Wolf!
02-15-2002, 09:57 PM
The man who put the halo on the angels at the box office is the latest filmmaker signed on to help Warner Bros. revive another heavenly creature: Superman.
Studios reps confirmed Thursday that Charlie's Angels director McG is on board to re-imagine the Man of Steel for 21st century moviegoers.
Based on his box-office track record (i.e., turning Aaron Spelling's campy '70s series into a vital, high-octane $100 million hit), McG has been given total creative freedom to come up with his own spin on the Superman saga, Variety reports.
Joining McG (full name: Joseph McGinty) on the project will be Alias and Felicity creator J.J. Abrams, who will pen the screenplay.
The hirings means the long-delayed project is finally moving forward, and a new Superman could be flying into movie theaters within two years.
It has been 15 years since the last Superman flick, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Warner Bros. has been trying for years to resuscitate the lucrative DC Comic-based franchise only to succumb to Hollywood's own version of Kryptonite--otherwise known as "development hell."
The studio's first attempt at a rebirth came in 1996, when it hired Clerks director and comic book devotee Kevin Smith to reinvent Clark Kent and his muscle-bound alter ego under the title Superman Lives (it's not known whether Warners and McG will stick with that title).
Pretty soon, Batman helmer Tim Burton and actor Nicolas Cage joined the party and the film looked like a sure blockbuster. Kevin Spacey was lined up to play arch-enemy Braniac and Chris Rock was tapped to play Clark Kent chum Jimmy Olsen.
Then, faster than a locomotive, things began to unravel. Burton reportedly hated Smith's treatment and dumped him. More writers were hired to tweak the script. The budget went berzerk, soaring past $140 million.
That's when Warners pulled the plug. Burton and Cage, both of whom reportedly had pay-or-play deals (meaning they got paid regardless of whether the movie got made), eventually bolted from the project, leaving the studio with a bunch of different scripts and millions of dollars in development fees, but no new Superman.
Since then, Industry trade Variety has mentioned other directors keen on the project, including Oliver Stone and Ralph Zondag, the helmer of Disney's computer-animated flick Dinosaur, before McG ultimately landed the gig.
Now the studio just has to find an actor to don the cape once worn by Christopher Reeve.
The Superman project is part of a larger corporate stragegy at Warner Bros. to develop franchise films. Along with sequels for The Matrix and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the studio is developing two different Batman projects, a Catwoman movie and a Wonder Woman feature.
McG, meanwhile, will be plenty busy until the new Superflick is ready to roll. The onetime video director is currently prepping Columbia's Charlie's Angels 2: Halo, which will reunite Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu. That film is slated for a spring shoot and should hit theaters in June 2003.
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Studios reps confirmed Thursday that Charlie's Angels director McG is on board to re-imagine the Man of Steel for 21st century moviegoers.
Based on his box-office track record (i.e., turning Aaron Spelling's campy '70s series into a vital, high-octane $100 million hit), McG has been given total creative freedom to come up with his own spin on the Superman saga, Variety reports.
Joining McG (full name: Joseph McGinty) on the project will be Alias and Felicity creator J.J. Abrams, who will pen the screenplay.
The hirings means the long-delayed project is finally moving forward, and a new Superman could be flying into movie theaters within two years.
It has been 15 years since the last Superman flick, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Warner Bros. has been trying for years to resuscitate the lucrative DC Comic-based franchise only to succumb to Hollywood's own version of Kryptonite--otherwise known as "development hell."
The studio's first attempt at a rebirth came in 1996, when it hired Clerks director and comic book devotee Kevin Smith to reinvent Clark Kent and his muscle-bound alter ego under the title Superman Lives (it's not known whether Warners and McG will stick with that title).
Pretty soon, Batman helmer Tim Burton and actor Nicolas Cage joined the party and the film looked like a sure blockbuster. Kevin Spacey was lined up to play arch-enemy Braniac and Chris Rock was tapped to play Clark Kent chum Jimmy Olsen.
Then, faster than a locomotive, things began to unravel. Burton reportedly hated Smith's treatment and dumped him. More writers were hired to tweak the script. The budget went berzerk, soaring past $140 million.
That's when Warners pulled the plug. Burton and Cage, both of whom reportedly had pay-or-play deals (meaning they got paid regardless of whether the movie got made), eventually bolted from the project, leaving the studio with a bunch of different scripts and millions of dollars in development fees, but no new Superman.
Since then, Industry trade Variety has mentioned other directors keen on the project, including Oliver Stone and Ralph Zondag, the helmer of Disney's computer-animated flick Dinosaur, before McG ultimately landed the gig.
Now the studio just has to find an actor to don the cape once worn by Christopher Reeve.
The Superman project is part of a larger corporate stragegy at Warner Bros. to develop franchise films. Along with sequels for The Matrix and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the studio is developing two different Batman projects, a Catwoman movie and a Wonder Woman feature.
McG, meanwhile, will be plenty busy until the new Superflick is ready to roll. The onetime video director is currently prepping Columbia's Charlie's Angels 2: Halo, which will reunite Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu. That film is slated for a spring shoot and should hit theaters in June 2003.
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