SUPERMAN: Which Director Passed On The Reboot, Who Is The Rumored Favorite To Play Supes, Has The Title Been Exposed?


In September of last year, we told you that Christopher Nolan (Inception) and Emma Thomas were meeting with a short list of directors to helm the resurrection of the Man of Steel for Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ forthcoming Superman reboot. The list of directors included Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code), Zack Snyder (Watchmen, Sucker Punch), Matt Reeves (Let Me In), Tony Scott (Unstoppable) and Jonathan Liebesman (Battle: Los Angeles).

In a recent interview with Coming Soon, Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) confirmed that he was indeed on the short list to direct the Superman reboot, and explained that he actually removed himself from contention.

Jones said,

“I was thrilled to be on that shortlist [for Superman]. For me, that was enough. I don’t know if I would be ready for that leap yet. I did have a meeting with Chris [Nolan] and he’s a fantastic guy and seemed to have really enjoyed Moon, so there was some legitimate interest in me.

“I think, maybe, I’m not quite ready for that scale of project and that scale of expectation from an audience that is already existing and is waiting to see the next generation of Superman film. I don’t know. It’s a hard one. I’m a huge Superman fan and Bizarro Superman fan. And also a big Judge Dredd fan, which was another one that came my way.

“Those are two very different scales of projects. Superman was so big that I think I was a little intimidated by it and sort of backed out. Judge Dredd I really thought about and it ended up not being right for me because I had such strong feelings and opinions on what I wanted that film to be. Although I really like what they’re going to do with it, it’s not the film that I was going to make. So that one wasn’t going to work out.”

In other Superman reboot news…

Zack Snyder could find his next Superman, where? No… I meant “Were”, as in a full blooded werewolf. Rumor has it that one of the stars of HBO‘s wildly popular show, True Blood could be the next Superman. Alcide Herveaux himself, who is played by Joe Manganiello on the series is rumored to be the frontrunner to take up the mantle of the last son of Krypton.

Just a few days ago, Geoff Boucher from the LATimes said on Twitter

Is "True Blood" werewolf star Joe Manganiello a frontrunner to play Superman? That's the rumor du jour in Hollywood

Manganiello is no stranger to superhero movies, back in 2002, 3 days after moving to LA he scored the role of Eugene “Flash” Thompson, Peter Parker’s nemesis in director Sam Raimi‘s very first Spider-Man film. He later reprised that role for a brief cameo in 2007’s Spider-Man 3.

Extra recently cornered the actor to ask him about the rumors, and Manganiello told them:

“That’s not really up to me at this point, I would be honored. I love Zack Snyder. I love Christopher Nolan. So, you know, I’d be honored to if they choose to do that.”

And last but not least…

Our good pals over at ItsJustMovies found something interesting via BleedingCool about a possible title for Zack Snyder‘s highly anticipated reboot. It seems while investigating a rumored title for the next James Bond film (Red Sky at Night), they happened upon a forum posting that spoke of both films, and referred to the Superman reboot as something along entirely different lines than Superman: The Man of Steel.

Check it out an excerpt from that message below:

“Im close friends with an art director in the film industry, i wont mention his name but he has worked closely with production designer Michael Carlin and is about to start work in Canada on Kal-El, the next Superman movie.”

Could the new Superman reboot really be titled Kal-El? Obviously being a forum posting, you should take this with about 2 billion grains of salt and classify it as a total rumor for now. What would you think if they actually did use that for a title, or do you have other ideas? Let me know in the comments!

Superman (a.k.a. Superman: Man of Steel) is slated to hit theaters in 2012.

 


Jason Moore
Written by Jason Moore

is a member of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and the Founder/Editor In Chief of SciFi Mafia®