Superman on the way back

Deadline Hollywood reports Warner Bros. has approached director Chris Nolan, who resuscitated the Batman franchise with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, to do the same for The Man of Steel. A new Superman movie would completely ignore the events of Superman Returns, which grossed $391 million worldwide but cost a whopping $270 million, in part because the project had so many false starts (remember when Tim Burton wanted Nicolas Cage to star?)

Nolan, who is putting the finishing touches on Inception (due July 16th) and is next slated to start work on a third Batman film, would not direct the Superman picture, but serve instead as a creative consultant and possibly as a credited producer. Bryan Singer, who directed Superman Returns and told me last year he still held out hope to get a shot at making another one, has moved on and is preparing to direct a new X-Men picture.

Also not returning will be Brandon Routh, whose career has pretty much fizzled since Superman Returns. I really liked the melancholy tone Singer brought to the Superman saga - the biggest problem with Superman Returns was that Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) just wasn't enough of a villain - and I would have liked to see what Singer would have done having learned from his mistakes. Now we will never find out.

Don't expect Superman 3.0 in theaters any time soon, though. It will be at least a year, if not more, before a script is written and pre-production on the project begins in earnest.