Even with a colossal budget of $270 million, director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns still managed to turn a profit of $120 million and was considered by many a valiant attempt to recapture the myth and magic of Richard Donner's Superman.
But, comic book movie fans have a laundry list of complaints about the movie, from Superman's (Brandon Routh) use of his powers to become a peeping tom to his super-powered love child with Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), a character that never existed in the comic books.
For Warner Bros. (WB), the movie was likely a huge disappointment in light of the $220 million profit Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins earned the year before. Whether motivated soley by profit or with the intent of appeasing the fans, WB has decided to reboot the franchise by bringing in Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) to direct Superman: The Man of Steel.
In a recent interview with MTV Splash Page, "Green Lantern" co-writer Marc Guggenheim offered the following explanation as to why the film's Superman cameo was ultimately cut:
"Without trying very hard, you could probably find the leaked script on the internet. The Superman cameo is in the leaked script. It survived several drafts. Ultimately, it was cut for budgetary reasons. We took it out in one of our later drafts. After my interview with you, of course. The Clark Kent cameo is still near and dear to my heart. I really wanted it to be in the movie. You never know — it can still happen. If Tom Welling has a free hour or two, you never know."
OFFERING FANS A CHANCE TO APPEAR IN THE ‘BEACON’
EPISODE ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH
Viewers Can Upload Video Testimonials to CWTV.com
from Friday, December 10, through Monday, December 20,
for an Opportunity to Appear in the Episode
BURBANK, Calif. (December 10, 2010) — Do you believe in heroes? If so, The CW’s hit series “Smallville” (Fridays, 8:00–9:00 p.m. ET/PT) wants to hear from you. Fans of “Smallville,” from Warner Bros. Television, will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to appear in an upcoming episode of the 10th and final season via the “Smallville:” Believe in Heroes Challenge, a 10-day promotion running from Friday, December 10—Monday, December 20, on CWTV.com.
In the episode “Beacon,” to be broadcast on Friday, February 4, Clark (series star Tom Welling) is at an emotional crossroads, with Metropolis divided by a clash between supporters of the government’s Vigilante Registration Act and opposing rallies to generate support for indispensable heroes like The Blur.
Clark’s friends assure him that he is, indeed, making a difference in his crime-fighting role as The Blur, and to prove their point, they show him videos from the Internet in which ordinary citizens express what The Blur means to them, what it means to be a hero – and what it means to have heroes and believe in them. One of these videos could be yours!
And this is where “Smallville” fans come in!
Here’s how it works:
Beginning Friday, December 10, at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and continuing through Monday, December 20, at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, “Smallville” fans can submit their own video testimonial as one of these hopeful citizens by uploading videos to The CW’s official website at http://www.cwtv.com/smallville
In these videos, viewers – speaking in character as impassioned citizens of Metropolis and around the world, fighting for the rights of their heroes – can express what The Blur means to them and talk about why they believe in these super heroes.
“Smallville” producers and the CWTV.com team will review the submissions and select a number of the user-submitted videos for broadcast as the testimonials that Clark watches during the “Beacon” episode airing Friday, February 4 (8:00–9:00 p.m. ET/PT) on The CW.
In addition to selecting the winning videos to be used in the episode, the “Smallville” producers and CWTV.com team will also select a number of additional favorite videos that will be posted to CWTV.com following the broadcast.
For information on how to submit videos and for rules of the promotion, please click here: http://www.cwtv.com/smallville
Take a look inside the Supermuseum in Metropolis IL. The largest Superman collection in the UNIVERSE owned by Jim Hambrick.
Jim Hambrick runs the Superman Museum on the town square in Metropolis, Ill. A longtime Superman enthusiast and collector, Jim has one of the greatest Superman collections in the world. Among the items are virtually every Superman toy ever produced, props from the Christopher Reeve movies and one of the only George Reeves Superman costumes still in existence.
That's right everybody. If you thought/hoped Pete Ross aka Sam Jones III aka Hillbilly Heroin peddler would return in the final season, think again. Unless Sam can do some crazy scheduling around his possible 20 year prison sentence. He will be a no-show.
Sam Jones III, best known to "Smallville" fans as Pete Ross, today pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court to conspiracy to sell more than 10,000 oxycodone pills. His sentence will be handed down in June 2011, where he could find himself spending up to 20 years in jail.
Today, he pleaded guilty as a coconspirator in the drug ring, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
The feds arrested him after determining he was the "Hollywood connection" involved in the ring's illegal purchasing and distributing the drugs. Jones, 27, was busted at his Canoga Park, Calif., home last year for allegedly trying to sling the painkiller otherwise known as "hillbilly heroin."
Zack Snyder is just months away before he goes into production of the Chris Nolan produced The Man of Steel, A.K.A. Superman Begins or Superman Rises or was it Superman Returns Again? But before Zack and Chris came aboard Bryan Singer did have a sequel planned for his Superman Returns. So even though his final vision for his Superman Saga will never be seen we can tell you what a planned storyline was going to be. So what did Bryan and his writers have in mind for the sequel?
While the process for Man of Steel begins, some fans are still imagining Tom Welling in the title role of Superman. This fanmade teaser trailer for a project called Superman: Genesis features a few nicely masked shots of Welling in the costume.
Smallville is now off our screens until next year, but we have the first sneak peek at the show’s returning episode…
The first 2011 episode is entitled, ‘Collateral’, and in it, we’ll see some old faces again such as Lionel Luthor, Chloe Sullivan and Martha Kent.
But of course, most important is that this episode is the beginning of the last eleven episodes depicting Clark’s back-story before folks knew he was Superman.
And you may be interested to know that Warner Bros are asking fans if they’d like to take part in scenes for next year’s February 4th episode!
The show’s bosses are asking fans to make a video of themselves thanking “The Blur” for being a hero…
However, if you’d like to play the role of a Metropolis dweller, you’ll need to be quick; the deadline for submissions is December 20th, but you can find all the details you need at Warner Bros’ website.
Here’s the sneak peek at ‘Collateral’
Whoah! Clark with no powers!? Haven't seen that before!
(Haha! just a little sarcasm for those Smallville Haters out there.)
"Hey Clark! Didja miss me?!"
Oh yeah..A few more people will be returning in 2011!
Wow! Clark is poppin' the big question tomorrow! Looks like he chose their favorite phone booth to propose to her. What a romantic! Think she'll say yes?!