‘Dark Knight’ director expected to reboot and repair Superman franchise

Warner Bros. Pictures has had an unprecedented string of box office hits this past decade. With the occasional exception (Inception), nearly all of these box office smash hits have been part of a reliably profitable franchise. Whether it be the likes of “Harry Potter,” “The Matrix,” “Batman,” or “The Lord of the Rings,” the appeal of owning an established franchise that can spawn multiple sequels, reliably making a hefty profit in the process is undeniable to studio executives. While Warner Bros. has managed to stretch “The Hobbit” into three films, it currently stands as the studios only established franchise still in production following the conclusions of both the “Harry Potter” and “Dark Knight” film series in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Drawing on arguably their biggest intellectual property, Warner Bros. has begun to more aggressively support the development of films based on DC Comics outside of the “Batman” series. While 2006’s “Superman Returns” underwhelmed and 2011’s “Green Lantern” was an absolute failure, the runaway success of Marvel’s superhero slate, culminating with “The Avengers’” 1.5 billion box office haul has led Warner Bros. to once again attempt to do things right.

So begins a new era for DC Comics films, beginning with its greatest hero: Superman.

Taking a cue from 2008’s “Batman” film “The Dark Knight,” the new Superman film will not use the iconic hero’s name in the title. Rather the reboot will simply be titled “Man of Steel.”

Starring Henry Cavill as the titular hero, the reboot will encompass the origins of the character from his arrival on Earth to his journey to become the hero known as “Superman.”

Amy Adams co stars as Daily Planet reporter and Superman’s love interest Lois Lane.

While the success of “Man of Steel” is not exactly a make or break moment for the studio, its success is vital to the future state of DC Comics’ film adaptations.

In other words, if “Man of Steel” fails at the box office, not only will Warner Bros. have even more severely damaged the reputation of the Superman film franchise and the prospect of launching a DC cinematic universe a la Marvel, in the process denying themselves reliable profits associated with all possible DC franchises.

Thankfully, this most likely won’t be the case. Warner Bros. has ensured that “Man of Steel” is in the right hands.

First and foremost, the film will be produced by Warner Bros’. star director Christopher Nolan, director of the “Dark Knight” trilogy and “Inception.”

The film’s story was also conceived by Nolan in collaboration with the films’ screenwriter David S. Goyer. The pair collaborated in similar roles on the “Dark Knight” trilogy.

The director of the film will be another of Warner Bros. most talented filmmakers. Zack Snyder, who has previously directed acclaimed film adaptations of the graphic novels “Watchmen” and “300.”

The film’s score will be handled by none other than Hans Zimmer, who has previously provided the score to Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. Zimmer has said that his score will not use John Williams iconic “Superman” theme from the original film series and 2006’s “Superman Returns.” Rather, Zimmer’s theme for the character will be entirely original, in accordance with the entirely original themes he composed for the “Dark Knight” trilogy.

The response from early screenings of the film is quite enthusiastic. Viewers describe the film as containing the dramatic character driven story of a Chris Nolan film with the awesome visual effect laden action pieces of a Zack Snyder film.

One can only hope that “Man of Steel” lives up to the hype. Find out when the film opens nationwide on June 14, 2013.