Could we have found a less silly picture of Michael Shannon?  Would we have wanted to?

A couple weeks ago we reported Michael Shannon was being considered for the role of General Zod in Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, Man of Steel.  He’s the one who plays a creepy guy in Boardwalk Empire, and he played a creepy Oscar-nominated guy in Revolutionary Road, and he played a creepy guy who killed his mom with a sword in My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? Now he’s going to play General Zod (who will probably be creepy).

Snyder stated, “Zod is not only one of Superman’s most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don’t. Michael is a powerful actor who can project both the intelligence and the malice of the character, making him perfect for the role.” [via the official press release, full text at BleedingCool]

He’ll be joining a cast which includes Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, and Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Ma and Pa Kent.  Some people might be mad Viggo Mortensen wasn’t cast after all, but I’m not.  Michael Shannon is an intense, intimidating dude.  If he ever tells you to “kneel before Zod”, you better hope he just wants to be the President.

David Goyer, mostly notable as the guy who comes in, writes the first installment, and then shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near it otherwise (compare and contrast: “Blade” with Christopher Nolan’s “Batman”), has apparently given away some of the plot to the next Superman movie in the foreword he wrote for “Superman: Secret Origins”.

You ready for this? It’s an origin story! About how Clark isn’t sure about whether or not he wants to be Superman! So in other words the only plot they can do with any sort of dramatic tension while still being utterly predictable.

We’re less than overwhelmed, simply because yeah, of course they were doing an origin story. The last time they tried a Superman movie that wasn’t an origin story, everybody griped about it. So, well, origin story it is.

Oh, well. We’re sure the second one will be more interesting.

[ via the secret originators at Blastr ]

A couple days ago Filmdrunk reported Zack Snyder is directing the Superman reboot, which will have Zod as the villain but probably won’t include Brandon Routh.  Now Slashfilm reports the David Goyer screenplay seems similar to the Superman: Birthright storyline from 2003 to 2004, which follows Clark Kent as a young, globetrotting freelance reporter who hasn’t yet become a superhero. The Goyer script reportedly shows Kent grappling with whether or not he should become Superman.  Oh, you don’t know if you should use your awesome freakin’ powers?  Go cry, emo kid.

Here’s another interesting development on why Zack Snyder was chosen over Darren Aronofsky:

Vulture also reports some troubling news: the reason Warner Bros. supposedly picked Snyder for Man of Steel is that David Goyer’s script is a bit of a mess as it was rushed, and Snyder is looked at a man who can get the movie completed for 2012. You see, the studio doesn’t have time to go through extensive rewrites as they need to get a new Superman movie in production by 2011 or they’ll lose the rights to make said film. [/film]

Darren Aronofsky is awesome, but, yeah, if there are any problems with the script, he would take plenty of time to work on that.  I read an interview where he said he’s been working on Black Swan for over a decade, and that movie started out being in the same script as the story that became The Wrestler.  I don’t have a joke for that; I’m just telling everybody.

Yesterday, noted d-ck jokesmith Vince brought us the glorious news that Zach Snyder was offered the job of directing the Superman reboot.  Snyder has gone on to give several interviews confirming he took the job.  Now here’s another update. Get ready to kneel before the Kryptonian of your choice:

The Hollywood Reporter claims that Goyer’s script is “rumored” to have a connection to the original Richard Donner film, and Zod is at the center of this new story. While THR uses the word “rumor”, I have heard that Zod is the villain from two other independent high-placed sources. [/film]

I don’t see how the new Zod could possibly live up to Terence Stamp, but I’d like to see them try.  Also, there’s no Superman that could live up to Christopher Reeve in my mind, because, as we all know . . .

Read the rest of this entry »

I could have put a picture of Chris Nolan here.  I did not.

The LA Times did a long interview with Christopher Nolan.  He didn’t say much about the Superman reboot he’s producing, other than to say a director hasn’t been chosen yet and that David S. Goyer had a “way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before.”   Superman eats puppies for strength?  Kicks orphans into space?  Battles a giant spider in the third act?  What hasn’t been done yet?

Nolan also said there would be no crossovers between his Superman universe and his third Batman film, so if you were hoping for Harley Quinn and Lois Lane to hook up, you’ll just have to keep reading my diary.  He wouldn’t give any hints about which villains will fight Superman and Batman next, but he did rule one out: 
“It won’t be Mr. Freeze.”  He also said the next Batman film will bring back many of the same actors and bring the story to an end.  I guess if we want a fourth movie, we’ll just have to hire someone who doesn’t mind doing unnecessary sequels.  Is the guy who directed Leprechaun: In the Hood busy?

[LA Times via Geekosystem]

The showrunner of ABC’s “FlashForward”, David Goyer, has left the show with 5 episodes remaining.  ABC stated he will have “some involvement” with the remaining episodes, which means they’ll probably tape a picture of him to a chair at the meetings and offer him donuts. David Chairgoyer loves the ones with sprinkles.

David Goyer co-wrote Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight was based on a story Goyer wrote.  He is now writing the third movie with Chris Nolan’s brother Jonathan “Jonah” Nolan.  His early exit from “FlashForward” may signal that the next Batman script is on its way, or it may just signal that those rumors of infighting and backbiting at “FlashForward” led to another writer quitting (Marc Guggenheim left the show in October).

While we wait for the next Batman installment, I guess we can get our Nolan fix from Inception, the movie Leonardo DiCaprio said didn’t make much sense to any of them while they were filming it.  Seriously.

[Nikke Finke via SciFiCool, banner pic via thisoldshanty]