Tom Welling in Talks to be the JLA Superman

Take this with a BIG grain of salt but "Dirty" Sanchez just reported on G4's "Attack of the Show" and also over on IESB that Warner Brothers is in talks with Tom Welling and the Smallville producers to get him as the Superman for the JLA movie, which is a live-action film BTW with CGI motion capture in it. (Kudos to the fine gentlemen at CHUD for calling that one a few days ago.) Again, it's IESB so take it with a grain of salt since they've spit the bit on more than one occasion recently. He also said he thinks it will have no bearing on whether Singerman II gets made or not. How that works? I dont know.

UPDATE: Here's a clip of the interview:


UPDATE: Apparently SMHP called "BS" on IESB after, for some unknown reason, asking Al Gough and expecting him to give them an honest response (Hey Younis, ever hear of an NDA??). Then IESB just called BS right back on SMHP. It's like a battle to see who can be the least credible. Grab your popcorn folks.

UPDATE: 8/25 - IESB is STILL pretty sure of themselves. Boy, are they going to get burned if this doesn't pan out.

UPDATE: 8/30 - The KryptonFan Podcast interviewed both Dirty Sanchez from IESB and Steve Younis from SMHP about their "nerd off" last Friday. Sanchez still seems pretty darn sure of himself, and seems to able to at least speak "somewhat" intelligently about the situation. He also mentions a certain "blog" that dislikes Bryan Singer, although I don't think we've EVER said we had anything against the X-Men movies?
Steve Younis on the other hand, adds virtually nothing other than reiterating how he ran to Gough and Gough told him "no." Not once does he even breach the possibility of Gough not being able to talk to him.

UPDATE: 9/2 - Looks like you can score an early one for "Dirty" Sanchez as they appear to have announced casting directors for New York, Toronto, and, strangely enough, Vancouver, where incidentally, a certain actor films a Superman TV show. They've also posted script sides for some lesser roles in the film.

More on this as it becomes available.

JLA Movie Confirmed? Routh is One and Done?

Wow! Talk about a film coming together fast. I'm not sure if I should be excited or scared about this? Apparently while we were all busy arguing about just how BAD Singerman was, it appears WB was busy with their big Plan B. Just into us tonight, Moviehole reports that the proposed Justice League film is in fact confirmed to be just as "full speed ahead" as we've been hearing recently and it should be up and running by next year. And that's not all, they've got a few other goodies regarding casting. They go on to say:

A casting director for the movie will be onboard next week and it's then that they'll be going after their tighted strongmen.

Director George Miller ("Mad Max") has some ideas who he'd like to cast as Batman and Superman but naturally, they mightn't be the same faces the WB want. Either way, doesn't sound like Christian Bale or Brandon Routh will be involved in the film. I assume that's a financial thing.

(Update : We have been informed by another source at Warner Bros that it will be an all-new cast and that Bale and Routh will NOT be back.)

So within the next month we should start seeing a few announcements about the movie.

I'm not surprised really, I told you in the earlier post that Bale's Batman just didn't fit into the world of the JLA, and that most likely they wouldn't want Routh anywhere near it since he could only hurt the film by dragging over Singerman's problems with him.

Not surprisingly, IESB does a follow up to this report (completely ignoring their prior "Singerman II is coming come hell to high water!" stance BTW) and add this bit (take it for what it's worth):

"Let me clear some confusion, Batman and Superman are the central characters of the Justice League film that will now be played by different actors.

WB is looking for a complete new cast for the multi-hero team up and that casting will begin as early as next week.

The IESB has been told that early meetings have already taken place for certain key roles and to expect announcements very soon. Just in case there was any doubt, George Miller is 100% locked in as the director.

Once again, the confirmed heroes are Superman, Batman, the Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern.

We are working on a couple of leads that are indicating what actors may be up for a couple key roles.

They also have a really brief interview with Bale from today's 3:10 to Yuma press junket where they surprisingly didn't swear at him. Then again , he probably would've kicked their asses if they did.

