Studio Briefing: Will Superman Return Again?

Director Bryan Singer has acknowledged that the less-than-stellar performance of Superman Returns has made prospects for another Man of Steel sequel a bit "iffy." The Associated Press quotes him as saying, "We haven't concluded a deal," but if a sequel gets a green light from Warner Bros, "the intention is to do it for [release in] 2009." Separately, Singer told Britain's Empire magazine, "Now that the character is established, I'd like to take the opportunity to bring in a more threatening element, a more terrible, foreboding element." Superman Returns, starring Kevin Spacey, Brandon Routh, and Kate Bosworth, has taken in $178 million at the domestic box office, below such other summer hits as The Da Vinci Code, X-Men: The Last Stand, Cars, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.