Grab Your Pens and Paper!

Over the past few weeks, as rumors of Singerman's demise or a potential sequel have been going back and forth like some ritalin-induced game of Pong, we've spoken to a number of concerned individuals who have been looking for a way to make their voices heard by the guys who hold the purse strings up at Warner Brothers regarding their views on the Singerman franchise and how they should proceed handling the actual Superman.

In the past we've supported that notion although we've deferred this type of thing to other websites who were solely focused on doing just that, but I'm not sure how far things ever actually got there? As a decision about Singer's future on this franchise seems to be looming in the next few months, there seems to be a renewed interest in voicing our collective disdain with said franchise's direction. Since this site has been the "flag-bearer for the cause" (your words, not ours) over the past 13 months, we thought we'd get the info out to the people once again, and focus some of our efforts on making sure you know who and where to direct your fervor. After conferring with some of our "moles" on the "inside" about what gets read and what gets deleted by people at the Studios, we've decided that the best way to go about this is a two-pronged attack.

First and most important, real letters need to be sent. A stack of letters on someone's desk has much more of a visual impact than a full email inbox. A physical letter also says that you really care, and took the time to write it, print it, and mail it. They're tangible and an executive can literally hold your disappointment in his hands, as opposed to it floating out in cyberspace. While sending an email can't hurt, I'd say do that as a follow-up to writing your real letter. Below I've put together a bit of an FAQ about the letter writing campaign. If you still have other questions, list them in the comments section.

1. What do I write?
You've got to voice your displeasure but you've got to say it in terms that relate to the Studio execs. The Studio head most likely doesn't care that we think giving Superman a bastard kid was a horrible creative decision that goes against the spirit of the character. What he does care about is how some of Singer's decisions may have alienated various parts of the potential audience and how it adversely affected the box office results, or how poor word of mouth led to the film being the slowest ever to reach the $200 million mark, while similar recent big budget films are doing that kind of business in 1 week. Let them know why you care about the character but don't go overboard in that regard either. Focus more on how Singer is wrong for the franchise, and how a better-suited director could make the franchise more successful.

Just as important as what you write is the tone of how you say it. If you bring up good points but come across like you're yelling at the execs, they'll tune you out and chalk you up to being some crazed fanboy. Your letters should have a reasonable and even tone to them. You should sound sympathetic to the studio's financial goals, and be constructive in your criticisms about why Singer blew it. Brevity is also a bonus. Say what you have to say on 1 or 2 pages and then be done with it. These people read enough scripts as it is, dont send them something of a similar size.

If you've already written a letter and think others could use it as a template for their own, send it into us here, and we'll post it up. We're putting together a few generic ones of our own that we'll post up shortly that people can change as they see fit.


2. Who do I send them to?
These letters should be targeted at the guys who write the checks and have final say on any films. Warner Bros. Entertainment President and C.O.O., Alan Horn and Warner Bros. Pictures President of Production Jeff Robinov.

3. Where do I send them?
Send all letters and emails to either:

Mr. Alan Horn
President and C.O.O. Warner Brothers Entertainment
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, Ca. 91522
alan.horn@warnerbros.com

Mr. Jeff Robinov
President of Production Warner Brothers
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, Ca. 91522
jeff.robinov@warnerbros.com


The other prong of the attack involves getting the word out and getting as many people as possible to send letters. This site gets a sizeable amount of hits a day but thats not going to be enough, its still going to be up to you to spread the good word. Print out letters for your friends and family to sign. Link to this post on the various internet message boards you frequent, link it to your website or blog, make a Youtube video, etc. Do whatever you can regardless of what the small minority of vocal aplogist sheep think. Granted the studios pay people to scour the internet to gauge the public's opinions on things, but a proactive campaign like this does get noticed. Just ask the fans of the TV show Jericho

Horn Doesn't Sound So Sure of a Singerman Sequel

Say that title 5 times fast....

An interesting report from today's Hollywood Reporter was just brought to our attention. In the piece they talk about how the movie studios are in search of the next big property to turn into a successful film franchise. In it they also give updates on the more recent big time franchises like Spider-man, Shrek, Ice Age, etc. and their plans for the future. At one point in the article they get to talking about Warner Bros.' properties. and Singerman comes up with a quote from studio head Alan Horn:

"The future of the studio's recent comic book adaptation, 2006's "Superman Returns," is somewhat more dubious. That film cost $209 million (even after various tax rebates) and marketing costs sent expenses upward of $300 million, but director Bryan Singer's Man of Steel picture made only $201 million domestically. While insiders say the movie was profitable, the studio mandated major cost cuts before proceeding with a sequel."IF we do a sequel to 'Superman,' we want it to be less expensive," Horn acknowledges. "I have to see a screenplay before I say yes to anything. But the studio would be willing to spend as much as $175 million if the screenplay and other factors warranted it."Still, Singer has announced that he plans to direct a second "Superman" project."

