In today's world of entertainment, I can't think of a more dominating genre than the superhero genre. The Dark Knight, The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men: Days of Future Past, etc. Movies that have shattered box office records, changed how our industry operates, and become cultural phenomenons. And not just in cinema, but TV as well. The Flash, Arrow, Daredevil, etc. The Geek truly have inherited the earth! True, we still get our occasional Green Lantern. But it wasn't alway like that. In the 90s, it was almost nothing but Green Lanterns! Batman owning a Bat Credit Card? Mr. Freeze giving cringeworthy (but admittingly amusing) ice puns? It was a dark time for geek culture. Hollywood didn't take comic book heroes seriously like it does now. It merely saw them as marketable kids fare.
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Not all superhero movies were as bad as Batman and Robin though. In 1978, the superhero genre was born with Richard Donner's Superman, starring the irreplaceable Christopher Reeve, and featuring an iconic score by the legendary John Williams. It was colorful, upbeat, inspiring, and just loads of fun. And in my opinion, it still holds up as a timeless classic like The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars. It was a huge hit, and spawned a sequel that was just as good, if not better, Superman II, featuring the chilling Terrance Stamp as General Zod. However, it suffered major behind the scenes drama, as Richard Donner was at war with producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind. They wanted a lighter tone than Donner wanted. So Richard Donner was fired after he was done filming, and replaced by comedy director Richard Lester, who re-shot half the film, and gave it more silly comedy. In 2006, the Richard Donner Cut was released on DVD, and is still available on Amazon. Richard Lester was hired back to direct 1983's Superman III, which featured an evil Superman, and Richard Pryor as comedy relief. The film received mixed to bad reviews, and was overshadowed by Return of the Jedi at the box office. The final Christopher Reeve film, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, was released in 1988. It got deadly reviews, and was a box office bomb. It was a depressing send-off for Christopher Reeve, who got in a horse-back riding accident years later, and tragically died of cardiac arrest in 2005.
After the notorious box office bomb that was Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, the Superman franchise was put away on the shelf in Warner Bros. for two decades. There were many attempts to revive the franchise. One of them was by J.J. Abrams, whose script was called Superman: Flyby. It was an origin story featuring a war between Kal'El's father, Jor'El, and his corrupt brother Kata-Zor. But J.J. Abrams was replaced by Bryan Singer, and the script was re-written into the mildy entertaining, but nothing special Superman Returns. I feel sorry for J.J. Abrams. He seemed like he had a lot of potential as a filmmaker. I wonder if he went onto anything after that...
There was another idea to make a crossover between Superman and Batman in 2001-2002. But sadly, that was scrapped. Seeing the two most iconic superheroes on the big screen together would have been amazing!
But the most fascinating attempt to reboot Superman was Superman Lives.
This would be a much, much different Superman than we were used to. Instead of a smiling, good-looking, All-American Boy Scout Superman, it was a Superman who looked rather unattractive and outlandish. Instead of handsome, curly hair, his hair was going to be long like a hobo. Instead of a light-hearted, upbeat tone, it was going to be quirky, dark, edgy, and unlike anything we had seen. It was going to star Nicolas Cage as Superman/Clark Kent/Kal'El, and directed by none other than the Master of Madness himself, Tim Burton!
Tim Burton started off making short films such as Vincent and Frankenweenie, and made a household name of himself with Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice. He's no stranger to the superhero genre, as he elevated it with 1989's Batman, starring Michael Keaton as Batman, and Jack Nicholson as the Joker.
It was dark, edgy, bizarre, and haunting. There wasn't a super hero movie like it at the time! It was a completely different Batman than Adam West's campy Batman in the 60s. There was no WHAM! or POW! on the screen. There was no silly catchphrases like "Holly Mollers Batman!" It was a thought-provoking story of loss, revenge, madness, and Good vs Evil. It was a rivalry of two bizarre characters who didn't belong in society. One who stood for good, but hid in the shadows. Another who was insane, dressed like a clown, and spread chaos where he went. It made a connection with audiences, became a monster hit at the box office, and proved to Hollywood that you can make a super hero movies for adults. It was followed by a sequel in 1992, Batman Returns, featuring Danny DeVito chewing the scenery as the Penguin, and the sexy Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. It was much darker and more disturbing than the 1989 film. Though still a big hit, it wasn't the blockbuster Warner Bros. was hoping, and audiences were very split on it. Burton was replaced by Joel Schumacher for the third film, Batman Forever, to make it more lighter and kid friendly. And we all know how that ended...
But back to Tim Burton, his Batman film was so successful at reviving the super hero genre, and putting Batman on a special place in the pop culture landscape, Warner Bros. considered him to tackle Superman as well.
The film, Superman Lives, was an adaptation of Mike Carlin's The Death of Superman, where Superman faces his greatest foe, Doomsday, in a fight to the death that destroys half of Metropolis, and Superman himself!
The film at one point was going to be called Superman Reborn. Or as Kevin Smith called it, "Superman Remarketed For A New Generation". And speaking of Kevin Smith, Silent Bob himself was attached to the script at one point.
Of all the revisions, most Superman fans consider the Clerks director's the most faithful to the comics. His script included Braniac and L-Ron on the Skull Ship receiving an invitation from Lex Luthor to his home planet, Earth.
