Wachowski? Superman? Good Idea?

Superman is fucked up right now. After Bryan Singer's Superman Returns was met with less-than-expected box office receipts and much backlash from the fanboy community (including this blogger). As such, the good folks at Warner Bros. were quick to stop all plans for a sequel, got rid of Singer (as well as Brandon Routh, the actor who player Superman/Clark Kent) and then decided to work on a reboot, in the same vein as Batman Begins and Casino Royale. They weren't exactly rushing the property into production (there was an attempt by writer Mark Millar/director Matthew Vaughn to make a trilogy which went nowhere). This all changed when in came a lawsuit by the estate of the man of steel's creators, Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster. The final verdict: if WB don't have a new superman movie in production by 2011, then they could lose the rights to the property. With sobering news like that, it makes sense that WB would now fast track the reboot.

Who would take on such a project? For the longest time its been one name a one name only: The Wachowski Brothers. Rumors first started flying from Ain't It Cool News about their involvement on the film back in Febraury, but were quickly shot down a few days later. The rumors continued recently from a more-credible site, IESB, which attached their names on the project once again. This time around, the Wachowski were also attached with their protege James McTeigue, who previously directed V for Vendetta and the upcoming Ninja Assassin.

Further adding to the rumors was a recent interview with McTeigue and here was his answer to the rumors:

You know... I would say... I'll keep you guessing, actually. It's good not to dispel every rumor, right?

With answer like that it's hard not to notice that there's more going on behind-the-scenes than what meets the eye. Is this rumor legit? Will it just be shot down a few days later? Should the Wachowskis direct this?

Who are the Wachowski Brothers? Back in '99, the duo made it into director superstardom with The Matrix. The film was a spendid mix of philosophy and kung-fu. However, things haven't been so smooth for them. The sequel they made back in 2003, while succesful, were pretty much considered bloated and pretentious. After V for Vendetta (which they produced and written), the worked on the film adaption of the anime Speed Racer, opening in 2008. Critics considered the film a self-indulgent, seizure-inducing mess (I kinda liked it), and it quickly became of the biggest flops of the last ten years. Not to mention the persistent rumors that one of them, Larry Wachowski, may or may not be a post-op transsexual.

With this many speedbumps in their career like those, it would seem easy to question WB's motive to let these two helm one of their biggest franchises. Or maybe not. Most people forget how much money the Wachowskis made the studio with the Matrix Trilogy (the second film, Matrix Reloaded, is still the second-highest grossing R-rate film of all time), not to mention the duo and the studio have a fantastic working relationship spanning more than ten years. Not to mentino the new film Ninja Assassin, being produced by the brothers, is getting some major hype after its trailer premeire, and is now expected to become one of the fall's biggest hits (with a budget of only twelve million, this won't be hard to do.

The next big question is whether the Wachowskis should take on such a legendary character like the man of steel. It's a well known fact that the two are big comic book junkies (they created their own, now debunked, comic book company) as wells as a fan of the world's biggest boy scout (there's even an out-of-place Superman reference in Reloaded, and considering their penchant for big-ass visual effect and fight scenes, plus massive budgets, they could make the spectecle Superman that they underwhelming Superman Returns never was.

If the Wachowski Brother's really are attached to this film, then an official should be coming in the coming weeks/months. Until then, consider everything you read as an every-growing (and fascinating) rumor.