Well, who doesn’t love Superman, and, at the same time, who doesn’t love Nicolas Cage? Thus, the fans were disappointed after the documentary film was canceled even before it made it to the big screens. Directed by Jon Schnepp and Produced by Holly Payne, the film focuses on the behind-the-scenes look at the pre-production of 1966-98 Superman Live.
The film was an intended reboot of the film series of Superman based on everyone’s favorite DC comic titled The Death Of Superman. The movie’s filming was set to begin in the April of 1998 but got canceled three weeks before the shooting started. The title of the canceled film from the 1990s was Superman Lives which was set to be directed by Tim Burton.
Jon Peters was to produce the documentary film, and it would have featured Brainiac, Lex Luthor, and Doomsday as villains. The lead of the film was set to feature Nicolas Cage in the character of Clark Kent, Superman, Chris Rock in the role of Jimmy Olsen, and Sandra Bullock in the role of Lois Lane.
The canceled film came into the limelight after pictures of Nicolas Cage went viral wearing Superman’s costume with long hair between 2009-2015. The main plot for the film was going to focus on Brainiac, an alien supercomputer set to end the life of Superman while simultaneously blocking sunlight to unleash Doomsday.
The script also focuses on an insecure Clark, unable to come to terms with his feelings for Lois Lane, a human who works for him. The enticing star power set to feature in the film wasn’t enough to get the Superman film franchise off the ground. The first person contacted by Warner Bros to write the script for the film was Kevin Smith, as he admits on his podcast.
The elements set by Peters for Smith to follow included Superman letting go of his old costume, his ability to fly, and having him fight an enormous spider for the climax of the film, thus making things difficult for Kevin to write the storyline for Superman’s resurrection. Kevin was asked to step down as the writer for the film when Wesley Strick was brought by Warner Bros to write the story for the film.
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Why Was Superman Lives Cancelled?
The Die-hard fans of the DC comics and films have been aware of the existence of Nicolas Cage’s Superman after several photos of Nicolas during his costume fittings for Superman went viral years ago. The pictures showcased Nicolas having long hair while he was putting on a plasticky-looking Superman suit. However, sadly for the fans of Cage and Superman, the film titled Superman Lives, which was to feature Nicolas as Superman, never saw the light of day.
The fans of DC were dismayed as they were eagerly waiting for the new Superman film after the initial announcement was made. This left the fans in confusion and curious to know the reason behind the maker’s decision. The reason behind the cancellation of the film was revealed to be the lack of budget for it.
Even though Burton was helming the film after the success of Batman, the film Superman Lives got shelved after Burton’s film Mars Attack failed to impress the audience, thus tanking at the box office with a collection of only $101 M.
There were several production issues along the way that added to the decision of producers and Warner Bros. to cancel the film. After the failure of Mars Attack, Warner Bros was skeptical of Tim Burton directing the film even though his other films have been a success.
Another reason for the film not making it to the big screen was the leaked pictures of Cage in Superman’s costume, which convinced the fans that Cage didn’t suit for the role of Superman.
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