Why Singer gave up X-Men 3 for Superman

Oh, but he’s just a kid!

That was what I thought when Bryan Singer walked into the function room of the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in L.A. during the press junket for Superman Returns (which opens tomorrow in Metro Manila). Wearing rubber shoes and a sweater over faded denims, Singer looked like a student eager to enjoy his summer vacation. It was hard to imagine him as the director of the smash-hit X-Men (2000) and its sequel X2: X-Men United (2003).

But why did he give up X -Men 3: The Last Stand for Superman Returns? We’ll know by and by.

As Singer sat before me, his deep-blue eyes fixed intensely on mine, I continued to wonder: Is this the "kid" who won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival for his initial effort called Public Access and the 1995 mystery-thriller The Usual Suspects which was nominated for a Best Picture plum by the BAFTA and which won for Kevin Spacey, one of its stars (who’s also in the cast of Superman Returns), a Best Supporting Actor Oscar?

So why did he give up X-Men 3 for Superman Returns (shot for more than six months at the Fox Studio in Australia)?

"It was a very difficult decision because I love the X-Men very much. If I could have split myself into two people, I would have done both. But that was not possible."

It was the fan in him that won out.

"I’m a tremendous Superman fan," Singer smiled. "I was 12 when I saw my first Superman movie in New Jersey with my mother. Before that, I was a fan of the reruns of the George Reeves TV series."

The movie had such an impact on him that Singer was hooked.

"It showed me that a comic-book character could actually inhabit a real and epic movie, and that was thrilling for me."

Besides, Singer added, he easily identified with Clark Kent, Superman’s alter-ego, because he, too, was an adopted child.

"I’m an only child and Superman is an only child. For that very basic reason, I have always felt a real connection with him and that is why he is my favorite super hero; that is why it’s important for me to tell my Superman story my way."

He saw his super hero in newcomer Brandon Routh when they met for the first time.

"He’s terrific, everything that I wanted him to be. Was he my only choice for the role? Well, yes. Once I found him and made the choice I can’t see it any other way. He auditioned and I saw one tape he had done previously and a second one. After that, I decided to meet him, so we met at a coffee shop here in L.A. We talked for about two hours... about friends and family... and through that conversation I started to find aspects of his own character and personality that applied to the way I saw Superman as a character."

Oh, he was actually observing ("sizing up") Routh during that conversation.

"Yes. In fact, at one point I told him, ‘Don’t be alarmed that I’m staring at you while we’re talking; I’m just trying to get a sense of who you are.’ His resemblance to Christopher Reeve was a plus factor. Superman has to always look as though he has stepped out of our collective memory and part of that is Christopher Reeve. But it wasn’t what I was looking for necessarily but it was an added benefit."

How was it working on Superman Returns vis-a-vis the two X-Men movies as far as the super hero angle is concerned?

"With X-Men, you get a number of super heroes and there’s always some different places to go. In Superman Returns, the entire movie rests on one person but he’s incredibly powerful... he flies and does all the things that haven’t been done at this level on film before. So it’s an extraordinary challenge, like making both X-Men movies combined."

So young, so busy, so in-demand, so successful. How is he taking all this?

"You know, I’ve been making films since I was 13 – home movies, war movies, horror movies – and I try to look at it as if I’ve been doing the same thing for decades. The budget and the scope get bigger, and I try to approach them the same way I did when I was a kid making those home movies. Every other day, I remind myself how lucky I am... I’m making a Superman movie!"

Now that he has done a Superman movie, is there anything that he would have done differently?

"I would have built in a three-week vacation time in the middle of the shooting," he answered with a laugh. "Honestly, I would have done that. I had no idea...You see, while shooting Superman Returns, I was also producing a six-hour mini-series for Sci-Fi Network and shooting in South Africa and I was also overseeing my TV series House which was shooting here in L.A. and I was doing a dozen other things. It was an endurance test and I survived it!"

You’re Superman!, I told him.

"You bet!" he exclaimed. "You bet!"

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