Early News

There's a short article about SR in the newest issue of EW. The article was the usual stuff but it did include this picture of Kevin as Lex Luthor. It's much smaller in the magazine.

I've started looking around at the various places where some of the SR items may start showing up soon. Today I was checking out the collectors card area at Target and there was a little boy grabbing all sorts of baseball card packets and for a split second I wondered what a fan would have to do if they were confronted by a little kid standing there holding the only packet of SR autograph collector cards. It's the Hopper collectibles conundrum all over again!

I've started a new page for the upcoming SR/Lex Luthor memorabilia that I am hoping will be coming our way.

I swiped this small bit of info from the bluetights.net site who got it from
Comics Continuum - there will be a Superman Returns HBO First Look in June, repeated several times in June. The dates and times are on the Spacey Calendar page.

SUPERMAN RETURNS DIRECTOR BRYAN SINGER AND SUPERMAN RETURNS SCREENWRITERS MICHAEL DOUGHERTY AND DAN HARRIS TO PLOT FOUR COMIC BOOK PREQUELS TO SUPERMAN RETURNS.

SUPERMAN RETURNS: LEX LUTHOR

Story by Bryan Singer & Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris
Script by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Art by Rick Leonardi
Cover by Adam Hughes

Lex Luthor always dreamed of a world without a Superman. How will Superman’s arch-nemesis react when he finally gets what he’s wanted for so many years?

On sale June 21 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

Stolen from Janet at Legacy. For serious collectors there is news of the Lex Luthor bust.

Each bust is hand-painted cold-cast porcelain and is packaged in four-color boxes. It measures 5.625" H x 3" W x 2.5" D.

Go to www.comics2film.com and click on the link for Comics2Film Fan Feed: Busted to see the picture.

New pictures from the Superman set have appeared on the web at calendarlive.com and cinemablend.com . You can see the Spacey pics by themselves on the SR Photographs page. Thanks to Joanne, Janet, Jennifer and Donna K.

You can get a quick look at Kevin as Lex Luthor in the latest video journal at bluetights.net. Journal # 27 covers wardrobe selection for Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey. Lex Luthor is shown briefly at the end of the journal. The journal is available in Windows Media and Quicktime. You can also find the journal at the official Superman Returns site. The journal is in comic book form turning into the video. That's lots of fun.

www.supermanreturns.com

I also noticed that there's going to be a Superman Returns Monopoly game. Sadly, the collectible pewter tokens do not include a tiny Lex Luthor.

www.bluetights.net

Rumor has it that a second trailer for the film is to be seen with the new movie Glory Road. That's the basketball movie we've all seen commercials for on TV.

I've added the Kevin Spacey Q&A from the current WIZARD magazine to the SR Articles section. I'll move it to the SR Interviews section once I have one. Thanks to Kelly for taking the time to type it up for us.

I've added the pertinent Spacey excerpts and photo from the February issue of Premiere to the Superman Returns Articles page.

In yesterday's Washington Post newspaper, Style section, annual In/Out list for the new year. They say Batman is OUT and Superman is IN. No picture of Kevin.

The pre-release publicity for Superman Returns is getting into gear. There's supposed to be a new picture of Kevin as Lex Luthor in the new Premiere, with Kate Bosworth and Brandon Routh on the cover. Plus, Kevin is interviewed in Wizard magazine. Issue # 172, with Superman on the cover. I haven't managed to find this issue in stores so far so don't have the interview yet. The Premiere doesn't seem to be on the stands here yet either. Once I can get hold of either magazine, I'll add to the sparse Superman Returns section.

Brandon Routh is also supposed to be on the cover of the UK magazine Empire, as Superman, but so far I haven't read anything that says Kevin's part of the article involved.

I hope Warner Brothers realizes how ticked off Kevin Spacey's fans are gonna be if Lex Luthor isn't part of the Superman media blitz. We want to see and read about K-E-V-I-N S-P-A-C-E-Y.

If we don't start seeing more of Kevin in these magazines, I'll be forced to come up with my own pictures and posters and things to post on this site. No one really wants to see Kevin's head pasted on old Gene Hackman studio pictures, believe me.

We'll also be expecting Lex Luthor memorabilia as well. Cereal boxes, action figures, T-shirts, posters, spiral notebooks, pencils, scrapbook stickers, scrapbook paper, window clings, posters, a special issue Lex Luthor magazine or two, maybe a bobblehead so we can smack.. er.. pat.. Kevin on the head when we get the urge..

