I think 60% fresh on Rottentomatoes.com and $140 mil in box office isn't that bad

I wouldn't call 60% fresh on Rottentomatoes a critically-panned movie and I don't think they were expecting this to be a blockbuster, so I say $140 mil is pretty good.

Indeed. The word of mouth was really bad and it was delayed for a long time. I think WB are probably very happy with Valkyrie's take.

Yeah, I think Valkyrie ended up being a modest success. It seemed to stay in theaters for awhile over the holidays.

But really, is there that much of a surprise about a reboot? It's been rumored for awhile, and it's clear that WB had lost some faith in Singer doing Superman else we wouldn't have had all this back and forth over the last 2 years. As much as folks that love the movie say it's only fanboys that complain about Returns, it seems like much more then that to me. Batman Begins was released and a lot of hype and anticipation followed it for a sequel. That wasn't the case with Superman Returns.

I would have been all for giving Singer a chance to continue as X2 was better all around then X-Men, but I can see why they would want to go in a different direction.

Variety said Valkyrie's box office take was a "victory" for United Artists and MGM.

The Wachowskis are all sizzle, no steak. Keep them FAR away from this project, please!

Valkyrie is still playing here. It was a good movie, too. Saying it was a failure is a gross understatement, given that there really wasn't promise to it to begin with.

Saying a Tom Cruise film never had promise is all kinds of wrong.

I didn't see Harold and Kumar until after Superman Returns, but now anytime I watch Superman I can't take it serious (well as serious as any super hero movie)

5 times, because let us all be honest, that guy in superman 3 was simply a movie lex clone

I'm not necessarily saying that, but with the controversy surrounding the film that's how it basically was. Cruise redeemed himself with Tropic Thunder (to me, anyway) so I was looking forward to this given the historical context.

I really liked it. One of my favorites from 2008.

The kid exhibited powers ONCE in Returns...immediately after being exposed to Kryptonite. Due to his hybrid nature, he's like the anti-Superman...Kryptonite gives him his power, rather than taking it away. So, you have mommy Lois not wanting him to grow up as a freak and keeping him away from Kryptonite (which should be pretty easy to do), and there you have it. He's now just another kid, and an element that can be ignored plot-wise.

Kind of OT, but can anyone post a link to the official Valkarie discussion here at DVDT? I wanted to see the film but it totally slipped my mind.

I bet you that they chose the kazawaski brothers because they made Keanu reeves fly in Matrix II and III. So they said hey "these mofo brothers can make Superman fly too!".

Some fat dude at Warner said that.

Great point.

Linky

As much as Valkryie was delayed, I doubt anyone expected it to gross the $80+ million it has done in the US.

Was this the intention in the script? If so, thanks, I was just about to ask the question why the kid could throw the piano, but not open the door when they were trapped in the pantry/kitchen room.

Yeah, that really makes sense.

No idea if that was the intention or not. Just my interpretation. But I have faith Singer knew what he was doing and left himself an out.

I freakin' want Brainiac

he is pretty hot

I think it's kind of silly to have made that a major plot point in Returns and then plan on completely ignoring the character in sequels. At that rate, he's worthless and Returns should have went a different direction.

I loved Superman Returns, and I think Singer was right to follow up Superman I & II. I'm sure lots of little things could have been changed about the film to make it better, I'm sure even Singer sees that now. There is only one big change I would have made to Superman Returns. The most exciting action sequence was when Superman rescued the airplane that was couldn't separate from the shuttle, and that was early in the film. From that point on, the action and level of intensity should never have let up.

"I think I'm starting to enjoy The Morning Read. Originally, I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do with it, but it's a good way of digesting what's going on. Like on Friday, I mentioned the Wachowski Bros./Superman trilogy rumor on Ain't It Cool. And just reading that and making a note of it in the Morning Read prodded me to contact a source that would absolutely be in the loop on making Superman. Verdict? Nope. No Wachowskis. Not at all."
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-...g-read-2-16-09

This is from Drew McWeeny, who wrote for 12 years as "Moriarty" for Ain't It Cool News.

He doesn't write for ACIN anymore?