The head of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson has revealed to MTV that, as of now, the company has no plans for Superman in the works. Here is an excerpt from the article:
"We actually don't have any current plans for Superman," said Nelson when asked if the new environment (and the recent legal decision regarding the character) made a "Superman" movie more or less likely in the near future.
We recently ranked Superman as one of the most important properties for WB to prioritize in their new, movie-friendly arrangement regarding DC, so it was interesting to hear that the company currently has no plans for the Man of Steel.
Nelson then reiterated her stance on the lack of action on the Superman front, while acknowledging the character's importance in the DC universe.
"We've obviously done a lot of great things behind the property in our history, and it's a key part of the family, but we don't have current plans behind Superman," she said.
You can check out the full story here:
http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/09/15/exclusive-we-dont-have-any-current-plans-for-superman-says-dc-entertainment-president/
This certainly doesn't bode well for the Man of Steel and all of us fans who have been eagerly awaiting the next big movie or property for Superman. So what do you guys think? Is a Superman movie off the cards or is development for it in such early stages that there just isn't anything to talk about?
Seeing how they don't apparently have anything in the cards and appear that they won't be able to make the 2011 timeline, it is looking possible that we could get a Superman "made for tv" movie based on Smallville with Tom Welling and Erica Durance. It would likely be cheaper for them to do a Smallville movie and have it flop (if it would) instead of having nothing at all and having to deal with the fallout of missing the timeframe they have to create a movie in. Just a thought anyways!
[Post By: Kevin]
Hmm... Well Diane Nelson is the "newbie" to the film side of DC comics properties, is she not? I would imagine that any plans that they DO have for a Superman film are so "early-stage" that there was no point in discussing them internally until some results get produced. Perhaps she wrongly assumed that because there was no current movement, that meant that there were no current plans?
ReplyDeleteIt's an especially odd statement, given that before this whole "DC Entertainment" thing came into being it was stated that a Superman reboot was in the works....
Honestly, this seems to me that perhaps the folks at DC Entertainment rushed this whole deal together to try and compete with the newly minted Disney/Marvel, and perhaps with that "rush job" they are a tad bit unorganized.
That's what it seems like to me, anyhow. I'd be curious to hear what Steve's perspective on all this is.
Yea we all know with the lastest in the court drama wb has to have a film within production(what ever form of production qualifies for the court) by some time in 2011. Or the siegels can sue them for more money, and then wb would lose the film rights to superman which we know they dont want to lose that bit of things. But since we are still 14 months from 2011 things could easily change within a few months. Plus they probably would want to wait to they get things all set ie writers/director picked before they announce anything. Then plus that big meeting they are due to be having in jan/feb we could get lucky there. Or some other point in 2010. There is still so much time something could happen. If not man it will be depressing if wb does lose the film rights.
ReplyDeleteALS...My thoughts on this were made known on July 31st. Here's what I said...
ReplyDeleteOkay. Let's just clear this up right now.
From WB -
"Contrary to current rumors, and although we have every intention of revitalizing the Superman franchise, we have no immediate plans to go into development on a new film. There will certainly be another in the future, however nothing has yet been established."
From an entertainment attorney who reviewed the court docs -
"...Warner needs to be in production and release a new film in not only theaters but on home viewing formats prior to the 2013 expiration of the rights in order to avoid major financial headaches."
- Steve "Archangel" Manning
July 31, 2009 10:54 AM
Thank you Bryan Singer.
ReplyDelete^ My thoughts exactly.
ReplyDelete- thecolorsblend
Could this possibly have anything to do with the "Metropolis" + Superman logo poster we've heard so many rumours about, that was supposed to have appeared in a convention (don't remember which one) just before Welling signed on for seasons 9 & 10?
ReplyDeleteNo...That was a hoax.
ReplyDeletewell yea it was probably a hoax like that other costume/outfit rumors that were floating around before the con. Though whos to say smallville couldnt have a tv movie to wrap it up. Others shows have done it, and smallville is still a money maker for wb so who knows. Though probably wont happen.
ReplyDeleteAs for superman yea looks like things are not going right now. But like i was saying and i seen others online say this. Their might not be any "Current" plans going now. But hollywood changes on a dime. So what she said friday could be untrue a few months from now. But will that happen we all just have to wait and see.
I guess the real hold up is all the current court drama with the siegels, and including paying for watchmen rights and settling the whole LOTR issue with the estate of tolken is a factor too. I do hope in the end wb/dc doesnt loose superman from the DCU that would be a sad thing to see happen.
