Zack Snyder to Direct Superman

[AristotleP]

Update: A director has finally been chosen. Has a villain been as well?


The man who brought us 300 and Watchmen will bring Superman back to the big screen. Deadline is reporting that Zack Snyder has scored the coveted directing gig on the reboot of the Man of Steel story.

Snyder's name has surfaced recently on a short list of potential directors, which also included Tony Scott, Jonathan Liebesman, Duncan Jones and Darren Aronofsky. But Snyder ultimately winning out is not too surprising, given his ongoing relationship with Warner Bros., which includes the upcoming Sucker Punch. With 300 and Watchmen, he's already tackled two big budget, comic book derived stories for the studio, who are now handing him what is, arguably, the world's most recognizable super hero.

Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas are producing and overseeing Superman, so presumably they also played a role in picking Snyder for this extremely high profile project.

Update: In their story on Snyder being hired as the Superman director, Hollywood Reporter also mention they've heard a rumor that the villain in David Goyer's script for the new movie is General Zod, so memorably portrayed by Terence Stamp in the original Superman films.

Keep checking IGN Movies for more on the new Superman movie as the story develops.

IGN

[Sheridan Passell]

Visuals will be great, but he doesn't do character well. I'm surprised Chris Nolan chose him, I thought he would have gone for someone a bit more cerebral.

[David Hawk]

Warner's probably had some input on him because of how well he's done for them at the BO.

I hope he knows what he's doing because a style over substance Supes film just wont cut it.

[dalmatianjaws]

With Dawn of the Dead and Watchmen, Snyder took layered and rather thoughtful genre pieces and turned one into shlock an another into a three-hour music video. I haven't read 300, but the movie was a kick in the pants ... but absolutely brainless. There is absolutely NOTHING in his resume to say that he can handle this artistic material. And, while I adore Nolan's career save for Shutter Island 2, Nolan's darker tone just doesn't seem fitting for Supes. Supes doesn't need a grittier tone, he needs more character development, something Richard Donner understood completely.

[AristotleP]

Zack Snyder Says It's Unlikely That Brandon Routh Will Play Superman Again


As of today, the Superman reboot has a script, a director and a confirmed villain (not bad considering this morning we only had one of the three). The big story that remains, of course, is who will be donning the cape. As we've previously reported, Brandon Routh, who played the role in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, has developed quite a heavy fan-base and would love to take on the role again. Sadly, it seems like it's not meant to be. Variety spoke with Zack Snyder today about accepting the job of director, and he let loose a detail that is going to disappoint a lot of fans. According to the article, Snyder has said it "isn't likely" that Routh will play the role again in the Christopher Nolan produced film.

Say what you will about Superman Returns, but Brandon Routh was not the problem. There are few actors out there that have that Christopher Reeve-like appearance, and Routh nailed it. It's pretty obvious that the choice is being made so that people won't associate the films, but it's a shame. Looking on the positive side, Snyder said he turned down the job two weeks before he accepted it. Maybe they're just pulling the ol' bait and switch again (I'm delusional).

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