As our Erik Davis reported over the weekend, Warner Bros and DC Comics are in the midst of rehashing their strategy, opting for the slow and steady route. But there's one franchise that has his "reinvention" movie, as it were: Superman. Word is, Warner Bros is utterly torn as to what to do with him.

Variety's Anne Thompson reports that the studio is really taking their time in deciding what to do, and how Bryan Singer will play into it. At this point, despite all the rumors and excited quotes from Singer, no one is working on a Superman script.

Surprisingly, they're with the majority of fans on this one, and feel that the movie didn't revive the character the way they wanted, or the way they know it can be done. (You really have changed things, Christopher Nolan.) Thompson was told that the studio is making the Man of Steel a top priority -- and if Singer is willing "to go in the right direction," they'll keep him, if not, he's off the property. One executive freely admitted that "it might be better to start from scratch."

Remember, Mark Millar and a "big name action director" who had connections at Warner Bros were readying themselves to make a Superman pitch. Millar claimed the world would know by December. Given that such sharks are circling, I won't be surprised if Warners does start from scratch. I'm as perplexed as anyone as to where Singer can go from Superman Returns. For a healthy franchise, they're going to have to reboot, and leave Returns in that misty category of a Donner long delayed sequel.

What do you think? Reboot or continue Singer's storyline?

Mark Millar is becoming a real Hollywood insider these days, a Frank Miller in training. He dropped quite an intriguing bombshell to Scotland's Daily Record -- claiming that there's a Superman movie revamp on the way. While some of his claims could be dismissed as wishful thinking by a man who merely wants to fulfill his Kryptonian dreams, he's certainly talking it out with someone. Says Millar, "I've been planning this my entire life. I've got my director and producer set up, and it'll be 2011. This is how far ahead you have to think. The Superman brand is toxic after that last movie lost 200 million, but in 2011 we're hoping to restart it. Sadly I can't say who the director is, but we may make it official by Christmas. But fingers crossed it could work out, that would be my lifetime's dream."

Now, this flies directly in the face of Bryan Singer confirming he was attached to the sequel. But there's been a peculiar lack of progress with it. He's obviously busy with Valkyrie, but when you look at how quickly the Iron Man and Spider-Man franchises are moving, well, someone's not moving faster than a speeding bullet anymore. Could Warner Bros really be open to rebooting the franchise? The parallels between Ang Lee's Hulk and Bryan Singer's Superman Returns are striking, and I can honestly see the studio choosing a similarly clean slate. But they would be ditching a pretty expensive investment in Returns, and creating quite a controversy in the process.
Far more people loved Superman Returns than Hulk, and Singer commands a lot of geek cred.

There was a report in the Hamilton College student newspaper about a recent visit paid to the school by Thomas Tull (a Hamilton alumnus), chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, the successful production company responsible for respectable hits like Batman Begins, deplorable indulgences like 10,000 BC, and middle-of-the-road successes like Superman Returns. The article surveys numerous issues from Tull's visit, most of which pertain to his professional history. Near the end, however, it's noted that Tull "hopes to invoke more of the image of 'an angry god'" with the next Superman film. Subtitled Man of Steel, it's a sequel that's been in the works for quite some time.

Wonders Slashfilm: "Maybe Man of Steel will have a Superman who begins to make irrational emotion-based decisions, throwing cars around out of anger, which will paint him as an Angry God in The Daily Planet?" Maybe, but that's a big deduction for what appears to be a throwaway statement. Whether or not Tull even has specific details about the content of the next Superman film isn't clear, but his emphasis on the character's strength, rather than his pathos, sounds like a response to criticisms of the last movie. Many audiences found it light on action and heavy on a lot of needless other things. Superman Returns was hardly a flop, grossing over $200 million in the U.S. alone, but it could have done much bigger business if it sacrificed some of the contemplative drama for a little more speed.

Rumors have been flying today that Bryan Singer is indeed working on the sequel to Superman Returns. Well, it is not just rumor -- Singer himself confirmed it to Empire. "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." He lashes out at claims that first film was a flop, pointing out that it made $400 million.

