Movies - Superman Lives

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	Movies - Superman Lives

Superman Lives was the title of a cancelled American superhero film based on the DC comics character Superman. It was going to a movie version of the Death and Life of Superman storyline, and was slated for release in the summer of 1998 before being put into development hell and cancelled.

Plot summary

Brainiac, trying to destroy the Last Son of Krypton, sends Doomsday to finish him. Doomsday kills Superman and is then destroyed. The ship that carried Kal-El to Earth years ago is revealed to be the Eradicator, who revives Superman in the Fortress of Solitude. The recently revived Superman is powerless, and the Eradicator becomes a Super Armor that Superman wears to defeat Brainiac.

Behind the scenes

Superman Lives had a long and protracted history stretching back to the mid-1990s with Kevin Smith and Tim Burton being signed on to write and direct and Nicolas Cage slated to star as the Man of Steel, Sandra Bullock as Lois Lane, and Jack Nicholson as Lex Luthor, even going as far as appearing in costume for a screentest. Although actual photographs have never been officially released, Superman's traditional costume comprised of; a dark blue bodysuit covering the feet, no boots or belt, a blood red cape and a re-designed S logo.

Disagreement between Smith, Burton and producer Jon Peters eventually led to Smith leaving the project, leaving the director to work alone on the film before Burton himself exited in 1998. Other reasons for the project's failure can be attributed to the skyrocketing budget figures in pre-production, former Superman star Christopher Reeve's tragic accident which paralyzed him for the rest of his life, and Warner Bros' unwillingness to release this film alongside 1999's juggernaut Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Legacy

Warner Bros however, were still adamant about releasing a new Superman film, later exploring a Batman vs. Superman
project and even attaching Oliver Stone to the film for a brief period. Eventually, a new Superman film, Superman Returns
, directed by Bryan Singer and starring Brandon Routh as The Man of Steel will see release in 2006.

Trivia

During production some ideas bandied about included changing Superman's red and blue costume to an all black "living" costume (a la Spider-Man villain Venom), eliminating his ability to fly and featuring Superman in a battle with a giant spider. In an interview conducted a few years after leaving the project, Kevin Smith was quick to point out that a giant mechanical spider appeared in Wild Wild West
, Jon Peters' first film after leaving Superman Lives.
Both Batman
and his enemy Deadshot were going to appear in the movie, but they were not going to find each other. Deadshot was going to face Superman at the beginning of the movie, and Batman was going to say some words in Superman's funeral. Tim Burton insisted to Warner Bros that Batman be played, not by the current Batman George Clooney, but by Burton's Batman Michael Keaton.
L-Ron, who in the comics was the robot assistant to Manga Khan, a Justice League villain, was going to have the same role to Brainiac in the movie. At Jon Peters' insistence, several rewrites featured the character as a "gay robot" in the same vein as Star Wars's C3PO.
Lex Luthor was going to have a female bodyguard called Misty, seemingly based on the character Mercy Graves from Superman: The Animated Series.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Superman Lives ]

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Movies - Superman Lives

Plot summary

Behind the scenes

Legacy

Trivia

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