For the last couple of weeks Christopher Nolan has been meeting with directors and whittling down his shortlist for who will direct the reboot of the Superman franchise on screen. And now it seems he and Warner have made up their mind and given the job to Watchmen and 300 helmer Zack Snyder.
He got the gig ahead of the likes of Tony Scott, Matt Reeves, Jonathan Liebesman and Duncan Jones (as well as, reportedly, Darren Aronofsky), and will now be in charge of the David S Goyer scripted film. Since Deadline ran its initial short announcement of the news, more details have been coming in on both Snyder’s involvement and the film itself.
Snyder commented, “I’ve been a big fan of the character for a long time, he’s definitely the king of all superheroes, he’s the one. It’s early yet, but I can tell you that what David and Chris have done with the story so far definitely has given me a great insight into a way to make him feel modern. I’ve always felt he was kind of awesome. I’ll finish Sucker Punch and get right at it.”
Over at Variety, they spoke to Zack too, and he told them it was unlikely Brandon Routh would be back as Clark Kent/Superman, which is a bit of a shame, as he was actually pretty good in the role, even if Bryan Singer’s movie had problems. The door hasn’t been closed on Routh’s returns, but it “isn’t likely”. Meanwhile THR is reporting that ‘like Superman Returns, [the new film] is rumored to have a connection to Richard Donner’s Superman films. In this case, it’s the villain, General Zod.’ It would certainly make sense, as while comic fans like Lex Luthor, Zod is probably a better and more menacing presence to general film fans.
Goyer and Nolan will now work with Snyder to iron out the details of the film, with the plan being to get the movie in cinemas during 2012.