I said it before i can see either half between wb/dc and what the families would have to be as successful as 100% superman has been for the past 70 years. So hopefully between now and 2013, everyone can reach some sort of mutal deal that pleases all parties. The families get more of the money from superman pie, while dc/wb gets to keep superman going where he is.
It just really sucks we are still in this whole waiting/developmental hell mess we have been in for 3 years now. Things would be so less troublesome if this whole court thing wasnt hanging over wb/dc's heads. But all we can do is cross our fingers and hope for good things to come from this in the end.
Oh, didn't know....
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line here is Superman Returns and Singer has become our Batman and Robin. WB allowed Singer to take the character so far from where the fans wished to see him and no matter how you spin it the movie did much worse than expectations. Had it done well, there would have been a squeal in the pipe and they would have avoided the legal nightmare that there is now.
ReplyDeleteThe fans want to see Superman, the one from the comics, the one that does the right thing no matter what, the one that you can count on to not use his x-ray vision or super hearing to spy on people, the want the big blue boy scout. The fans want a kick butt story that is compelling and not an homage to a 30 year old interpretation, with a contemporary villain to challenge him and some awesome actions scenes. They want a good looking cast that looks like the characters they are supposed to be playing. Not actors that resemble a high school drama cast putting on a play.
Give the fans those things and they will come!
Yeah, and STILL the apologist sheep call for a return of the "franchise that word of mouth killed", Singerman.
ReplyDeleteI suppose we can hope they get their way and get Smallville canned too so we can all forget about this Superman guy once and for all!
Well for smallville's case we all know it has about 2 yrs life in its course. Be that if ratings are down this year its up this season, or if ratings stay good and they are greenlit for a 10th season. The producers have made it clear they would love to make it to a tenth season.
ReplyDeleteAs for film superman, hopefully if they can resovlve all the court drama with the siegels and get in the right place with the shuster heirs. They can hopefully then make a deal that agrees with what all want out of the property of superman. So families get what they want, and wb/dc gets to continue using him in comics, cartoons, merch, and live action films.
From Supermanhomepage.com:
ReplyDeleteIn July a court ruling in the on-going legal battle between the Siegel family and the WB/DC had industry pundits (like MTV) claiming that we'd be seeing a Superman movie sooner than originally thought because U.S. District Court Judge Stephen G. Larson "pointedly ruled that if Warner Bros. does not start production on another Superman film by 2011, the Siegels will be able to sue to recover their damages".
However Warner Bros. Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Scott Rowe has revealed that the on-going legal battle is the very reason why the WB and DC Entertainment don't currently have any plans to make a new Superman movie.
"Superman is an important member of our family, but because of on-going litigation we cannot announce any concrete plans at this time," explained Rowe in an email. "That said, at some point in the future, you're likely to see a new Superman. So... have no fear."
Are Warner Bros. therefore headed for more legal action if no Superman movie plans are made by 2011? We'll just have to wait and see.
Thanks to AJ Bhowmik for the Scott Rowe email.
What a nightmare. This could drag on for yonks.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet Superman in direct to DVD animated movies and TV's Smallville continue unaffected.
There's still a part of me that thinks had this stoush involved Batman, it'd be settled by now.
I know it sucks their is all this legal crap which is a huge damper on wb/dc. Things probably would not be in this mess if the creators did have any heirs living today(nothing against them mind you and legally yea they should be allowed what is given by law). So then only issue would be when the character went into public domain in another 20-30 years.
ReplyDeleteThough hopefully things can get settled between all parties so superman can stay where he should be. Then once that is settled and wb/dc knows how much they have to pay the families to use the items they have, and how much of the profits also have to them. Then we can finally get a movie going. Hopefully when that time comes they can make all the right moves this time. Add what fans want to see, get a good script, and then market the hell out of it and make sure they dont make the same mistakes again.
It's extremely difficult to say what exactly is going to happen but I believe that if they can't make a full fledge Superman movie by the date given by the court then it's very likely Smallville will get a Superman movie (made for tv) to meet the requirements but only if Smallville doesn't completely bomb in ratings by the end of season ten.
ReplyDeleteSeeing how ratings for the CW are pretty poor across the board, I am beginning to worry about how Smallville will do this season. I think the season eight premiere did about 4.5 million.
[Kevin]
Yeah, but only a week or so ago Smallville was the top selling TV show on DVD.
ReplyDeleteThat show's following isn't best reflected in the TV ratings alone. I'mm always banging on about how many years running it's been in the top ten downloaded shows of the year.
The suits would be well aware of things like that.