Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

I got a number of letters about this today, so I thought it was worth a mention.

I'm still trying to figure out how this "proves wrong" anyone who wasn't thrilled by SUPERMAN RETURNS. If this sequel actually comes together, I hope that the issues that many people rightfully had with the movie are addressed and we see something that finally delivers on the promise of The Man Of Steel on the bigscreen. I just recently read Tom DeHaven's brilliant IT'S SUPERMAN!, a novel that successfully reinvented the character in a way that Singer's film just plain didn't. I like Singer, and I even think Routh was the right guy for the job, but I still think the entire thing was the wrong take on the icon.

I would imagine that Professional Studio Flunkies IESB got this one right. They basically exist to publish whatever the studios tell them to at this point, so if they're saying it's "official," then no doubt it is. At any rate, check this out:

Hey Harry,

I'm sure you know this but just in case. The following was taken from Dark Horizons with a confirmed report by IESB. I guess pretty much every naysayer who didn't like the film were proved wrong. The sequel is coming, Singer is back, and it's going to start production in a year. SR wasn't a perfect film, but it stayed true to the character and was a great start. Can't wait for the more action packed flick!

Warner Bros. has kept "Superman Returns" playing long enough that this past weekend it finally cracked the $200 million mark domestically and so the studio will move forward with a sequel.

The IESB has learned that Bryan Singer has finalized a deal to move forward with the sequel this past weekend and the studio is planning to start production sometime as early as next September with much of the same team behind "Returns". This would indicate shooting would probably begin early 2008 for a Summer 2009 release.

In a very smart move as well, the two big criticisms thrown against the film are being directly addressed - the budget and the lack of action & fun in the film. The action quotient will be strongly ramped up and a non-Lex DC villain looks like it will be the main villain of the piece.

In regards to the cost, 'Returns' had an official budget around $204-208 million, plus tens of millions in development costs over the years. No development costs this time around, and the production budget will be set at a perfectly sound $140-175 million.