Superbat

Superman, Batman Sequelize?

from E! Online

It is the ultimate fanboy fantasy not involving Princess Leia: More Batman, more Superman.

According to Thursday's Variety, the dream could come true as soon as 2008, in the form of sequel to Batman Begins, and 2009, in the form of a sequel to the upcoming Superman Returns.

Warner Bros., the studio behind both revived superhero franchises, would not comment on sequel plans. It called the Variety report "speculative."

Earlier this month at WonderCon, a leading comics convention, Superman Returns director Bryan Singer copped to having "ideas" for more Superman movies, ComicBookResources.com reported. But Singer said those ideas were "like my ideas for X-Men 3," a movie the ex-X-Men helmer is definitely not directing.

Still, the Website said, fans pressed ahead, asking what villains might pop up in additional Superman adventures. (Kevin Spacey plays Lex Luthor in Returns.) And, still, the Website said, Singer deflected.

"Let's see how the game plays," Singer said, per ComicBookResources.com.

The notion of a Superman Returns sequel, though a no-brainer, is indeed presumptive - the movie, the first Man in Steel big-screen adventure since 1987, doesn't open until June 30.

Batman Begins, the first Caped Crusader big-screen adventure since 1997, swooped into theaters last summer. With a $205.3 million take, it was the eighth-highest grossing 2005 release, per BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Variety pegged the Superman and Batman sequels as being in the planning stages. The trade paper noted that Warners has contractual dibs on the movies' respective cape-wearers, Superman Returns' Brandon Routh and Batman Begins' Christian Bale, but that it doesn't have done deals with the films' respective directors, Singer and Christopher Nolan.

The Batman project, however, does have a screenwriter, Variety said: Jonah (or Jonathan) Nolan, brother of Christopher.

Christopher Nolan currently is directing Bale and Hugh Jackman as dueling magicians in The Prestige. According to the Internet Movie Database, he's also set to call the shots on The Exec, an action/drama penned by his sibling.

Singer's schedule is just as booked. The director probably would get his long-planned Logan's Run remake up and running before returning to Metropolis, Variety said. His to-do list also includes a dramatized version of The Mayor of Castro Street, about slain gay politician Harvey Milk.