Is this the death knell for Singerman? Or is it just delaying it? In our opinion here, the whole reason this film is being fast-tracked for Summer 2009 is to fill Singerman's slot because WB doesn't have the confidence in it. We'll stick around until we hear the official announcement and see Singerman's bloated corpse. Stay tuned.

Now Where Have We Heard This Before???

Remember back a couple months ago when we told you that Warner Bros. was fast-tracking a Justice League of America film that would either take the place of or delay a possible Singerman sequel? And certain "Pro-Singer websites" then ran around screaming "All is well!"? Well it appears one of those sites, IESB, is starting to see the light, now that the train is right on top of them. Better late than never I guess.

Take it for what it's worth, well because it's IESB, but their "sources" who don't have the best track record on these things are now finally acknowledging that the proposed Justice League of America film is now more of a reality than they first thought. The self-serving carnage is below.

"When the news broke that JLA (Justice League of America) was moving forward with a script written by Kiernan and Michele Mulroney, speculations began that the follow-up to Superman Returns, The Man of Steel, would be delayed or even completely scrapped.

WB studio sources quickly said that was just mere speculation and The Man of Steel was still planned for a first quarter 2008 start date. Even recently, Brandon Routh told us the same thing during a quick red carpet interview at the premiere for Transformers."

I think Routh would've said anything at that point to get a way from you. He didn't exactly look comfortable with you dropping the "F bomb" in front of him repeatedly.

"At the same time, we are hearing some execs over WB were not happy with the way Superman Returns performed regardless of the $390 million plus worldwide box office take and that’s why Justice League is being pushed through the studio at a record pace."

At the same time? We've been hearing that for almost a year. Where have you guys been?

"The JLA script has been received with open arms by Warners and the goal is for the film to be the launching point for The Flash, Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern and Aquaman as well as rejuvenate Superman.

When do the powers-that-be want to start production on Justice League? Apparently, as soon as the first quarter of 2008, that’s right, WB sources have informed the IESB that execs behind the Justice League of America want it to be in production as early as February/March 2008 to be ready for a summer of 2009 release."

Now would these be the same sources who just a month ago said any talk of a delay in a Singerman sequel was "horse shit?"

"Some questions arise. What will happen to The Man of Steel film that Bryan Singer has already signed on to do?"

I'll give you 3 guesses.

"Would Warner Brothers be willing to lose the money they would have to pay to Singer regardless if he directs the film or not? Will Christian Bale and Brandon Routh reprise their roles as Batman and Superman?

Some rumors indicate that studio execs have considered recasting Superman and a few names have popped up. But the honest truth is that the studio just does not know at this time whether Routh will return or not. We’ll just have to wait and see."

It wouldn't be the first time WB has lost money on a pay or play deal with a director on a Superman movie. Something tells me based on their past experiences with Tim Burton, Bret Ratner, Michael Bay, and McG that WB covered themselves a bit more when they negotiated with Singer.

As for Routh returning: sorry Brandon, you seem like a nice guy, but you bare the mark of the beast, the scarlet letter "S" of Singerman, and with you comes all the continuity and issues of Singer's film. Even if you completely ignore the events of Singerman, the general public will identify you with it, and that could condemn this movie. Your performance, while not a huge issue in the film, was nothing that a hundred other actors off the streets of L.A. couldn't have done.

"I want to be very clear about this, I want to see a JLA film very badly and I am pretty certain that George Miller will direct. The problem that I have is I can’t foresee the Nolan camp, including producer Charles Roven, to lose the third stand-alone Batman film by allowing Bale to JLA instead. Maybe Warners should bring a few of the Batman/TDK producers on board the JLA production to keep that camp happy."

The concept of something like the JLA is pretty much absurd in the gritty, realistic world that Nolan and Co. have created in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. That was the whole reason they took on the project in the first place. I can't see them wanting to have anything to do with a JLA film. Honestly, if I can only have Bale as Batman 3 times, I'd rather see a Batman film trilogy.

"I have to wonder if they are willing to pay the huge amount of money to Bale to keep him for possible future JLA and Batman films. I definitely think he’s worth it but it’s not my checkbook.

