Did you like SUPERMAN RETURNS? Well, too bad.

August 22nd, 2008 at 12:03pm Will Pfeifer

Because Warner Bros, has announced that it plans to reboot the franchise and ignore what’s come before.

Says Warner Bros. Group President Jeff Robinov in the Wall Street Journal: ” ‘Superman (Returns)’ didn’t quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to. It didn’t position the character the way he needed to be positioned. .. Had ‘Superman’ worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009. … But now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all.”

Robinov is referring to the long-rumored SUPERMAN VS. BATMAN movie that’s had comic book geeks salivating for years. Turns out it’s not going to happen — but that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of capes on movie screens in the years to come.

Here’s a surprise — Warner Bros. plans for the next wave of super-hero movies (as many as 8 by 2011, the article says) will be grim and gritty, just like this summer’s THE DARK KNIGHT. You don’t suppose that has anything to do with it becoming the No. 2 American box office champ, do you?

In the same article, Robinov mentions that HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE was moved to July 2009 because the studio needs a big summer release. In other words, exactly what I said here. Where’s my big Hollywood paycheck?!?

Entry Filed under: Movie news