New ‘Superman’ Pic In The Works With James Gunn Penning, Henry Cavill Not To Star; Ben Affleck In Talks To Helm A Future DC Pic
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DC bosses Peter Safran and James Gunn tonight officially made known their plans for their first movie under their regime: It’s Superman, a script that the latter is currently writing about the Man of Steel’s early days. It’s not an origins story, but a new actor will be sought to play Superman.
As for Henry Cavill — while the DC bosses, would like to work with him, he’s been informed he’s not part of the next iteration of Superman given its new direction. The actor later confirmed that , saying, “My turn to wear the cape has passed.”
Meanwhile, we hear from sources familiar to the scene that Gunn and Safran are in talks with Ben Affleck to stay in the DC universe, but as a director. He is set to reprise his Batman role in The Flash, which opens on June 16.
Gunn and Safran plan to unveil their full DC plan in January but are taking meetings with various talent connected to the universe to share their vision as they sort out a more cohesive plan for the comic-book brand stretching across all mediums.
In a tweet tonight, Gunn writes:
“Peter and I have a DC slate ready to go, which we couldn’t be more over-the-moon about; we’ll be able to share some exciting information about our first projects at the beginning of the new year.
“Among those on the slate is Superman. In the initial stages, our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill.
“But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we’re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future.”
Superman has appeared in eight Warner Bros feature movies during the box office era going back to Richard Donner’s 1978 original starring Christopher Reeve. Together those pics, including Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, have grossed $3 billion at the global box office, unadjusted for inflation.
Studio insiders emphasized tonight that Cavill didn’t go rogue in posting in October about his return as the Man of Steel. It was a plan hatched by the previous regime before Safran and Gunn to their exec seats at DC. There still is a chance that Cavill could be involved in the DC universe.
The town was shaken up last week as news leaked that the new Safran-Gunn DC administration had thumbed down Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3. However, that decision was made in conjunction with other Warner execs who were providing notes to Jenkins. The Wonder Woman filmmaker tweeted Tuesday that she “never walked away” from the project.
RELATED: Patty Jenkins Says She “Never Walked Away” From ‘Wonder Woman 3’ & Gives Update On ‘Rogue Squadron’
“I was open to considering anything asked of me,” tweeted Jenkins. “It was my understanding there was nothing I could do to move anything forward at this time. DC is obviously buried in changes they are having to make, so I understand these decisions are difficult right now.”
Gunn replied on Twitter, “I can attest that all of Peter [Safran] and my interactions with you were only pleasant and professional.”
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