Oh, Superman Lives. You had such potential. You could have been amazing. If I could wish any one unmade film into existence it’d be… well, it’d be Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League. But if I got a second one, it would definitely be you.
Back in 1996, fans came this close to getting to getting a Superman movie written by Kevin Smith and directed by Tim Burton before they both became jokes at their own expense and starring Nicolas Cage right as he was starting to become one. It would have been based on the death and return of Superman. And it would have been so f-ing crazy.
Now documentary filmmaker Jon Schnepp is out to show the world how crazy and maybe find out where it all fell apart in The Death of ‘Superman Lives’: What Happened?.
Just in that trailer alone, there’s tons of new footage (the light-up regeneration suit looks better in motion than in stills, who knows how it would have looked in context?) and bits of interviews with almost everyone involved in the film. Sadly none of the actors appear, I’d have loved to have heard Nic Cage’s take on things.
Unfortunately, Schnepp still needs $85,000 to finish the film and has turned to crowdfunding. If you can give a guy 50 grand to make potato salad, you can help fund this. Until that happens, the only way to have to hear this story is from Kevin Smith just before he became ridiculously punchable.
You have no idea how often “the fiercest killers in the [blank] kingdom” gets referenced in my house.