I know! How about this.. a Lex Luthor Mr. Potato Head that comes with interchangeable Kevin Spacey movie hairpieces!! I know people who would buy those.

Superman Returns is going to be at the IMAX theaters as well as the regular theaters.

Luthor's Grand Plan

It's not quite Superman's cape, but this weekend in the Steinway showroom at Theme and Variations in Greenwich, you can go and see Lex Luthor's grand piano.

The $245,000 instrument was shipped to Australia for Superman Returns and was specifically requested by actor Kevin Spacey, who plays Luthor in the $330 million blockbuster. The piano was flown to Sydney from Steinway's Hamburg factory and took more than a year to assemble, using 2000 parts and 300 craftsmen. It is a model D, the type favoured by the world's leading pianists. Spacey was encouraged on the ivories in the early '80s by his classmate at the Juilliard School in New York, Val Kilmer, the original Batman in the big-screen franchise.

The piano has caught the attention of the Conservatorium of Music which is keen to raise funds to buy a Steinway to replace its ageing grand, however another model, also from Steinway, is now favoured.

Several of Australia's leading artists, including Margaret Olley, Reg Mombassa and John Olsen are rallying to raise funds for a new Steinway Concert Grand. An art auction with works donated by the respective artists will be held at the Conservatorium on November 23.

Above is our first official look at Kevin as Lex Luthor. Newsweek, September 12, 2005 issue, page 68. An article about the making of Superman Returns.

The atmosphere on set is surprisingly light. Spacey, with his head shaved for the role of Luthor, has turned his blue golf cart into the "Lexmobile." "This is Lex's Superbuster," Spacey says, giving a tour of the tiny vehicle. There are Kryptonite decals, like flames, on the sides. "We drove around the lot in it one day with a bullhorn, yelling 'Superman must die!'" On set, Singer and Spacey—who haven't worked together since Singer's film "The Usual Suspects" earned Spacey his first Oscar—joke around constantly. When Singer demonstrates how Spacey should arch his back when hit by debris, the actor observes his technique, then says, "I sense a little Brian Boitano in there."

A nice Kevin Spacey's Birthday gift for Spacey fans - our first look at Kevin as Lex Luthor. Link *fixed the link

Big thanks to Marlene, Laura, Cat, Joanne, cloc, Donna K., Linda, Cathie, and.. I know I've missed someone.

The picture to the right is the first glance at the Superman logo that will be part of the SR poster. Picture courtesy of DarkHorizons.com and Warner Brothers.

You can find a large high resolution version here. The version on the Superman Returns section entrance on this site, was lightened by me.

There are a few pictures from the set on the Triggerstreet.com MOBLOG. None of Kevin himself yet, but there are other Spacey/Lex Luthor-related shot. Thanks to Joubert.

Warner Brothers will have to work hard to come up with bits of SR memorabilia that can compare to the items that fans enjoyed with Beyond The Sea.

Finally a picture of Kevin in Australia! From The Daily Telegraph's Sydney Confidential:

Bald facts on a Super jogger
July 6, 2005

He's in town filming Superman Returns, but Hollywood heavyweight Kevin Spacey has also delivered a remarkable performance as The Invisible Man.

Until yesterday, the megastar's heavy filming schedule on the Fox Studios set - coupled with his incognito costume of bandana and sunnies - had kept Spacey's Sydney arrival from being detected.

And despite his attempts to conceal it, there's no disguising the fact that one of the world's most popular actors has gone bald.

Confidential reckons Spacey's Lex Luthor is set to precede Austin Power's Dr Evil as the meanest skinhead in the business. And judging by the actor's strict jogging regime, he's also going to be a lot fitter.

Spacey is the final US inclusion to the Superman line-up, which includes Kate Bosworth and Parker Posey.

Kevin is now in Australia working on the movie. I'm hearing the film has a projected rating of PG-13.

There is a Bryan Singer video journal that discusses the filming of the movie. Plus they have a counter ticking down the minutes until the movie is released.

There are apparently quite a few Superman related fan sites. I haven't had a chance to check any out yet though. If anyone knows of any good ones, let me know.

March 23, 2005

Principal photography has started in Australia.

Brandon Routh, will play the dual roles of Clark Kent and the Man of Steel. Joining Routh are Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane; Kevin Spacey as Superman's archenemy, Lex Luthor; James Marsden as Richard White; Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent; Parker Posey as Kitty Kowalski; Kal Penn as Stanford; and Sam Huntington as Jimmy Olsen.