'Got cold feet': Nicolas Cage FINALLY breaks silence on why Warner Bros killed Tim Burton's 'Superman'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Playing a comic-book character can be life-changing for any actor because it can take his or her career to a whole new level. However, not everyone is made for playing such characters and luck also plays an important role in this matter. In 1997, the entire world got to know that Nicolas Cage shot some Test footage for a 'Superman' movie that was going to be directed by none other than Tim Burton. The script was ready and the casting was done, but the movie never got made. Some believed that Cage didn't have the universal appeal for the role and the producers decided to shelve the movie.
Now, almost 26 years later, Cage has finally come forward to talk about the much-talked movie and why it never got made. However, he made it clear that, to this date, he doesn't know why the movie was shelved and why it was never discussed again.
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While accepting the Variety Legend & Groundbreaker Award at the Miami Film Festival, the 59-year-old superstar was asked why his 'Superman' movie never saw the light. The actor didn't just answer the aforementioned question, he also revealed how Tim Burton was roped in for the movie.
Cage roped in Tim Burton for 'Superman' movie
"They wanted Renny Harlin to do the movie. I sat down with Renny. I was doing another picture, and he came to the trailer and we talked. I liked Renny… but I thought if I’m going to do this, it’s such a bullseye to hit. I said this has to be Tim Burton. I called Tim and said, ‘Would you do this?’ Tim didn’t cast me, I cast Tim, and Tim said yes. I loved what he did with Michael [Keaton] and Batman, and I was a big fan," Cage said.
Meanwhile, Cage noted that the world could have seen a different kind of 'Superman' if they would have got there. He added, "It was more of a 1980s Superman with like, the samurai black long hair. I thought it was gonna be a different, sort of emo Superman, but we never got there."
Warner Bros lost faith in Burton
But why was it canceled? Well, the actor believes that Warner Bros. got 'cold feet' after one of their movies, 'Mars Attacks', went on to become a commercial failure and the production giant lost a lot of money. So, they didn't want Burton to be a part of the 'Superman' movie. He added, "He’s (Burton) a groundbreaker! But they were scared at the studio because of the ‘Mars Attacks.’ Warner Brothers had lost a lot of money on the movie. These movies that are weird, that challenge and break ground, piss a lot of people off. I think they got cold feet."
For the uninitiated, the cancellation of the movie was the subject of the 2015 documentary ‘The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?’.