Superman Lives with Nicolas Cage 1998
Jon Peters produced the 1989 Batman movie and in the '90s he got the film rights to Superman. Peters contacted Kevin Smith to write the screenplay. Smith met with Peters and the producer told him what he wanted. Smith found the pitch meeting odd and has told the story of what happened many times. Nicolas Cage was cast as Superman/Clark Kent and according to him it was he that brought Tim Burton on board. After Smith, Wesley Strick rewrote the script followed by a Dan Gilroy rewrite. Concept art was commissioned, Cage had fittings for various "Supersuits" and it all seemed a go but it never got off the ground. Since the script was based on the "Death of Superman" storyline I wanted to base the cover on the poly bag that covered the comic when it was first released which was black with only a red dripping Superman logo on front. It would also be reminiscent of the original VHS release of Batman which was black with only the Batman logo extended past the edges.
