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Superman: V

'Superman: V' was being planned as early as 1988, and Cannon Films once again would have been responsible for the story, production values, and a possible release date for the summer of 1989. A screenplay was never written for this film, but 'Superman V' would have taken advantage of much of the 45 minutes stripped from 'Superman IV: The Quest for Peace'. The original cut of 'Superman IV' was well over 2 hours, so there was never-before-seen footage that could be recycled and placed into a new cut of a 'Superman V'. This would have been no surprise for those who are familiar with Cannon's reputation, of cutting corners and cheapening production value in any way possible. One scene in particular would definitely have been used, a battle scene between Superman and Nuclear Man 1 - a Frankenstein-like monster created by Lex Luthor which. This battle scene reportedly cost Cannon $6 million dollars to shoot! Judging by the production stills and the storyboards of this sequence, this battle was nothing to laugh at. In fact, if it had been kept in the final cut of 'Superman IV', it could well have been the most stunning battle of Superman movie series.

'Superman IV's' test screening was conducted in Orange County, California, completely uncut. Reviews from that audience caused major editing changes. Many believe those changes left important sequences on the cutting room floor, like what happened to Jeremy after he met Superman at the World Leader's Summit? Editor John Shirley was told to destroy the master print of the 134 minute complete cut of 'Superman IV' (with all that extra footage). It is believed that the 45 minutes stripped from the picture was indeed destroyed. Until the footage does surface, it is commonly refered to as the lost footage. There are a few fans today who believe the lost footage, if used in a 'Superman IV' cut could have made the film better (even into an epic piece!!!), one that would have matched Donner's 'Superman: The Movie'. 'Superman IV' has grown a small fan-base of followers over the years, because of it's alternate filmmaking style and edgy story/characters, despite the controversy over the film's problems.

Nevertheless, 'Superman IV' was a failure at the box-office. Many blame the editing for it's box-office failure, many blame the strikingly different FX. Cannon certainly didn't have the budget to market this film properly, in my opinion. Christopher Reeve eventually chose not to do a 'Superman V'. He felt it would not capture the spirit of the original as a blockbuster epic. A replacement was necessary for the reluctant and increasingly expensive Christopher Reeve. Cannon Films thought of using a different actor to continue the series, but eventually the idea was ditched all together and Cannon moved on from the project. That left the Superman franchise once again into the hands of some old friends...Alexander and Ilya Salkind. The Salkinds re-aquired the rights to the man of steel, as Cannon had an option for a limited time only. In their wisdom, the Salkinds wanted to bring Superman back with their new and ever increasingly successful series 'Superboy' (which premiered in Northern America on October of 1988). Their film was called SUPERMAN: THE NEW MOVIE, and would star Gerard Christopher, the star of 'Superboy', as the new Superman. The development of this picture appeared to drag more feet than Luthor had kryptonite. But one thing was intriguing - it would have finally married two popular, traditional Superman mythos and characters. Superboy and Superman.

Superman: The New Movie

'Superman: The New Movie' was in development back in the late 1980's and early 1990's after the Salkinds regained the film rights to Superman from Cannon Pictures (who made Superman IV). The Salkinds commissioned Cary Bates (who was Executive Story Consultant on the 'Superboy' TV series) and Mark Jones to write the screenplay for the movie. The plot involved Brainiac and Mr. Mxyzptlk and would star Gerard Christopher. Rumor had it that this film would be shot in Florida. Unfortunately, they weren't able to start principle photography prior to the deadline where the film rights would revert back to Warner Bros., which they did.

