Jonah directing the new Superman movie?

Christopher's younger brother and writer of several of his films.
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Joined: December 2009
A couple of days back, GeekTyrant reported a salacious little bit suggesting Jonah Nolan was up for directing duties on the new ''Superman'' movie. An easy enough rumour to swallow too, if you ask me - after all, besides the fact that Jonah Nolan's brother Chris is attached to produce the 2012 Man of Steel re-rinse, Jonah himself is already working at WB - as a writer on another high-profile superhero flick, ''Batman 3''.

Still, that didn't stop a couple of sites from suggesting the aforementioned report was merely supposition... or codswallop.

For a couple of days now I've been working on getting some kind of confirmation... Or even a response... from someone at the studio (not necessarily those working on ''Superman'') regarding the rumours. Now I'm not just talking about trying to touch base with the PR department there, I'm talking about getting some sort of inside response from a desk jockey. Some of you may recall that I was developing a film at Warner Bros a couple of years ago (before abandoning it to work on a couple of smaller, less ambitious projects like ''Complacent'' and ''Cowboy Charm'')? well, I made quite a few friends in my time there, and while I haven't kept in touch with everyone from my Burbank stretch (some have moved on to other companies, and so forth), there is a select few that I do play phone hooky with every month or so. And I thought at least one of them might be privy to some info on the tentpole - and I was right.

Late this afternoon I hopped on the phone with a contact who shed some light on the J. Nolan rumours.

"You know, some of that is true", my very reliable* contact, said ."Jonathan Nolan is not onboard yet, but it looks like he will get the job. Jonah wants to direct, Chris wants to land him that gig, WB doesn't want to upset Chris. That said, it is far from a done deal -- but with Chris and Emma producing, the odds are with Jonah - kind of like Michael Mann producing his daughter's first feature: "How bad could things go?"".

"Also, it is a TV star that they're looking at for the lead - but, despite what that article says, I don't believe anyone has actually tested." (He/She has heard nothing of Zachary Levi being considered).

So there you have it, Nolan is the frontrunner for the job.

Sorry? What? Oh, you want to know which "TV star" is currently atop of the WB wishlist?

Says our insider, "[He's a] popular TV actor that no one is thinking of, but everyone will be thrilled with if he pulls on the blue tights"

Your first guess is likely the right one.

Still, the film's director also has a say - and he's yet to be officially appointed, let alone begun meeting with actors, so anyone could end up in the suit. Still, the studio does have their favourite at the moment.

(So, definitely no Brandon Routh, then? ''Certain very well-placed people at Warners loved Brandon Routh as Superman and wished he was continuing in the role, but unfortunately, he won't be back". But we knew that, right?)

My contact followed-up the phone call with an email later in the day, just to kindly ask if I could remove some names from the piece, and to suggest we also don't refer to the new film as a reboot because... "This Superman is neither a reboot or a sequel. It's just a Superman film. The basic elements of the storyline are: BIG action, BIG set-pieces, witty dialogue, playful romance, a light-hearted feelgood mood juxtaposed with derring-do and danger, top-notch cast, epic feel, sci-fi background (sounds a little like Donner, right?) BUT with some sort of huge twist on the legend."

Huge twist, hey? Shit, hopefully we're not talking Penguins with machine-guns!?

And that's all our contact has... for the moment. But I think that's enough to suggest that while nothing is solid at the moment, the concrete is being poured.

* This source has been spot-on before - he/she let us know, for instance, that Liev Schreiber was joining the cast of "Salt" (which we ran about a week before Variety confirmed it) and that Teresa Palmer had been cast in the now-abandoned "Justice League" (again, before the trades announced it). There's actually been quite a few other occasions - he/she has slipped us solid info on "Lethal Weapon 5" and "Fury Road", for instance - where this person has been spot-on.

http://www.moviehole.net/201025509-excl ... an-rumours

Interesting...and risky.

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Location: Puerto Rico
I really expected that. :thumbup:

Posts: 816
Joined: June 2010
hopefully he will. it will still be wally pfister behind the camera, but jonathan knows his stuff! brings the same mount of chips to the table as chris! and jonatan is the best thing next to nolan directing :) :) :thumbup:

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Location: Florida
I'm still unsure about this, but I mean if he has the directing talent like his brother does then by all means, go for it.

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Joined: August 2009
Whether its true or not, you have to admit it seems like an awesome idea. Chris saves Batman and then Jonathan saves Superman. It seems fitting.

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Location: Wisconsin, USA
I think maybe he should do at least one other film before this. I guess I just think doing any film would massively help him prepare him for Superman (including a low budget feature). My view point is that it might help him.

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http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/07 ... n-man.html
Ok, We have no clue if this is true, but this has come to our doorstep and it comes from a good source and it's intriguing enough that we thought we'd publish. We don't know if we want some of it to be true, but OK, read on and treat as a rumor if you like.

Some "Superman: Man of Steel" information passes our desk today; the 2012 Superman reboot that Christopher Nolan is overseeing. it essentially reads like this.

- Despite our massive skepticism, Jonah Nolan is apparently the frontrunner to direct "Superman." At least right now he is.
- Another name in the mix is "The Dark Knight" co-writer David S. Goyer, and yes, as a director, but he's potentially busy with another gig/deal for another superhero film (the story and script on "Man Of Steel" is his).
- WB want a writer/director for this "Superman" reboot as it would be cheaper than hiring writers and a director.
- Apparently the film was offered to the Wachowskis, but they balked.
- Some MAJOR Announcements are expected at Comic Con (duh)
- Christopher Nolan is all for his brother Jonah directing "Superman" and him producing the film.
- Apparently a draft of "The Man Of Steel" has come in and WB has been blown away.
- "It's either going to be Goyer or Nolan directing from the sounds of it."
- WB will likely be going with an unknown because they're going to want to sign up that talent for a three picture deal. The Zachary Levi "Chuck" story is BS, however our source says, "there is a list knocking around, but its nothing major and really worth nothing more than a fan wish-list."

Treat this all as intriguing rumors/take it with a grain of salt for now because that's how we're treating it, but we'll admit, we're a little taken aback and our interest has been piqued. We expect some major announcements from Comic Con between now and Saturday.

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I wish they would just announce who the director is already! :lol:

No rushing it, I suppose. Rushing is bad. D:

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Joined: December 2009
I know, I'm getting a little impatient too. ;)

WB's panel is Saturday so we *may* know something then.

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