Both good news and bad news. Variety has just confirmed that “X-Men” series director Bryan Singer signed a deal Friday to develop and direct Warner Bros.’ Superman. The bad? He will not be doing X-Men 3. Here are highlights from the article, we’ll link to the full article if/when it becomes available…
-Singer, who helmed “The X-Men” comicbook adaptations for Fox, is expected to work with “X-2” scribes Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris to draft a tentpole that starts production late this year in Australia.
-A tug-of-war over Singer’s next project had been going on for weeks, with Fox’s third “X-Men” installment competing with Warner’s remake of “Logan’s Run” to land the helmer. It now looks likely that Singer will not do the third “X-Men,” even though he has an overall deal with Fox.
-Besides the recent exit of helmer McG from the “Superman” project, producers Neal Moritz and Gilbert Adler have apparently disappeared from the scene as well. The fate of Jon Peters also is up in the air.
-The studio apparently scrapped a J.J. Abrams script that WB once was high on.
-The studio tapped Australia as a reasonably priced shooting location, with a budget said to be around $200 million, and wanted to put the franchise in the hands of Adler and Moritz. But Moritz’s deal was never made and it’s uncertain whether Adler, who did have a deal, will remain involved.
-The WMA-repped Singer also is said to have a new take on the pic. Before his involvement, it was to revolve around Superman’s battle with Lex Luthor and a mysterious figure from Krypton who has come to hunt down the Man of Steel.
-“My interest in Superman dates back many, many years,” Singer said. “In fact, it was the Richard Donner classic film that was my day-to-day inspiration in shaping the X-Men universe for the screen. I feel that Superman has been late in his return and it is time for him to fly again.”
Source: Variety