Interesting. Not exactly a vote of confidence for the continuation of the franchise when the studio head is using terms like "IF we do one" or "we'd need to see a screenplay before we say yes." You'd think he'd have a little more confidence in a director in an already established franchise if it was doing as well as some would have you believe. Obviously a script must be turned in before any film is greenlit, but you would think he'd be talking in a lot less uncertain terms about one their alleged big movie franchises

Even if it does get approved that's gonna be a REAL tight budget for a director like Singer who allegedley wants to up the action in a sequel. It also seems that Singer and his cronies (and his worshippers over at IESB) may have gotten a little ahead of themselves with talk of doing a sequel because the "money man" doesn't seem so sure right now.

Speaking of money, Michael Bay did quite a nice job updating an iconic character franchise from the 1980's, no? And for the cost of only $150 million (and that's with heavy CGI). Now there's a guy who gets the most bang for his buck. Just pair him a decent writing team and script supervisor to keep him in check and you're good to go apparently.

Happy Birthday to umm...us!

Just thought we'd take a moment to commemorate the fact that the blog has been up and running for one year now. The first posting may have been done on June 30, 2006 after coming home from the theater in shock at what we had just witnessed, however we didn't publish the blog until about a week later. Since then it's all been a blur.

Though some would argue, and probably rightfully so, that the blog has had a longer and more interesting run the movie it was setup to pick apart, it has for the most part been a truly interesting experience. None of us on here had ever done this before, and we really didnt anticipate the fan response that we got, nor did we know the blog would be seen by some of the people who have seen it. A big thanks goes out to ClarkKent-Is-Superman, Metropolis_Native, and everyone else who helps us with news, emails, photoshop, etc. We'd also like to thank all of the great commentors who have made their voices heard and kept the debates raging on. Even the ones who keep insisting they've "PWNED" us even though we cant understand half of what they've typed.

That being said, we dont want to waste an entire post on a sappy thank you, so we've dug up an interesting piece of news for you. Recently many of you have been wondering what the heck Brandon Routh has been up to lately and why he hasn't become this "big star" that we were all told he would be last year. Well you can put those rumors of him squeegeeing car windows or busing tables to rest, because WE'VE FOUND BRANDON'S LATEST PROJECT and boy is he multi-talented! Enjoy!

Another Superman Film is "Way Off"

For those of you who've been wondering what the status was of the Superman franchise, after Singer got done screwing it's corpse, the outlook doesn't look too rosey. It appears that if they do choose to do another Singerman film for some ungodly reason, it won't be for a good long while.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, Singer's producers, Neil Meron and Craid Zadan, are moving forward with Singer directing their pet project, a biopic of slain gay right activist Harvey Milk called The Mayor of Castro Street, as soon as Singer finishes with his current film -- the WWII story Valkyrie.

The next Superman, that's a ways off," claimed Meron, with Zadan adding. "Don't worry about it. Trust me. We may even start preproduction on Harvey Milk while he's on post production on the Tom Cruise movie."These boys are determined to make their movie, comic books be damned. "We've been working on that for 15 years," said Meron. "It started off with Oliver Stone and Robin Williams. Now it's Bryan Singer directing, Chris McQuarrie writing the script."

Now in addition to this is appears that Valkyrie is having a lot of issues on their own, as Germany didn't want batshit crazy Tom Cruise to make a movie there because he's a scientologist. Although now it seems they've backtracked on that, although they're still denying the production crew access to some key sites they planned on using which is still going to cause delays.

Could this be the opening for the potential JLA movie that just had a script turned in? Or could WB plow ahead with this franchise without Singer at the helm? (They did after all, boot him off of the Logan's Run remake he wanted to do so badly.) Either one would be an improvement. We also predicted this might happen back in April.

Perhaps someone should relay this news to Brandon Routh? (and all of the suck-ups over at IESB. ). He seems pretty confused about a lot of things. The fine folks over at C.H.U.D. have an amusing take on that "interview."