Superman is to fly again on the silver screen, in a new movie about the comic book hero by director Zack Snyder, he told Hollywood industry press Tuesday.The film, the first since "Superman Returns" failed to take off fully in 2006, will also benefit from the experience Christopher Nolan, who successfully relaunched the "Batman" franchise.
"It's hard not to be a Superman fan with his place in pop culture and how iconographic he is," Snyder told the daily Variety newspaper, paying tribute to Nolan's role as producer on the new Warner Bros movie.
"He provides that extra bit of wisdom to a process that sometimes lacks it," he added.
The 2006 Superman movie, directed by Bryan Singer, made 390 million dollars globally, a relatively disappointing sum for Warner which had spent 210 million to produce it.
With Snyder Warner is banking on a director who has proved his talent with films including "300," "The Watchmen" and the just-opened 3D animated feature "Legend of the Guardians."
Nolan has been a favorite for Warner since relaunching another faded comic book hero, with "Batman begins" in 2005 followed by "The Dark Knight" in 2008, which made a billion dollars worldwide.
The screenplay is being worked on by David Goyer, who wrote "Batman begins." The actor who will don the famous blue-and-red costume immortalized by Christopher Reeve has not yet been chosen.
The release date for the new movie has not been decided, but Warner, which is producing it with Legendary Pictures, hopes to have it ready for Christmas 2012, Variety reported.
