In 1996, due to the overwhelming success of the Batman films, Warner Bros. assigned producer Jon Peters to explore resurrecting another DC superhero franchise... Superman. Peters called upon Tim (Batman) Burton to direct the film which was first titled Superman Reborn and was to be based on the popular Death of Superman comic run in 1992. Burton and Peters signed actor Nicolas Cage, who had apparently been interested in the role, to play the lead. After hiring screenwriter Kevin Smith in 1997 to re-write the script the movies title became known as Superman Lives. Eventually Smith was taken off of the project and new writers were sought out. Tim Burton left the ill-fated epic behind in 1999 but producer Jon Peters remained its Captain.
By late 1999 Warner Bros. brought in screenwriter Bill Wisher to draft out a new script.
From its conception, Superman Lives had been bombarded with mostly negative fan criticism for its originally planned producer, director and actor. The negative response was further fueled by the initial script concepts and costume design plans (both official and rumored). After Nicolas Cage officially backed out of the project in 2000, and after much research, the production was scrapped.
During the creative process of the Superman Lives movie, Warner Bros. online created the
"Superman Lives Update" page to let fans know the status of the project. Currently, supermanlives.com links to another Warner Bros. promotional page unrelated to Superman.
All that reportedly remains of this production are various scripts, concept designs, costumes in their early stages, pre-production footage, and toy prototypes.
Producers
