Time Magazine's website has a new article up about summer blockbusters, and with it comes a brand new photo of Superman! Unfortunately, the pic above is the highest resoltion image available for now.
The wave of magazine covers continues for the Superman Returns cast. Two to keep your eyes out for now are the current issue of Flare Magazine where Kate Bosworth graces the cover, and the June issue of Sci-Fi Magazine, with a new article about Superman Returns. You can pick up Flare now, and Sci-Fi will be on newsstands very soon.
The Cards, a manufacturer of Collectable gifts, has put up their website to promote their Superman Returns offerings. The site has a full listing of all of their Superman Returns-based giftware and collectables. The items include mugs, keychains, wall plaques, jewelry, lithographs and more. Click the link above to view them all.
A little weekend wrap-up tonight for Superman Returns. DrivingMrSpacey is reporting that Kevin Spacey, who plays the villanious Lex Luthor in Superman Returns, will be hosting the season finale of Saturday Night Live on May 20th.
Also tonight, there's a great podcast up for those looking for more information on John Ottman's score. SoundTrack.net has updated with their most recent podcast - an interview with SR composer and editor John Ottman. It's a great interview with Ottman in which he discusses the many elements he's bringing into the score from the original Williams theme, plus the he goes into a pretty reasonable amount of detail on his original parts of the score.
Warner Brothers has provided three higher resolution images of photos that recently appeared in Nickelodeon Magazine and Premiere Magazine. Click the thumbnails above to view the photos, but be warned these could be considered spoilery for those keeping a clean pallette.
Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today they have secured an all-star cast for the voices in Superman Returns: The Videogame. The game will feature the voice and likeness of Brandon Routh (Superman/Clark Kent) as well as the voices of Kevin Spacey (Lex Luthor), Kate Bosworth (Lois Lane), Parker Posey (Kitty Kowalski) and Sam Huntington (Jimmy Olsen), all reprising their roles from the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures film directed by Bryan Singer.
Launching with the film this summer on June 28, Superman Returns: The Videogame allows players to experience a real sense of flying, and master Superman's unrivaled powers in order to save Metropolis. Based on the classic DC Comics books as well as the upcoming motion picture, Superman Returns: The Videogame draws from more than 60 years of comic lore to create the ultimate open-world super hero experience.
You can find out more about the game at BeSuperman.com. Also, stay tuned to Superman Booth for more of our behind the scenes coverage of the game.
Kal-El.org has an image of an awesome new ad for the "Got Milk?" campaign. I'm sure we all knew this was coming, but the company has added Superman to their list of spokespeople in their latest ad. Click the link above or the thumbnail to view the larger image.
Warner Brothers has provided two high-res versions of photos that recently appeared in EW Magazine, and a new photo of Kal Penn's "Stanford" character. You can view them by clicking the thumbnails below. Also, for those avoiding spoilers, the Luthor pic is a tad spoilery, so you may not want to view the larger image of it.
Play.com has two interesting new collectors items from Superman Returns. Among the many action figures they sell, they also have listed three framed photos, each flanked with film cells from Superman Returns. One is a new photo of Brandon in costume, and another is the teaser poster. They are both available for pre-order, and are expected to be released May 19th, 2006. Two of the frames measure 36 x 21 x 1cm each, and the third measures 18 x 13 x 1cm and can be viewed at the links below.
Well, if you hadn't already seen it, check out this fan-made storyboard trailer based on the online description of the ShoWest footage from a couple of weeks ago. It is now availible on You Tube!
You can view the trailer by clicking below, and you can even get code to post it wherever else you might want. Be warned, many who are trying to remain spoiler free have refrained from watching it. If you don't mind some potentially spoilery material, click below.
Download - This week there's a ton of good stuff in the email bag, including some great ideas for show topics. Also we cover a lot of quick news including IMAX 3D, an HBO First Look, and the current cover of EW magazine.
Download - A Fan-Made storyboard mock-up of the ShoWest trailer from this year's WB Presentation. Using an online description of the footage, two BlueTights.net fans recreated the trailer in storyboard format, and now you can watch it in your enhanced iTunes window.
Remember, you can easily subscribe to the SuperTalk Concern podcast to be updated whenever a new episode is published. If you have iTunes, simply click the iTunes button in the left menu of the BT main page, and when your player opens, just click subscribe. If you're using another subscription method for podcasts, the feed url for SuperTalk Concern is -
Music from the Movies has posted this little description of their upcoming 50th issue on their site:
Issue 50 of Music from the Movies is going to be a very special edition! Not only will we be celebrating that we have survived so long, but we will be spotlighting some of the most anticipated scores of the summer, including John Ottmans Superman Returns, John Powells X-Men 3, Michael Giacchinos Mission: Impossible 3 and Marco Beltramis Omen 666.
Click the link above to check out the site, and look for the magazine soon! Ottman's score is scheduled to be released on June 27th by Rhino Records.