If you're thinking "It wasn't a flop financially, Singer, it was a flop because no one liked it," well, he addresses that too. He promises the next one will up the stakes. "The first one was a romantic film and a nostalgic film. 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. From frame one, it will be unrelenting terror! All those teenage girls who found the movie and mooned over James Marsden or Brandon [Routh]? Well, I'm going to wake them up!"

My problem is that I didn't find it nostalgic or romantic, I just found it rather dull. I stopped believing a man could fly, and wondered instead why James Marsden was always losing his girls to men of steel and adamantium. All the pieces were there for a fantastic reboot, a film that could reintroduce Superman to a new audience, but it simply fell flat. I do believe Singer has it in him -- and he does tend to be better with superhero sequels than his originals. So I will forgive and forget, and happily await the next installment.

Last week, a minuscule comment from Anne Thompson led to Latino Review bursting out with a scoop they claimed was true -- that Warner Bros. would not be inviting Brandon Routh back to star in the next solo Superman flick, currently titled The Man of Steel. In her article, Thompson claimed that Bryan Singer would most likely not direct the film since he was too busy working on other projects, and that the next time we see the Superman character he would be part of the much-hyped Justice League of America.

Cue AICN flying in to the rescue. According to the site, a "very high-ranking mole who is absolutely in a position to know what's happening with this film" said that whole Brandon Routh rumor was "absolutely false." That as of right now, Warner Bros. still wants Routh to return to the role, if and when another solo flick gets up and running. AICN tells us this is based on conversations as recent as a few weeks ago. One thing that's not mentioned, however, is whether Singer would return as director. Valkyrie is all but wrapped, and The Mayor of Castro Street shouldn't take that long to piece together. So if they plan to shoot this Superman film in, say, 2009 (for a summer 2010 release), then I don't see a problem with Singer making that schedule. Then again, perhaps the studio would rather someone else come in and take the reigns.

Me? I don't care ... so long as Routh wears less make-up and bulks up a little more. I want the manly man version of Supes this time, not the teenage girl version. You?

Can such a large project as the Superman sequel unravel in a single day? Certainly seems that way, doesn't it? First there was the Anne Thompson blog post which made the rounds earlier in the day (see our post on it here), in which she speculated -- and it seems a given that she wouldn't make such a speculation unless she had some info to back it up -- that Bryan Singer was likely to throw off the long-in-doubt sequel to the mediocre-performing Superman Returns in favor of concentrating on his other upcoming projects. I personally don't see the logic in this, since Valkyrie is already in the can and the Harvey Milk film will be a small thing that need not trample on a huge payday like the Supes sequel. However, Thompson also made a sideways reference to what may be the real issue -- Warner Bros.' increasingly obvious intention of using the upcoming Justice League of America as a way of rebooting said underperfoming Superman film by tossing Brandon Routh.

Now comes Latino Review, exploding a story that they claim to have been sitting on "for weeks and weeks" out of deference to sources at DC Comics. "Kelvin knew about Brandon not being the new Superman for weeks and weeks now, but made a promise to the DC people that he wouldn't break the story. Variety has now confirmed what we've secretly known for a while and Brandon Routh will be replaced in the stand-alone sequel by whomever is cast as Superman in the upcoming Justice League of America movie." Funny, since Variety doesn't say that at all -- this is clearly LR's attempt at a 'whoops, I thought it was safe to leak that info since Variety reported.' Anyway, if LR's source is legit the move on Warner and DC's part does make sense -- Routh didn't connect with audiences, for whatever reason, and in the age of instant reboots there are no second chances.

Call it another victim of the Superman curse. Wal-Mart has closed down its movie download service, which had only begun back in February. The retail giant had been slow to start selling movie downloads, finally offering Superman Returns in November 2006 -- part of a strange deal in which you had to first buy the actual DVD from a Wal-Mart store -- then completely opening up shop early last year in an obvious attempt to directly compete with iTunes, selling TV episodes for 4 cents less than Apple's store (it also sold older movie titles at a cheaper price). It had long been speculated that Wal-Mart was even behind iTunes' struggle to make deals with Hollywood studios; supposedly Wal-Mart was fearful that downloads would hurt its massive share of the DVD market and so pressured Hollywood to stay away from Apple or suffer the consequence: Wal-Mart would stop ordering so many of a studio's DVDs if it signed on to iTunes. Of course, it didn't appear that Wal-Mart was about to begin boycotting Disney movies, so that rumor/assumption/conspiracy was likely untrue, or at least a bad bluff.