Routh’s price tag is no where near Bale’s and I’d bet he’d be willing to do possible future JLA and Superman films."

Routh would most likely wash your car at this point if you were going to give him $10 to do it. The "next big star" burned out before he ever had a chance to shine.

"Finally, what about Singer’s The Man of Steel? At this stage in the game, yes, it appears that the Man of Steel will be pushed back to accommodate Justice League.

Does that mean that Singer is out and the sequel to Superman Returns scrapped? Not likely.

As I mentioned earlier, Bryan Singer has already signed on to do The Man of Steel and his team is reportedly already working on the film. I find it hard to believe that the studio would be willing to lose the money that will have to be paid to Singer if they decide to drop the project. I just can’t see that happening."

Yes, you keep saying these things but yet the evidence keeps mounting against it. You said a lot of things were "reportedly happening" that weren't. And what's riskier for WB? Coughing up a couple million max to pay off Singer for good? Or missing the mark by $100 million again on another Singerman film?

"It would be a mistake on Warner Bros. part to recast Superman, Brandon did a fine job and under Miller’s direction he could do great, besides I hear that Warner Bros. really dug Bryan Singer’s take for the sequel and Michael Dougherty is already working on the new script."

I knew I could count on you guys to get that one little last barb of unabashed fanboyism in there so you dont have to completely eat crow. Of course, you heard WB "really dug" Singer's take on a sequel and that they're working on a script. I wouldn't have expected any less.

Fun with the "Motivator"

Well, news has been slow lately so we're going to have a little fun. I'm sure you've all seen those cheesy motivational pictures hanging on the wall in some tool's office. You know the ones, with the inspirational term or attribute in big capital letters and then a sentence below it that bestows the values of said term? They even have some spoof ones out that are pretty damn funny.

Well BigHugeLabs.com has a neat little web application up that lets you create your own. And of course, us being us, we had a little fun with the application at Singerman's expense and of course we figured that we'd share the results with you. Click the image to enlarge. Enjoy.


We'd love to see the ones you guys in the Comments come up with.


And hey, don't forget: BOOT SINGER, REBOOT SUPERMAN!!

The Man in the Mask Does NOT like Singerman

Here's another amusing string of videos that were just put up on YouTube by 'The Hideout" where the hosts take Singerman to task. (better late than never I guess) I'm not really sure why the guy on the left is wearing a wrestling mask? Maybe he was a crew member?



Aside from the fact that they keep saying that Superman: The Movie came out in 1979 (as opposed to 1978) everything else seems to be pretty much on point. There's 3 more parts to the Singerman series if you're interested.

Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4


And hey, don't forget: BOOT SINGER, REBOOT SUPERMAN!!

The Sound of Silence

S.S.S. just checking in folks, back from the sun and fun in the great state of California. (It's great when you have a job that let's you schedule business trips around major geek events.) I had the privilege of catching the weekend happenings at the San Diego Comic Con International. Between this and the Superman Festival in the span of a few weeks, I've had enough of awkward people in funny costumes to last me a good LONG time.

Anyway, as I expected, there was nary a mention of anything related to Singerman at the convention, which should seem odd to those who believe a Singerman sequel could hit theaters in Summer 2009. When you consider that The Dark Knight which is due out next summer, had just a few big announcements at last year's Con including the title and the casting of the new villain, you'd think that there might be something, ANYTHING, about a proposed sequel to Singerman to keep your core audience and media in the loop especially given the seeming back and forth stories we've been getting between the studio and those who suckle at Singer's teet.

I realize according to Alan Horn a few weeks back, they were still in the stage of waiting to see the next pile of crap that Singer would be turning in, but if they had any faith in the franchise or desire to keep it in the spotlight at all, this weekend would've been the chance to do something. They could've at least propped Routh up in a booth or something to give his usual schpiel about "all being well" as far as he knows. Lord knows, he's not doing anything else.

Apropos of nothing, they did have KICK ASS panels for Heroes and Smallville at the Con.

Oh and don't forget: BOOT SINGER, REBOOT SUPERMAN!!