Gerard Christopher proved he had audience appeal. The title of the new Superman film became 'Superman: The New Movie', scheduled for release in Christmas 1991. It probably would have featured the same elements as the 'Superman V' Cary Bates script, including a parallel universe, the shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor, and Superman's battle against Brainiac! Though, this has not been confirmed. It was to have been budgeted at around $35-$40 million, an expensive film even at that time, and by March 1993 it was under Salkind's production banner as "Great Krypton Productions". It would have begun filming that summer for a mid-1994 release. This film would start the film series all over again. Movie magazines and Sci-Fi publications like STARLOG only hinted at its' development, and further information on it is scarce to non-existent. Recall that with flops like SUPERGIRL, SUPERMAN IV and the cancelled cartoon show, Superman was probably a risky undertaking in the first place, despite the apparently growing interest in the 'Superboy' TV show. Eventually, 'Superman: The New Movie' disappeared into oblivion and Jon Peters stepped in to begin work on 'Superman Reborn/Lives'.

'Superman: The New Movie' wasn't the first time a Superboy actor was said to possibly star in a Superman/Boy movie. In 1989, probably due to the success of both the first 'Batman' film and the climbing ratings of the 'Superboy' series, it was said there had been talks of a "Superman" film project by the Salkinds unformly titled (by the fans) as 'Young Superman'. It would have starred the first Superboy star John Haymes Newton (as very briefly mentioned in an interview by John Haymes Newton himself, as it being a strong possibility) but information on this is scarce, and no longer heard of when he was replaced on the series by Gerard Christopher. Virtually nothing is known about the story to this (possible) Newton starring film, or for that matter, about 'Superman: The New Movie' (the screenplay itself is impossible to attain, to nearly non-existent), other than, much of what was done in the second season of 'Superboy' was done intentionally to tie 'Superman: The New Movie' with the TV series (it could very well have been that the briefly mentioned 'Young Superman' Newton speaks of was the beginnings of the 'Superman: The New Movie' idea).

Superman Lives!

'Superman Lives!' began development in 1994 as soon as Warner Bros. reacquired the rights to Superman from the Salkinds. It was to be directed by Tim Burton, starring Nic Cage and written by Kevin Smith. This film never got going, or in Burton's words was "made in his head" but he made the error common in films that never get made in that he "forgot to film it".

The story was to be an adaptation of the immensely popular comic book Death Of Superman and Warner Brother's after chucking out various scripts went with Clerks writer/director Kevin Smith.

Smith seemed the perfect choice to write Superman Lives but had a formidable advisory in producer and former hairdresser Jon Peters who's obsessions with gay robot's, giant spiders, space dogs and Polar Bears would make Smith's work a little difficult. Peters had produced the first two highly successful Batman films and both he and the WB discovered that they made more in merchandising than from the actual movies themselves. Jonny boy's problem is that he wants Superman to be more like a trip to Toys'R'Us than a kick ass movie. So he added pointless contraptions, suits and doo-hickies to the film purely to make toys of them.

When Burton arrived one of his first acts was to trash Kevin Smith's script. He wanted to bring in all his own writers and thus began the Smith vs. Burton catfight. Smith threatened legal action in 2001 for Burton's 'Ape Lincoln' ending in Planet Of The Apes which he had done in a Jay & Silent Bob comic years before. Burton claimed not to read comics and never to have read anything by Kevin Smith. Now whenever Smith signs bootleg Superman Lives scripts he writes F*** Tim Burton. if anyone has one of these bad boys I'd appreciate it if they can scan it in and send it this way!

Nic Cage was cast as Supes - much to the dismay of pretty much everyone. Cage is a comic book fan and took the Superman gig with much enthusiasm and also came up with this quote which I thought I'd include as it's pure cheese "I hope I can still do this because I think it will be a very enchanted movie." Wanting to reach out to the kids Cage went on "It's OK to be different because Superman is different. If one child sees that and says 'maybe I'm Superman' then I've done my job." I actually quite like Nic Cage and enjoy his films it's just I think he was the wrong choice for this role - casting such a big name as Superman is generally a bad idea. The producers of the original Superman movie wanted Robert Redford to be The Man Of Steel but director Richard Donner wisely persuaded them to go with the then unknown Christopher Reeve. This decision was based on the fact that the audience would be seeing a star in tights and wouldn't believe the character. This is why Cage was a much loathed choice for the role, people just weren't ready to buy Cage as Superman.