Meanwhile Lex Luthor is trying to get an anti-super hero bill passed, and Lois Lane is opposed to it. And during Clark Kent's date with Lois Lane, Doomsday is causing destruction in Metropolis, causing Clark Kent to post-pone his date, change into Superman, and fight Doomsday to the death. After the deadly battle, Superman lies dead in Lois Lane's arms, and the entire nation mourns for him, including Batman (played by Michael Keaton)!
The funeral is interrupted by Lex Luthor introducing Braniac, insisting that Braniac is Superman's ally, and will protect the people of earth from the Alien Armada by blocking out the source of Superman's power, the sun, just like Mr. Burns in The Simpsons.
Superman's corpse is teleported to his Fortress of Solitude, and is resurrected by the Eradicator, a Kryptonian cyborg created by his father, Jor-El. The Eradicator explains to Superman who Braniac is and how he was responsible for the destruction of Krypton. The Eradicator suggests that they leave Earth. Superman disagrees, and insists on staying to save the people of Earth.
Tim Burton wasn't too thrilled with Smith's script, so he hired Wesley Strick to do a rewrite. His script involved Lex Luthor and Braniac merging into a single entity called "Lexiac".
Wesley Strick was later replaced by Dan Gilroy. His script involved Lexiac trying to destroy Earth just like Braniac destroyed Krypton, and at the same time trying to woo a grieving Lois Lane.
When Nicolas Cage was first announced to play the Man of Steel, the fans backlashed in a way they hadn't since Michael Keaton was announced to play the Dark Knight. Fans simply didn't see how Mr. Mom could pull of playing a dark and brooding vigilante, nor could they see the quirky, bizarre Nicolas Cage pulling off the Blue Boy Scout.
They also didn't think the cute boy from 10 Things I Hate About You could pull of playing the Joker. And we all know how that turned out...
Nicolas Cage wasn't the only interesting casting choice for Superman Lives. Actresses Courtney Cox and Sandra Bulloch were considered for the part of Superman's love interest, Lois Lane.
Lex Luthor was going to be played by Kevin Spacey, who won the Oscar for The Usual Suspects. Of course, he did get to play Lex Luthor in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, and was one of the films highlights.
Jimmy Olsen was going to be played by the always controversial and always hilarious Chris Rock.
But in my opinion, the most interesting casting choice was Christopher Walken as Braniac. Yes, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN!
Tim Burton felt that Walken's bizarre and strange personality would be perfect for Braniac, and I could not agree more. Walken is one of my favorite actors, and I would have loved to see his take on Braniac. It probably would have been similar to Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker.
The film was scheduled for a Summer 1997 release. So What Happened?!?!?
I would tell you what happens next, but I won't for two reasons. 1.) It would make this blog entry too long. 2.) It's all explained in Jon Schnepp's brilliant new documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened.
I had the privilege of seeing this new documentary on Thursday, April 30th, at one of my favorite movie theater, the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. As someone who is a big movie buff, and loves hearing behind-the-scene stories, I found my self grinning throughout this enter film! There wasn't a dull moment for me. It was all fascinating and intriguing. Not only does it deliver a painful truth about the industry and the brutality of Hollywood executives, but it also captures the spirit of the abandoned Tim Burton project. It makes you feel like you watched the movie yourself!
This film would not be possible without the vision and perseverance of the director, Jon Schnepp.
Of course, credit should also go to his lovely girlfriend, Holly Payne!
She was the producer of the film. Her undying dedication and support really helped make this film something special. She stood by Schnepp's side even when times were tough. She even proposed to Jon Schnepp after the premiere at the Q&A! How often do you see a proposal at a Hollywood premiere?
The documentary contains fascinating interviews form people who worked on Superman Lives. Including Kevin Smith. And of course, it wouldn't be a Kevin Smith appearance without a few F-Bombs. So be sure to cover your kids' ears!
Jon Peters, the producer of Batman and Caddyshack, also gave interesting details about the film. For instance, Peters wanted the third act to include a fight between Superman and a giant robot spider.
My favorite interview was from Tim Burton. Jon Schnepp and the crew got to go inside Tim Burton's house in London! It's almost what you'd expect. His house included posters of classic monster movies, and was full of Halloween decorations. And this interview took place in July! Schnepp and Payne said that Tim Burton was a cool guy and very fun to talk to!
Tim Burton even went into a brief rant about negative comments on the internet towards films that aren't finished yet. He used Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice as an example. As I'm writing this, the film is still one year away, and yet fans on the internet are already crucifying it, claiming Zack Snyder will "f*** it up!" and Ben Affleck will make a horrible Batman. Tim Burton said "It's like judging a carcass before it's dead!"
There is so many more fascinating trivia in the documentary, I don't want to even spoil it. It's one of those films you have to see for yourself. This is up there with Empire Of Dreams: The Making of the Star Wars Trilogy as one of my favorite behind the scenes documentaries. As I'm writing this, it will play tonight ion May 2nd, at 7:30 PM at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. If you can't make it to that, it will be available on Blu-ray in the Summer. Even if you don't like the idea of Nicolas Cage playing Superman, and think it would have been laughably bad, you should still check this documentary out. It's still a fascinating lesson on the industry, and illustrates just how hard it is to try to get a film made, as opposed to critiquing it in the Message Boards on IMDB.
Well done Jon Schnepp and Holly Payne. Congratulations on making a documentary that's just as epic as the film it's about!
And to Tim Burton, I don't think you would have made a great Superman movie... I know it!
