Brandon Routh Can't Stop Being Gay

Oh boy... Let's just say that if there's any suits left in WB Studios who still believe Singerman is a viable feature film franchise, they're probably crapping themselves at the moment. Lost in all the hoopla of last weekend's San Diego Comic-Con, was a small bit of news from the panel for the new Kevin Smith film featuring Seth Rogen called Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

At said panel they showed some footage where Rogen and co-Star Elizabeth Bank's characters are at their high school reunion and they run into characters played by "Mac Boy" Justin Long and your favorite Singerman "star" makes a cameo. JoBlo details the carnage:

"Rogen and Banks are at their 10 year high school reunion. Banks is off flirting with Brandon Routh (SUPERMAN!), and Rogen is off to the side, talking to Justin Long--a dude with slick black hair and wearing a nice suite. They talk, it comes out Long is a gay porn star and Routh is his gay lover. Banks was hoping to hook-up with Routh, but not anymore, because... well, he's gay. Routh is not as open to being gay as Long is, and before you know it they're having a gay lovers quarrel. They then kiss and make up after Long tells Routh "You better shut your mouth before I f*ck it."

Ummm yeah.... Look I've got nothing against anyone who is gay. It's your life you do as you please. My point in pointing all of this out is, remember the good ole "Story that Just Wouldn't Go Away?" When WB had to basically launch a PR campaign to combat all of the 'Routh is Gay!" stuff so as not to have an emasculated Superman before the film even opened? (oops!) They even had banner ads on sites like SuperHero Hype! posing that very question.

Doing cameos like this, even if intended to be funny, just seem counterproductive to all that and will just seem to perpetuate that stereotype. He's not just gay in the movie, he's actively french kissing another man in a scene. Not to mention, this isn't Routh's first portrayal of a gay character. He's also done it in episodes of Will & Grace and Cold Case. Is he getting typecast or something?

I know he just recently got married apparently (although not that being married really means all that much anyway.) But if this guy has any hope of carrying on a multi-million dollar film franchise playing the proto-typical alpha male character in comic lore, you'd think he'd make some smarter choices in the roles he takes. Then again, maybe he knows something we don't...

BTW if anybody has link to the actual footage shown at Comic-Con, shoot us an email.

Miscellaneous Bits: 12/1/06

Some rather interesting tidbits from around the internet about the goings-on with Singerman, the DVD, Warner Brothers, etc. that dont quite deserve their own postings, but are none the less still intriguing to read.

• Gasp! Even more shady marketing from WB to sell their DVD's? Shmuel Tennenhaus has a theory about something fishy going on over on YouTube, and it seems to have some merit. [Cost Per News]

• Apparently there are some BIG problems with some of the DVD's in the "Superman: Ultimate Collector's Edition" Box Sets. And we mean besides that DVD they shoe-horned in there with Singerman on it to try and help boost it's sales numbers. [DigitalBits]
  

• Singerman's box office apparently wasn't the only thing that we were expecting to be "bigger." Those Hi-Def DVD's show EVERYTHING, don't they? [Defamer]

• You know how Singerman having a kid in the film really sucked? Well Singer doesn't care, and he wants to give you a whole lot more of him in the sequel! Better hide your musical instruments! [Rotten Tomatoes]

• An amusing review of the Singerman HD DVD: "Bryan Singer's 'Superman Returns' is instead best described as an unapologetic cinematic love letter to Richard Donner's 1978 blockbuster 'Superman: The Movie.' Never have I seen a movie so in love with another movie -- I'm sure if Singer could have somehow CGI'd Christopher Reeve and Kate Bosworth together, and had them spawn bald children that looked like a cross between Margot Kidder and Gene Hackman, he would have done it." [High-Def Digest]

• OK, so which one of you anonymous commenters is a TV critic for The Boston Herald? [BostonHerald.com]

• This guy wants Hiro Nakamura to help him get the time back that he wasted playing the Singerman video game. [The Daily Bulletin]
  

Supe...errr...man??

A reader submitted to us yet another "flattering" set of photos of "BJ" Routh.


Now, I'll reiterate that our major issues are with Bryan Singer's hack work though we did find Routh to be less than convincing in the title role, but did this guy ever take a photo doing anything masculine?? This is like the "prequel" to "The Story that just wont go away."

Routh says the make-up makes him look "wimpy."

From the "the truth hurts" file....

The Daily Mail has quite a story in today's edition, regarding Routh throwing a hissy fit at the UK premiere.

American star Brandon Routh was left furious this week after he complained the make-up used on his face at a press conference made him look pale, artificial and 'a bit wimpy'.

The actor became annoyed when he saw pictures of himself posing up next to his Lois Lane, Kate Bosworth, who, he said, looked much more natural and sunkissed.

After the Superman Returns press conference at London's Dorchester Hotel on Wednesday afternoon, Routh's aides had new darker foundation flown in for him to use in time for last night's premiere in Leicester Square.

This begs the question...what was his excuse in Singerman???

The Story that just wont go away....

Even after it's release, rumors seem to continue to circulate about either Routh or Superman or both being gay. How and why these started, we're not totally sure but something is setting off people's "gaydar," so let's try to understand why?

As soon as BJ's casting was announced, rumors of him "playing for the other team" ran rampant along with a pretty crazy story about a Halloween cocaine party with Singer. About a month later, Radar magazine speculated on the how's and why's of the casting. Routh's publicist came out and flat out denied the rumors, and things got quiet for a while.

On June 2nd, gay magazine The Advocate published the cover story "How gay is Superman?" wondering just how gay Superman was? Although it was mostly a look at how the characters themselves have things in common with homosexuals, it does bring up some interesting points about Singer and Routh.

"Not for nothing does gay director Bryan Singer have an eye for how to make the Superman suit most flattering to Brandon Routh in Superman Returns."

That same day the LA Times wrote a story about Superman's appeal to gays and how it could hurt his image especially in conservative states.

"But four of the movie marketing executives, all of whom declined to speak on the record, said gay "Superman Returns" interest presented two potential box-office problems. First, teenage moviegoers, especially those in conservative states, might be put off by a movie carrying a gay vibe; among some teens, these executives agreed, saying something "is gay" is still the ultimate put-down. Second, the attention threatens to undermine the film's status as a hard-edged action movie, making it feel softer, more romantic, and thus less interesting to young ticket buyers who crave pyrotechnics. "

This led to rumors about just how Routh got cast in the role, being brought up again, as well as mentions of Singer's previous "hot tub casting" issues and proceeding litigation, that cropped up a few weeks after Routh's initial casting.

After that WB and Routh's agent came out to deny those rumors and tout Routh's relationship with a longtime female companion as evidence of his heterosexuality (havent they ever seen Will & Grace?) only to have the infamous "coming out of the closet" Topps card at the right pop up, showing Singer's pension for subtle symbolism perhaps?

Then on June 10th, Singer comes out and categorically denies that the character in his film is gay, claiming that, "Superman is probably the most heterosexual character in any movie I've ever made. " He then went on to call the film a "chick flick" which may have sent mixed signals.

Now rumors are abounding that WB is revamping their recent ad campaigns to show less of Superman pouting and more of him trying to kick some ass. You've got to find it pretty amusing though, since everytime they seemingly have a handle on things another less than flattering pic of their star pops up that are so suggestive, it's just too easy. C'mon man, Vanity Fair?

Stay tuned as this story continues to emerge.