman? Will Lex Luthor play the main villain or be secondary to a new threat to Metropolis?
We will have to wait to hear more news from WB while Marvel stays very open about what ti hopes to achieve with its "Avengers" series coming into play in the next couple of years. Warner Bros. is staying very quiet when it comes to any DC possible film though talks of "Green Lantern" and "The Flash" are running around the Internet. WB will have to step up since the current rights to Superman run out in 2013 (unless they wish to renew from DC).
More news to come! Catch ya' later!