Reintroducing Superman: An Open Discussion

[I SEE SPIDEY]

^You have some great ideas Kal Mart.

 

[dark_b]

I'd like Lois to be rushing to the scene of a near disaster that was averted by something that people just can't explain...she's there to get the scoop, but finds out there's already some tall guy in glasses that she's never seen before who says he's from the Daily Planet too...interviewing some cops and bystanders. She doesn't think much of him, but she's a bit put off by being beaten to the punch. She gets him back by stealing a cab from him...but when she arrives back at the Daily Planet...there's that friggin' guy again...already there in the office! WTF? It's then that he's introduced to her by Perry as Clark Kent, the newly-hired reporter.

this is what i call ''thinking outside the box''

if there will be an origin it needs to look very different. i am not saying the planet should not blow up. but you need to give the origin a fresh twist. so that even the hardcore fans will not know what will happen.

 

[KalMart]

Actually, when Lois gets back to the DP, she goes straight to Perry's office, bursts in, and starts digging into him about some newbie being on her 'beat'...some "straight out of Sears & Roebuck, cookie-cutter grad-school warrior..." etc....then Perry shoots a revealing glance past her shoulder, and she turns to discover that she failed to notice that same guy (who she was just insulting, and who she stole the cab from) already sitting patiently behind her in the corner.

Perry: Lois....meet Clark Kent.

Clark (stands): Hi.

Lois (unimpressed): Lois Lane.

Clark: (pointing to his blazer) It's um...J. Crew, actually.

Lois nods dismissively.


etc, etc,

 

[Octoberist]

I like, Kalmart...I LIKE

 

[Octoberist]

I like it, Kalmart...I LIKE IT.

 

[KalMart]

In some ways similar to their introduction in STM, but put them a bit at odds from the outset, then quickly progress the plot of the film from there on...all within the first five-eight minutes or so.

 

[Gamma Goliath]

kalmart you're a genius dude!

 

[Webhead2006]

Some nice ideals guys. I agree no planes/jets this time around been played out in sm the movie/SR and lois and clark(space shuttle) so its a bit hard to think of a good first public save.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

All hail Kal Mart!

And I assure you that I'm not being facetious.

 

[Webhead2006]

what if it was a bullet train like thing like they got in japan and all that.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

what if it was a bullet train like thing like they got in japan and all that.

hmmm...I like that idea.

 

[Webhead2006]

Ya i just trying to think of things we really havent see supes save in films already. But i can running a bit blank right now.

 

[dark_b]

plane or a helicopter rescuse scene is IMO perfect because it shows superman's main powers. strentgh and flying.
a train would be good but we wouldnt see superman in hes element. flying.

thats why the plane sequence would be perfection for the first scene with superman in an origin movie. but now it can not be done anymore. because it was done perfect in SR. you can not top this.

 

[KalMart]

Bullet-train would be good....because it's speeding along the ground, and you could emphasize Superman's high-speed flying better with more objects whizzing by....buildings, trees, through tunnels, elevated tracks (hopefully not too Spiderman II)...better physical dynamics than in the open sky, and a lot of large obstacles that he has to weave in and out of....using shots from inside the train car seeing Supes flying along outside the windows, etc.

But instead of stopping the whole train at once from either end...which would likely cause the multiple cars to fold up around eachother of tear off inpieces....he has to do it in sections, one car at a time....severing the links with heat vision, safely slowing that car down so as not to put too many g-forces on the occupants (thing's traveling at over 200+ mph, after all). Then he has to catch up to the rest of the cars that are speeding away, and so on over the course of miles....with each car and section of track presenting different obstacles....tunnels, raised tracks, nearby buildings, etc. But by the time he's ready for the last car....in this case the front car since he goes from the back forward...it's nearing the end station with a dead end. Not enough room left on the tracks to slow it down without it squashing upon impact. So in a split second, he zips over to the end of the track barely ahead of the oncoming last car....rips the track from the ground and the 'end pin', and lifts them up in the air so it's a ramp, which sends the car flying like a javelin hundreds of feet in the air.


Then he simply catches it and brings it floating back down to Earth. There's your rescue scene.


See...if they end up doing that, it's already friggin' spoiled for us.

 

[Webhead2006]

now that is a good way to go about my bullet train idea.

 

[KalMart]

That way you do it in pieces over a longer stretch and compose a broader roller-coaster ride of a rescue...with some nice stops and starts along the way with his flying, and a lot of crazy maneuvering....even knocking down rows of huge trees or busting through a rocky hillside as he's chasing it down, just to get an angle on things. Throw in a few bends in the tracks that are supposed to be driven at lower speeds, so he's got to keep the whole thing from tipping over at 200mph, yadda-yadda....


Faster and more powerful than a speeding %$#@'in bullet-locomotive, yo?

 

[Scarlet Spider]

From what I've read from Robinov & Horn they had very little intention of doing a sequal once the figures started rolling in. Robinov is quoted as saying the film didn't quite work & Horn was quoted in saying it should have done $500m minimum..