Superman graces the cover of the current Entertainment Weekly magazine in one of the best photos released so far. The cover shot has Brandon in the "hero" zone flying toward the camera. In the article, EW gives Brandon Routh and director Bryan Singer a pop-culture quiz about all things Superman. You can view the cover by clicking the thumbnail to the right. Be sure to pick up your copy of the magazine, on newsstands now!
ComicsContinuum has learned that the HBO 13-minute Superman Returns First Look will premiere on the cable network on June 19th at 10:15pm. If you should miss it the first time around, it will also be repeated on the following dates:
EA has released the box art for the upcoming Superman Returns: The Video Game. The game is due to be released on June 28th, just days before the film's release. BlueTights.net has already begun a series of behind the scenes reports about the game, with more to come. You can read our existing reports below, and click the picture on the left to see it bigger.
The website for the Superman Returns Toys has updated again. Now they've added the option to order the Mattel SR toys online from the site. Click the link above to check them out and pre-order yours today!
BrandonRouth.com has posted another link to Zero-G Action Wire Specialists, the effects team that specializes in making people fly. They've added a video to their site that demonstrates some of their work. It starts with several shots from The Matrix films, and then proceeds to their work on Superman Returns. The video has some incredible shots of both Stephan and Brandon in their wire rigs getting a little flying practice.
In addition, Film&Video has an interview up with Mark Stetson about making the Man of Steel fly and more. Stetson is the Visual Effects Supervisor on Superman Returns.
What were the challenges in doing the effects for Superman Returns?
First, tradition making sure that we have a movie that is true to the tradition of the iconic Superman. Two, this is a movie where theres an awful lot of Superman flying around. He flies by every means available, from huge hydraulic gimbal rigs to digital doubles and even having Superman standing on a box of green screen. Its good to keep a lot of tricks available so you can find the best solution to the problem. If he were always a digital character, it would be wrong.
AICN got to spend some one on one time with Superman star Brandon Routh at this year's ShoWest convention in Las Vegas. They chatted about several things, including what it's like to be made into a toy.
QUINT: I noticed the Weta Collectible SUPERMAN RETURNS statues just popped up online and have seen a lot of the merchandising for the movie previewed out of Toy Fair. Is it weirding you out to see yourself starting to pop up all over the place?
BRANDON ROUTH: Yeah, it's crazy. I've seen some of the stuff online and some of the things look like me and some of the things don't really look so much like me. (laughs) Like they had to make the jaw bigger because it has to fit on the neck joint on these things. I've heard these things, I understand. Maybe it's good that not everything looks like me. But it's pretty crazy, especially those Weta things. I know Bryan (Singer)'s really excited about those things happening. I'm eager to actually see one in person.
Click the link above to read the entire interview.
Warner Brothers has introduced the Superman Returns Webmaster Program. This brand new site is a huge collection of Superman Returns assets that you can download and use on your fan sites to help promote the film as we lead up to it's release. Included on the site are logos, video clips, photos, official artwork, and tons of web elements like Kryptonian logos, news feeds, and a countdown clock! Click the link above to check them out!
BrandonRouth.com posted some new links to a couple of the effects houses who worked on Superman Returns. One of the companies, Zero-G Action Wire Specialists has a new, albeit small photo on their site. It shows Brandon in an elaborate wire harness, flying in front of a green screen. It's a pretty cool picture, and an interesting illustration of just how far wire work has come.
IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that Superman Returns, directed by Bryan Singer, will become the world's first live-action Hollywood feature to be converted from 2D to IMAX 3D. IMAX Corporation will use its proprietary 2D to 3D conversion technology to convert approximately 20 minutes of the film into An IMAX 3D Experience, the most immersive cinematic 3D in the world.
"Releasing select sequences of 'Superman Returns' in IMAX 3D marks a groundbreaking moment in movies," said Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures. "This film is going to give fans an opportunity to be immersed in a major live-action motion picture like never before."
The epic action-adventure directed by Bryan Singer ("X-Men," The Usual Suspects), will be transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience through IMAX DMR (Digital Re-Mastering) technology. The film will be simultaneously released to IMAX and conventional theatres on June 30, 2006. Warner Bros. Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of the film to the growing IMAX theatre network worldwide.
"The test scenes that have been converted into IMAX 3D look, sound and feel absolutely amazing," added Bryan Singer, director of Superman Returns. "The magic of IMAX 3D will envelop audiences in this story, enabling them to feel the emotion, drama and suspense in a completely new and unique way."
During select sequences of the film, a visual cue designed by Singer will indicate when audiences should put on and remove their IMAX 3D glasses.
"We are delighted to partner with pioneering visionaries Bryan Singer and Warner Bros. Pictures to transform part of this highly anticipated release into An IMAX 3D Experience," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "Today's announcement is a culmination of a great film, a great filmmaker, a great studio, and great technology - all working together to produce the most powerful and immersive cinematic experience available to moviegoers worldwide."