Now, with Fox and Disney movies soon available for rental on iTunes and more studios likely to come soon, it is clear that Wal-Mart failed in its competitive bid for a share of the download market. The retailer also had problems competing with Netflix in the rental-by-mail service race a few years back, eventually folding into its competition. However, this time around the problem is less to do with Wal-Mart caving in or acknowledging defeat. The primary reason for the download shop's closing is that Hewlett-Packard was supplying the software for the online store and that company made the decision to terminate the service, citing disappointing performance as the cause. Wal-Mart could still continue with movie downloads through another software deal, though this giant pothole in business would hardly make the relocation an easy task.

He's faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and yet the folks in charge are moving slower than a snail when it comes to casting the Man of Steel in Justice League of America. Additionally, it may take years before we get another solo Supes flick after Superman Returns writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty were tossed aside while the studio sought out some new blood. Here are two updates on both fronts:

The other day we told you how someone wrote in to Dark Horizons claiming to have information on the casting of Superman in the Justice League movie. According to the scooper, Brit actor Rupert Evans had landed the part. Not so fast says IESB, who spent hours upon hours trying to get a hold of someone who represents Evans. Eventually they did, and were told the rumor is indeed false. Exact quote: "We don't know where that rumor started, there's no truth to the rumor at all." When asked if Evans had even auditioned, they replied, "No, not at all." Yay, another ridiculous rumor spreads like wildfire and then gets squashed -- how fun! No other casting tidbits to report at this time, sorry.

About that long-delayed follow-up to Superman Returns. I suggested a long time ago that this project was being delayed and delayed for a reason, and all you readers did was yell at me -- bow down to Bryan Singer -- and call me all sorts of devilish names. Well, look where we are now: the original writers were yanked off the film, and Warners is looking for some new writers to most likely reboot the franchise, a la The Incredible Hulk. I like to call these "movie do-overs." The first candidate to pop up was writer Mark Millar (Wanted), who went after this project with full force. Unfortunately, because he had done some work for Marvel (and is still under contract with them), he cannot cross over to work on a DC property. So there goes that. Will Warners seduce Kurtzman and Orci into taking on Superman? They'll probably try, but as it stands right now, we've got nada ... and I'd expect Singer to be off the project too. Back to the drawing board ... and how about this time we scratch Brandon Routh and bring in Channing Tatum. He'd make a much better Superman; whaddya think?

After collaborating with director Bryan Singer on X2 and Superman Returns, it looks like screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty will not be involved with the Super-sequel. According to Variety, Warner Bros. will soon be sifting through ideas from new screenwriters for the project. Despite earlier chatter that the next Superman movie would be sort of a "re-boot," the studio insists it will be a full-bore sequel with Brandon Routh returning for the title role.

Specifically why Harris and Dougherty left the project is anyone's guess -- but most likely the separation was instigated by the studio. (How often do writers "quit" from a property this huge?) No doubt they'll turn up with a few cool projects of their own. Together the guys also wrote Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, so maybe horror sequels are more their specialty. They're both directors in their own right: Harris helmed Imaginary Heroes, and Dougherty's first (a horror flick called Trick 'r Treat) is supposed to hit theaters ... eventually.

Once Singer and the studio have decided on who'll be penning the Superman sequel, you can be sure we'll let you know. Let's just hope Akiva Goldsman is swamped with work these days.

Apparently neither Christian Bale nor Brandon Routh are doing Warner Bros.' Justice League movie. Does that leave the studio desperate to find replacements? Not according to IESB, which always seems to have the best scoops before everyone else (to paraphrase The Joker: Where do they get these wonderful sources?). The movie site, which also broke the news that Stephen Sommers would direct G.I. Joe, claims Tom Welling is filling the cape of Superman in Justice League. This should be good news to a lot of Smallville fans -- as my comic-obsessed buddy says: "That's who they should have gotten in the first place [for Superman Returns]" -- but it hasn't been confirmed yet, so no celebrating just yet. Still, IESB seems more sure of this rumor than any the site has ever announced. They admit over there that they haven't gotten a reply from Welling's people and that the WB people have denied it, but they're still positive that it is true, because of the sources they've heard it from.

