“The Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan is making room for another superhero franchise — none other than the Man of Steel himself, Superman.
A report from Deadline Hollywood states that Warner Bros. has tasked Nolan with a “godfather” role in shepherding a “Superman” relaunch following the poorly received “Superman Returns.” The site also reiterated its report from yesterday that Nolan is currently working on the third “Batman” screenplay with David Goyer and brother Jonah Nolan.
According to the report, Nolan isn’t likely to direct the new “Superman” film, which won’t be a followup to “Superman Returns.” Curiously, the report mentions that “Returns” collaborators Brandon Routh and Bryan Singer aren’t officially off the relaunch yet.
“We know what we don’t want to do. But we don’t know what we want to do,” an insider reportedly told the site. “We learned a lot from the last movie, and we want to get it right this time.”
The report also indicates that there are still legal troubles plaguing “Superman,” as the character’s rights revert back to creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster in 2013. If production does not begin by 2011, “the Siegels could sue to recover their damages on the grounds that the deal should have contained a clause in which the rights returned to the owners after a given time if no film was in development.”
Exactly what Christopher Nolan plans to bring to the “Superman” table remains unclear at this point, though an insider reinterpreted previous reports of a “darker” reboot to mean a “more sophisticated” relaunch. Interestingly enough, Nolan coming on board the “Superman” franchise echoes Warner Bros’ previous attempt in the 1990s to bring “Batman” filmmaker Tim Burton in on the Man of Steel’s big screen voyage. That attempt never took flight.