"Five out of the seven films in our 2006 line up now feature IMAX 3D," said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "We are thrilled that moviegoers will be able to experience Bryan Singer's unique and exhilarating vision. Through the magic of IMAX 3D, they will feel as if they are actually flying alongside the man of steel, weaving in and out of Metropolis."
In our continuing behind the scenes coverage of the development of Superman Returns: The Video Game, we start this time with more great conceptual art for the city of Metropolis. The model to the right is a large plaster mockup of the gameplay area created by the game's Art Director. The model represents an area slightly larger than the area which you can play in as Superman. The large island towards the middle of the model is Metropolis itself, surrounded on all sides by water.
This second model is a more detailed version of the city itself, designed to give game programmers an idea of the sheer density of the city they're dealing with. The model also illustrates how the city was designed to be experienced vertically. Instead of everything existing on a single plane, the island is made up of multiple tiers, allowing for varied and interesting flight experiences as you soar around the city you've sworn to protect. Below you can view three details of the Metropolis model, constructed of plaster and balsa wood.
Being the first open world game to allow the player to move vertically and horizontally, Metropolis is specifically designed for fun at all levels. Objects at all levels are interactive. You can pick up cars to hurl at your enemies, or fly to the top of the GNN building and commandeer one of their broadcasting satellite dishes for the greater good of distributing beat-downs to villains in need.
Metropolis is more than just your sanbox in this game, though. It's your constant mission. As Superman, you're sworn to protect the people of this great city. Previous games have always given Superman a life meter, and we all know that simply won't do for Superman. Staying true to the ways of the comics, in Superman Returns: The Video Game, you're not fighting for your own life, but for those in the city around you. As you battle your opponents, a "City Health" meter on your screen monitors how much damage they are inflicting on their surroundings.
With Metropolis fate always at stake, you're forced to make the REAL decisions of a Superman. No more can you afford to play it safe to recharge your health and fight another day. You will be faced constantly with decisions that seperate the boys from the Supermen. For example - you fly across a burning building in suicide slums, but Metallo it terrorizing the business district uptown, and the fire-fighters are stuck in traffic 4 blocks away. You can deal with the fire yourself while Metallo continues to destroy the city, and thus lower the "City Health" meter, or you can pick up the fire truck, place them at the fire, and then rush off to deal with the larger threats that take a "super" touch. By making Metropolis the center of attention, Superman Returns: The Video Game aims to deliver on their promise of letting the player be Superman like never before. Stay tuned to Superman Booth in the coming weeks for more coverage of the game and it's development.
Time Magazine's website has a new article up about summer blockbusters, and with it comes a brand new photo of Superman! Unfortunately, the pic above is the highest resoltion image available for now.
Kal-El.org has an image of an awesome new ad for the "Got Milk?" campaign. I'm sure we all knew this was coming, but the company has added Superman to their list of spokespeople in their latest ad. Click the link above or the thumbnail to view the larger image.
Superman graces the cover of the current Entertainment Weekly magazine in one of the best photos released so far. The cover shot has Brandon in the "hero" zone flying toward the camera. In the article, EW gives Brandon Routh and director Bryan Singer a pop-culture quiz about all things Superman. You can view the cover by clicking the thumbnail to the right. Be sure to pick up your copy of the magazine, on newsstands now!
BrandonRouth.com posted some new links to a couple of the effects houses who worked on Superman Returns. One of the companies, Zero-G Action Wire Specialists has a new, albeit small photo on their site. It shows Brandon in an elaborate wire harness, flying in front of a green screen. It's a pretty cool picture, and an interesting illustration of just how far wire work has come.
Being the first open world game to allow the player to move vertically and horizontally, Metropolis is specifically designed for fun at all levels. Objects at all levels are interactive. You can pick up cars to hurl at your enemies, or fly to the top of the GNN building and commandeer one of their broadcasting satellite dishes for the greater good of distributing beat-downs to villains in need.
Metropolis is more than just your sanbox in this game, though. It's your constant mission. As Superman, you're sworn to protect the people of this great city. Previous games have always given Superman a life meter, and we all know that simply won't do for Superman. Staying true to the ways of the comics, in Superman Returns: The Video Game, you're not fighting for your own life, but for those in the city around you. As you battle your opponents, a "City Health" meter on your screen monitors how much damage they are inflicting on their surroundings.
With Metropolis fate always at stake, you're forced to make the REAL decisions of a Superman. No more can you afford to play it safe to recharge your health and fight another day. You will be faced constantly with decisions that seperate the boys from the Supermen. For example - you fly across a burning building in suicide slums, but Metallo it terrorizing the business district uptown, and the fire-fighters are stuck in traffic 4 blocks away. You can deal with the fire yourself while Metallo continues to destroy the city, and thus lower the "City Health" meter, or you can pick up the fire truck, place them at the fire, and then rush off to deal with the larger threats that take a "super" touch. By making Metropolis the center of attention, Superman Returns: The Video Game aims to deliver on their promise of letting the player be Superman like never before. Stay tuned to Superman Booth in the coming weeks for more coverage of the game and it's development.