Supermanhomepage.com got an official response from Smallville producer Al Gough, who said this casting "hasn't happened, won't happen, he is under contract to Smallville through Season 8." But IESB has recognized this debunking and still isn't backing down. The site insists Welling has the role and even points out that Smallville may even revolve production around the movie's shoot. As for Bale's replacement, IESB claims to also know who's playing Batman but doesn't have a good enough amount of sources to reveal it. Meanwhile, CHUD has a sarcastic response to the whole thing. The site has a joke post up claiming that Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson (poor guy) have been cast in the movie, the former as Batman and the latter as Superman. The post also brings back the old floater that Jack Black would be Green Lantern. Of course, CHUD is obviously making fun of IESB and wonder if they could get a lot of hits by just making up casting rumors, such as Jamie Bamber as Superman and Gerard Butler as Aquaman. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if IESB's latest, including the tip that Justice League will only be partially motion capture (like every other fantasy movie these days), is true.

Here's a funny story, from Superman fansite, Bluetights.net. A police officer at the Capitol building in Washington recently spotted Mike Dougherty, scripter of Superman Returns and its in-limbo sequel, The Man of Steel, and decided to quiz him on the spot about what exactly is going on with that film. Dougherty claimed to be "shocked" that anyone would actually recognize him on the street, which I kind of understand, but he stood there and took his grilling. Obviously Dougherty wasn't going to tell a cop to buzz off, so he ended up actually spilling some details on the project. First, he seemingly disputes the recent buzz that The Man of Steel is being put on the back burner in favor of a 'Justice League with Superman' film. "He said that they were on track and the goal is still to have the movie out in the summer of 2009. He seemed a little hesitant about it but did his best to try and reassure that it will get done by then," the cop reported.

More specifically, he confirmed to the cop that there were, in fact, two villains for the film. One of those will, of course, be Lex Luthor, so this isn't really news. And I'm in the camp that really wonders if this project will come together at all. I mean, really, who is clamoring for it? The first film was such a lackluster affair that I can't imagine Warner Bros. would want to use the same team to deliver the same thing all over again. Even if there is a deliberate upping of the ante, hasn't the audience sort of given their verdict on this? Let's just move on to something else.

Last week, Ryan speculated that Bryan Singer might be tackling too much and not allowing himself time for a Superman sequel. Well, Superfans rejoice. Singer's gonna do it all. The acclaimed director recently met with Kevin Spacey in New York and confirmed that he is preparing to pitch "Part II" to Warner Brothers. Michael Dougherty is currently writing the screenplay. Dougherty co-wrote Superman Returns, as well as Singer's X2. Singer expects to start filming the sequel after he finishes Valkyrie and The Mayor of Castro Street. Valkyrie is the true-life story about a plot to assassinate Hitler, starring Tom Cruise. Castro Street will be a biopic of gay rights crusader Harvey Milk. So with all this going on, when can we expect more cape n' tights action? Singer is aiming for a 2009 release for the film, which is tentatively titled Superman: Man of Steel. Allow me to suggest an alternate: The Return of Superman Returns.

Spacey intends to shoot his Lex Luthor scenes in a six-week block, as he did for the original movie. He also just joined the cast of Telstar, currently filming in London, which tells the story of 1960s record mogul Joe Meek (played by Con O'Neill). Meek was the "gay, tone deaf songwriter-producer who produced hits including 'Have I the Right,' 'Just Like Eddie,' 'Johnny, Remember Me' and the instrumental 'Telstar.'" Spacey will play Meek's financier, Major Banks. Spacey has been taking on a lot of stage work lately as well-- he just finished work in Moon for the Misbegotten on Broadway, and he will appear in David Mamet's Speed the Plow in April. Spacey's theater love has led to persistent rumors that he will retire from film acting, but he insists that's not the case. "My priorities have changed," says Spacey. "Theater is the No. 1 thing in my life. But I love movies and will continue to make movies when I can." He adds, "In no way did I use the word retirement. Someone else pulled that out of thin air. It's false, there's not a lick of truth to it."

