From his first appearance as a jort-wearing teenager in Best of Times, Nicolas Cage has gifted the world with role after countless role of Nouveau Shamanic genius, thus cementing his eternal role as the One True God. Now, one Academy Award (and five Razzie nominations) later, his incredible career may appear flawless to most, but there is, in fact, one glaring omission in his IMDb resume: Superman.
Oft-fabled and notorious, Warner Brothers’ Superman project went through many hands and much mismanagement before ultimately ending up as Bryan Singer’s 2006 ball of meh (Kevin Smith’s story about his time working on it should give you the best idea for how unbelievably stupid the direction was at times), but at its most promising, the movie was known as Superman Lives, to be directed by Tim Burton and starring Cage as Superman himself. For years, hilarious photos of a costume test was all there was (along with rumors and tears), but thanks to filmmaker and scholar Jon Schnepp, we now have the “holy grail” footage of Cage trying on his Superman suit, awkwardly pretending like he had any mobility in that thing whatsoever.
Available to be viewed at the Los Angeles Times, the groundbreaking footage was acquired by Schnepp for his upcoming documentary The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?, which puts together the pieces of the story through interviews with those close to the project, including Tim Burton, Kevin Smith, and Dan Gilroy (but no Cage, it seems, who is perhaps still too heartbroken after having lost a role so close to his heart).
If you can keep it together, the whole tragic documentary will be available to watch online July 9. Until then, just take solace in knowing that National Treasure 3 is in the works.
The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? is out July 9.
(via Consequence of Sound)
