Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Simply put, this is the best piece of reporting so far on the entire SUPERMAN development process at Warner Bros. over the last decade. From where I sit, it sure looks like that story was deliberately fed to the reporter by Warner Bros. executives. I mean, there’s quotes from Alan Horn, Bob Brassell, Jon Peters, and more, and I think the point is to help calm the jangling nerves of stockholders who must have been dizzy after the events of the last few months in regards to the development of a major Warner Bros. superhero picture or franchise of some sort. BATMAN: YEAR ONE, SUPERMAN VS. BATMAN, SUPERMAN VS. LOBO, and various other configurations have all been rumored and developed and discussed and dismissed. Now, it looks like the JJ Abrams script that is meant to kickstart a new trilogy of SUPERMAN films is the winner in the sweepstakes to get something greenlit and in front of a camera. And many of you have been wondering why AICN hasn’t been in there, reporting everything every step of the way.
I’ve been bombarded with mail from readers insisting that we put up the stories about Brett Ratner directing the film or the rumors about Keanu Reeves or Billy Campbell playing the role, and I’m sorry... I’m tired of chasing the SUPERMAN story right now. There’s so much bullshit to sort through to get to the truth that it’s almost not worth the effort right now. There’s a lot of sites out there that are printing all the rumors, like Patrick Sauriol’s COMING ATTRACTIONS, and they’re doing a great job of providing a complete archive of everything that’s being said. I’ve been reading every bit of it, just like all of you, and I’ve been waiting to see how some of these things played out. When that NEW YORK TIMES story broke, it really did fill in the gaps for me and offer up a fairly unprecedented look at how the struggle to get this film made became a microcosm for the struggle to control Warner Bros. itself, a struggle that Lorenzo Di Bonaventura clearly lost to Alan Horn.
If everything works out, I should have some fairly big news on this film at the start of the week, something AICN can finally contribute to the discussion. Until then, check out that NYT story. There’s plenty there to chew on, including the startling realization that Jon Peters is one of the heroes of that piece, a supporter of the right script. Abrams is really getting into the joys of weaving an elaborate mythology right now as he works on the second season of his cult hit ALIAS, and from what I understand, he’s got some crazy variations on accepted SUPERMAN mythology planned for this proposed trilogy of his (Krypton doesn’t explode, for one thing, and Superman may not be the only Kryptonian here on Earth, for another). I’m curious to see what he’s got up his sleeve, since I think that Brett Ratner is only as good as the material he’s working from. If Abrams has nailed the script, then Ratner’s got the head start he’ll need to make a film that invigorates this important company asset, this venerable icon.
"Moriarty" out.