If you're one of the people who enjoyed Bryan Singer's version of the Man of Steel story and were anxiously awaiting his next trip to Metropolis for a sequel to Superman Returns, your wait may have gotten a bit longer. According to Rotten Tomatoes, producing partners Neil Meron and Craig Zadan are moving forward with Singer directing their pet project, a biopic of slain gay right activist Harvey Milk called The Mayor of Castro Street, as soon as Singer finishes with his current film -- the WWII story Valkyrie.

According to them, their film could be Singer's next project, no matter what may have been announced previously. So, what about a Superman sequel? "The next Superman, that's a ways off," claimed Meron, with Zadan adding. "Don't worry about it. Trust me." As for Singer, as we previously reported, he has maintained he would direct the sequel to Superman Returns, currently titled Superman: The Man Of Steel, and that it would be his next project after Valkyrie. But he has also been attached to a Logan's Run remake and has apparently also been attached to The Mayor of Castro Street for two years already.

So, with the director being so busy and apparently being pulled in several directions at once, the question has to be asked: is he going to try and do them all? If so, that's a tall order to be sure and something that would undoubtedly take a great deal of time and effort. Although, with Singer possibly off the Logan's Run remake, that does free up some time in his schedule. Maybe he feels he can now squeeze in the smaller Harvey Milk biopic between Valkyrie and a Superman sequel? Whatever he ends up doing, I just hope he remembers to find some time to sleep.

The trades (ie: Variety, Hollywood Reporter) and the online outlets often have this odd relationship; it's like they're friends, but not. Remember that girl who would hook up with you back in high school, but then make you promise not to tell anyone? "If anyone asks, you just help me with my math homework, okay?" Yeah, exactly. Each day, the two find a way to co-exist -- we report their movie news (casting, deals, etc...), while they secretly try to come up with ways to adapt to the online culture. But every once in awhile -- whenever a really big rumor hits -- they're forced to acknowledge it ... and the source. And that must make them cringe. "You mean I actually have to write the name Moviehole.net? You're joking, right? Geez, might as well pour spiders down my throat and call it a day instead." Case in point: Today, Variety decided to address the Superman turnaround rumor that spread like hot cakes yesterday.

For those that missed it, Moviehole reported on an inside scoop they received that claimed Warner Bros. was entertaining the idea of putting the Superman Returns sequel into turnaround in order to use the character in a Justice League movie. It was just a rumor, and every site that reported it said so. However, as Variety points out in their story, real news and rumors often get mixed up. So, here's their chance to be the hero; the folks at Variety have enough contacts, I'm sure they'll spit out seven different quotes from Warner Bros. execs saying the Superman sequel is on and scheduled to start filming next year. You'd think that, right? Well, they spent half a page telling us something we already know -- that Superman won't be leaving the Warner Bros. lot anytime soon. No sh*t, and here I thought we covered this yesterday.

The best part of this whole thing is that other online outlets (like Dark Horizons) are using this Variety story to debunk yesterday's rumors. Now, I've read the thing 20 times, and nowhere inside does the following line appear: "Warner Bros. executives have denied the rumors, claiming the Supes sequel is scheduled to head into production next year." But, ya know -- real news and rumors often get mixed up ...

Before he takes on a sequel to Superman Returns (currently titled Superman: The Man of Steel), Bryan Singer has decided to go back to his roots and helm a multi-character film that's similar to his 1995 hit The Usual Suspects. Teaming up once again with Suspects writer Chris McQuarrie, pic will be set during WWII and begins production this summer. Though he has an overall deal at Warner Bros. (where he's developing the Supes sequel, as well as a few other films), Singer and McQuarrie decided to put their faith in Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner's United Artists who will make this their second film since leaving Paramount. Currently, they're in production on the smells-like-Oscar project Lions for Lambs, which stars Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford (who is also directing).

But what does this mean for the Superman sequel? According to Variety, this new film "will delay Warner Bros.' hope of mounting a sequel to Superman Returns in the near future." Last we heard, the sequel was being planned for a 2009 release, most likely during the summer. Will Singer have enough time to produce both films, or will The Man of Steel find himself shoved off till 2010? Regardless, I'm happy to see Singer leave the comic book universe for a little while; The Usual Suspects is a fantastic film, and if he and McQuarrie can tap back into some of that, I welcome it with open arms. What do you folks think: Is Singer making a good choice here? Or should he be concentrating solely on a Superman Returns sequel?