Burton and Cage eventually left the project. With both saying it took "too long" and they were right. The film was to be based around the Death and Return of Superman comic book story arc. After Burton left various directors were linked including Oliver Stone and Robert Rodriguez but nobody committed. Scriptwriters came and went each writing screenplays that didn't do The Man of Steel justice. The WB eventually made a decision to put Superman on ice and go with the rootin' tootin' Will Smith classic Wild, Wild West as their big summer blockbuster. Things didn't go quite as planned and the Jon Peters produced western bombed. It seems giant spiders DON'T equal success at the box office after all!

Batman vs. Superman

'Batman vs. Superman' is the title to a cancelled American film based on the DC Comics' superheroes Batman and Superman. The film - not to be confused with 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' released theatrically in 2016 - was greenlighted by Warner Bros. in 2002 with Wolfgang Petersen directing from a script by Andrew Kevin Walker and Akiva Goldsman. The film was expected to film in 2003 with a release in 2004. The project collapsed when Petersen left the project to direct the historial epic Troy. As of 2005, Batman Begins producer Chuck Roven believes the two men in tights will meet one day. "It all depends on the success of Batman Begins and Superman Returns. The current script is superb."

The story was to have taken place five years after the death of Bruce Wayne's trusted partner Robin. Wayne has finally retired from the mantle of Batman and has found happiness with his new fiancée Elizabeth. At their wedding, however, Bruce's old demons resurface when a resurrected Joker crashes the ceremony and murders Elizabeth. With newfound rage, Bruce Wayne once again dons the cape and cowl to hunt for the Joker. Once on his manhunt, Batman encounters Superman, who fears that Wayne will cross the line and become a murderer. This sets the two heroes on a violent collision against each other. Unbeknownst to the heroes, their actions are falling in line with a villainous plot by Lex Luthor, who is responsible for the resurrection of the Joker.

After the collapse of the troubled Superman Lives project, Batman vs. Superman was officially announced by Warner Bros. in July 2002. The studio had been developing this project for years along with the McG and J.J. Abrams Superman film and the Darren Aronofsky and Frank Miller Batman: Year One project. The film was developed as a platform to revive both Batman and Superman franchises. The film was to begin filming in 2003 with a release in the summer of 2004. The project began to collapse when Petersen left the project to direct Troy in August 2002. The project was then left in limbo when Warner Bros. executive vice president (and project supporter) Lorenzo di Bonaventura resigned in September 2002 over his disagreements with WB president Alan Horn, who wanted to develop the J.J. Abrams Superman film. Batman vs. Superman was cancelled by the studio and returned its focus to creating separate Batman and Superman films.

Batman vs. Superman left a gap in the planned 2004 slate of Warner Bros. The studio rushed to produce a superhero film to fill that gap. The result was the critically panned Catwoman. The McG/J.J. Abrams Superman project was cancelled when Abrams' lackluster script drafts reached the Internet to a very hostile fan reaction and the direction of the film could not be decided. The Aronofsky/Miller Batman project was also cancelled for a lack of progress. With failure on both fronts, Warner Bros. sought new talent for their franchises. In 2003, director Christopher Nolan was hired to develop a Batman film which came in the form of the successful Batman Begins. The following year, the studio hired director Bryan Singer to develop a Superman project which resulted in Superman Returns.

From the moment the project was announced, many fans rushed to discover the actors who would play the title roles. Such rumored names in line to portray Batman/Bruce Wayne included Christian Bale (who went on to portray the Dark Knight in director Christopher Nolan's 'Batman' trilogy), Colin Farrell, and James Franco.

Supposedly being considered for the role of Superman/Clark Kent at the time were Jude Law, Tom Cruise, Paul Walker, Josh Hartnett, and Brandon Routh who would eventually stay as the Man of Steel in 'Superman Returns'.