Bryan Singer to direct Man of Steel movie; X3 now in balance

[Bombtrack]

http://www.empireonline.co.uk/site/news/newsstory.asp?news_id=16017
For Bryan Singer, the director who brought the X-Men to the big screen with such success over the course of two movies (and, in doing so, paved the way for the resurgence of comic book properties such as Spider-Man, The Hulk, and even DC’s Batman Begins), has jumped ship and signed a deal to direct Warner Brothers’ long-gestating Superman movie, following hot on the heels of McG’s departure from the project last week.

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The move has sent shockwaves through the film (and comics) industry. It had long been presumed that Singer was a lock to direct X-Men 3 (which Marvel and Fox have pencilled in for a May 2006 release), and that he was first going to direct a remake of Logan’s Run in Vancouver later this year. Now it seems that that project is on hold, and while X3 will still go ahead, it is likely to do so without Singer at the helm.

Indeed, X3 may not be all that cut and dried. Many of the actors in the cast – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen to name but three – were signed for just one sequel, and deals to bring the original cast back may prove too expensive for Fox – especially when some cast members, namely Halle Berry, are apparently reluctant to commit for a third go.

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Hmmm, as long as this doesn't push the release of X3 back, or prevent it from being made, I'm not that unhappy. Singer really did alot of things that bugged me, even though overall he made 2 great movies. Probably the best 2 comic book movies ever in my opinion. But I also think X-Men is the greatest comic ever, so I'm biased.

I wonder if Joss Whedon will be a consideration for directing it. Has he ever directed a good movie? Also, James Cameron would be cool considering he was attatched to direct back in the mid-90's.

[vi5]

1. The 2 X Men movies were great adaptations I thought...

..Did he change stuff? Sure. It would be impossible not to. But more so than any other series, he captured the essence of the characters without relying too much on obvious CGI gimmics. I liked the Spiderman movies as well but Raimi relies too much on CGI if you ask me.

[Bombtrack]

7. I'm not too sure about that. I think Spiderman "captured the essence of

the characters" more than X-Men did, even though I liked the X-movies better. Again, because I'm an X-book fan though.

In the X-movies, both Jean and Storm came off as blank slates, when they were by far the 2 most important and complex female characters in the series. I also think that Patrick Stewart was just a horrible choice for Xavier, and hasn't done his character good at all. He really plays him with no depth whatsoever. Singer just picked him because they'd worked together on Star Trek and he was bald, that's all. Not to mention he has a frigging British accent that he doesn't hide.

And Rogue went from a sort of crazy-ish southern bombshell, who might have been the most powerful team member ever, to a mousey damsel in distress.

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. there's only been two great comic book movies

The original Batman and Superman II.

I love Richard Pryor. :)

[vi5]

3. I loathed the Batman movies...eve the original...

The whole rubber suit thing was just ridiculous. Batman was supposed to be just a really agile, sleek human. Instead they had him in this big lumbering suit that made him look like a robot.

I thought the newer one would correct it, but early pics I've seen show that they go back to the damned rubber looking suit.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. would you prefer the Adam West latex Batman?

[Ready4Change]

8. Yes.

Adam West Batman is to the Dark Knight what Austin Powers is to James Bond.

[mac56]

10. The suit was the star of the Batman movies.

Michael Keaton? Val Kilmer? George Clooney?

Your Honor, I rest my case.

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11. how did this become a batman thread?

[mac56]

9. Richard Pryor was in Superman III.

Carry on.

[DS1]

5. McG should be blacklisted anyway

Never allowed to touch a movie again.

[Zolok]

6. This is good news...

JJ Abrams script is scrapped, a decent director is attached and Jon "me like reading" Peter's producer prospects are dimming.

And anyway I get the impression that Bryan Singer did the X-Men as a warm up for Supes.
So it's a win win win situation for us Superman fans.

[Bombtrack]

19. What makes you think that?

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12. bump

[Cannikin]

13. I've got the hots for Singer.....

He's my favorite adopted-gay-jew.

[terrya]

14. Bryan Singer is one of your cuter directors.

I can see your attraction....

[tigerbeat]

15. i like the idea of whedon directing X3

he's quite good at ensembles. and he's writing the comic right now.

i've overall approved of singer's handling of x-men, and i'm glad they're handing it over to a talented director rather than cheeseballs like McG or Michael Bay. so this is definitely an improvement.

[Bombtrack]

17. He hasn't even been reported as in consideration

it's just an idea that some fans have.

[Kid_A]

16. "Superman Returns" and "Batman Begins" should be stylistic bookends.

They need to be polar opposites in their tone, but that needs to be what ties them together. Look at Jim Lee's work on both characters. He drew Batman for a year, and now he's doing Superman. His Batman was dark and moody, and his Superman is bright and sunny. He pretty much takes the basic tone of each character (Batman=dark, Superman=light) and applies that to everything in the series. The same thing should go for the new movies.

[Bombtrack]

18. ok