Superman Vs. Hollywood: How Fiendish Producers, Devious Directors, and Warring Writers Grounded an American Icon

Front Cover
Chicago Review Press, 2008 - Performing Arts - 339 pages

Superman has fought for nearly seven decades to conquer radio, television, and film--but his battles behind the scenes have proved a far greater threat than any fictional foe. For the first time, one book unearths all the details of his turbulent adventures in Tinseltown.

Based on extensive interviews with producers, screenwriters, cast members, and crew, Superman vs. Hollywood spills the beans on Marlon Brando's eccentricities; the challenges of making Superman appear to fly; the casting process that at various points had Superman being played by Sylvester Stallone, Neil Diamond, Nicolas Cage, Ashton Kutcher, and even Muhammad Ali; and the Superman movies, fashioned by such maverick filmmakers as Kevin Smith and Tim Burton, that never made it to the screen.

 

Contents

1 Test Patterns
1
2 The Monkey Suit
23
3 Purgatory
41
4 Flights of Fancy
56
5 Cape Fears
74
6 Metropolis Now
88
7 Reel Steel
104
8 Dicked
118
13 Krypton by Moonlight
191
14 Down Down and Astray
207
15 Grounded
222
16 The Phantom Zone
237
17 Superboy Redux
250
18 Fear of Flying
265
19 Takeoff
281
Epilogue
297

9 Pryor Motives
133
10 Girl Power
145
11 Nuclear Disaster
158
12 Escape the Cape
174
Source Notes
302
Index
316
Copyright

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About the author (2008)

Jake Rossen is a freelance writer who wrote a cover story for Wizard magazine on Superman Returns. He lives in Binghamton, New York.

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