Robinov didn't make those comments until two years after SR was released.

This is what Robinov said back in August of 2006, after the figures started rolling in:

"'Superman Returns' will be profitable for us," says Warner Bros. production president Jeff Robinov. "We would have liked it to have made more money, but it reintroduced the character in a great way and was a good launching pad for the next picture. We believe in Bryan and the franchise. Clearly, this was the most emotional and realistic superhero movie ever made."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003019246

And then two months later, the studio locks Singer into a pay-or-play contract to make a sequel. Studio's don't pay directors millions of dollars for a film they have no intention of making.

 

[GreenKToo]

Singer was very detail oriented with SR. Just look at the interior of the yacht, the daily planet, and the farm. A whole field of corn was planted that was later substituted with CGI, or at least thats what I heard.
Add all that up and thats some bigtime $$$. And oh, dont forget the 10 mill dollar RTK scene that was left laying on the cutting room floor.

 

[Kal-El Fan]

Great ideas, KalMart. Anyone know how to pitch a spec script to WB?

 

[BlackLantern]

Great ideas, KalMart. Anyone know how to pitch a spec script to WB?

get an agent, pay the WGA (because they have to have their piece), spend a couple years staff writing for random shows and movies...and maybe WB might look at it

 

[GreenKToo]

Its hard to come up with something that hasnt already been done.......

How about Having Superman save a cities trapped people from a major hurricane.
He couldnt stop the hurricane of course, but he could perform all kinds of rescues.

Any gulf coast town:
Have the wind howling so loud you could barely hear, and rain is coming down in blinding sheets so you could barely see.

Buildings explode all around from the force of the wind.

Cars, trees, street signs, etc are blown here and there like toys.

Dozens and dozens of people, including children, that didnt or couldnt evacuate, are trapped in a civic center. All seems hopeless.

Then, out of the midst of the storm a figure appears. Its Superman. He brushes off flying debris that hits him like we would an annoying house fly.

He calmly begins to save the trapped people. He places several people at a time in a bus and flies it to a nearby military station thats safe from the worst winds.

All the major media are there and catch the scene. The eye of the storm passes over just as Superman finishes his last rescue. He then launches himself up and waves. The news cameras catch him leaving.
The speculation starts. Who is the hero of the storm?

 

[VenomsMom]

You guys are coming up with some exciting and fresh ideas. I am so glad many of you envision a reinvention of this classic character who still exists in the hearts of many fans young and old. People need to reconnect with Supes. I really like a lot of your approaches on how to do an origin. I certainly hope many of these similar ideas are being discussed amongst WB on how to handle this character. Get back to basics and core of his character and transition him into the 21st century.

 

[Venom'sDad]

I'd like Lois to be rushing to the scene of a near disaster that was averted by something that people just can't explain...she's there to get the scoop, but finds out there's already some tall guy in glasses that she's never seen before who says he's from the Daily Planet too...interviewing some cops and bystanders. She doesn't think much of him, but she's a bit put off by being beaten to the punch. He tries to introduce himself, but she cuts him off when she asks another question to the cop about just what got that speeding bus with bomb-rigged terrorists stuck up in the top floor of that abandoned building.

"Who knows...", says a cop. "People said some sort of hurricane or something just came in and....it's crazy, who knows?"

She then gets that guy back by stealing a cab from him...but when she arrives back at the Daily Planet...there's that friggin' guy again...already there in the office! WTF? It's then that he's introduced to her by Perry as Clark Kent, the newly-hired reporter.

That is a great idea for their first introduction. I would love to see that.

Yeah, but my take is that we don't see Krypton/Jor-El in the first movie. we star the second movie kinda like STM

I don't think that's a good idea. The film would be trampling over itself and may become confusing & complicated. It needs to keeps some natural flow or order of things. Besides, the reason for introducing Krypton/Jor-El in the beginning is to established the "gift" to humanity and set up future threats and/or villains for future films(sequels).

 

[Showtime]

As an offshot.... say they later decided that they wanted to reboot completely...would that contract only apply to a direct sequel either way?

If it only applied to a sequel, the pay or play deal, he would still get paid. He would get paid if a sequel is made with another director or a reboot was made.

Perhaps more related...doesn't that kind of a deal also act as insurance for Singer that he'd get dibs on a sequel, and on the other end that Singer wouldn't be lured away from continuing like with, say, what happened with Fox/X3?

No that would be a right to refusal deal.

Robinov didn't make those comments until two years after SR was released.

And then two months later, the studio locks Singer into a pay-or-play contract to make a sequel. Studio's don't pay directors millions of dollars for a film they have no intention of making.

Thanks. I was looking for that quote.

Anybody who thinks that they didn't want to make a sequel at that time are rewriting history. WB wanted a sequel and they wanted it fast tracked. Do they want a sequel now? Obviously not.

 

[dark_b]

i guess Singer didnt take WB seriously when they told him that they want the sequel now. he maybe thought that they would whait.