Tim Burton was not thrilled with the appearance of Nicolas Cage in the role of Superman Flash.
The director, 65, worked for almost two years in the 90s on Superman lives, starring Cage as the Man of Steel, before the project was scrapped. Speaking to the British Film Institute recently, Batman the director reflected on Cage’s surprise cameo as Superman Flash, as well as the return of Michael Keaton as Batman in a DC film. (Burton directed Keaton in the 1989 original and its 1992 sequel Batman Return.)
Speaking about Hollywood’s trend of bringing back beloved characters with the help of artificial intelligence, Burton said: “It’s going into another AI thing and that’s why I think I’m done studying. They can take what you’ve done, Batman or whatever, and culturally abuse it, or whatever you want to call it. Even though you’re a slave to Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So in my last years, I’m in a quiet rebellion against all of this.”
The bug juice the director also said he had no “regrets” working on Superman liveswhich was canceled after almost two years of pre-production.
Tim Burton attends the exhibition “Tim Burton, The Labyrinth” at “Espace Chapiteaux” on May 20, 2023 in Paris, France.
Julien Hekimian/Getty
“I will say this: When you work on a project for so long and it doesn’t happen, it affects you for the rest of your life,” Burton said. “Because you become passionate about things, and every thing is an unknown journey, and it hasn’t been there yet. But it’s one of those experiences that never leaves you, not even a little bit.”
In March, Cage, 59, made headlines by explaining why Superman lives never came to fruition during acceptance Diversity Legend & Groundbreaker Award at the Miami Film Festival.
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American actor Nicolas Cage at the premiere of the movie “Renfield” in New York on March 28, 2023.
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty
“They wanted Renny Harlin to make a movie,” Cage recalled to the audience, referring to Alpinist director, trans Diversity. “I sat down with Renny. I was doing another picture, he came over to the trailer and we talked. I liked Renny … but I thought if I was going to do it, it was going to be really hard to hit.”
The National treasure the star went on to say that he asked Burton to make the film instead, noting that he “was a big fan” of Burton’s work on the Batman films.
“But in the studio they were afraid because of Mars attacks!,” Cage said, referring to Burton’s 1996 release. “Warner Brothers lost a lot of money on the film. These movies that are really weird, that challenge and move the foundations, make a lot of people angry. I think they got cold [on Superman Lives].”
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“They spent a lot of money and they already did the sets and the costumes and what have you,” he recalled. “But you never know. I don’t mean to be cryptic Cage, but you never know!”
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Cage described his version of the character as “a really different, kind of emo Superman, but we never got there,” per Diversity.
Nicolas Cage Jokes About His Brief Superman Cameo in ‘The Flash’: ‘I’m Glad I Didn’t Blink’
After years of remaking, the film was finally abandoned. However, a documentary from 2015 called Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? — available on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD via its official website — revealed a picture of Cage in a Superman suit long brown hair, which went viral.
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Source: HIS Education