It's a Bird!It's a Plane!It's a Documentary!

Superman Documentary Flies

from Sci-Fi Wire

Superman Returns director Bryan Singer told SCI FI Wire that he decided to produce a feature-length documentary about the Man of Steel while researching the character's past. Excited by what he found, Singer decided to produce Look Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman.

"It was a very elaborate process," Singer said in an interview. "It's comprised of 50 or more interviews. It involved going to archives, researching and tracking down and optioning footage that people have never seen before of early incarnations of Superman."

Look Up in the Sky explores Superman's beginnings in comic books and his early presence in movies, ranging from Max Fleischer cartoon shorts (screened before feature films in movie theaters in the 1940s) to 1951's Superman and the Mole-Men, starring George Reeves, which inspired the first Superman TV series. There's also coverage of the Superman movie revival that began in the 1970s, TV's Lois and Clark and Smallville, and footage from Superman Returns.

"I partnered with Kevin Burns to produce this documentary for Warner Brothers," Singer said. "Kevin is an old friend and has produced Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days and a number of other amazing films and documentaries. I thought it would be a nice thing to have on the air before the movie comes out as a way of getting people in the mood for Superman."

Singer said that he hopes to strike a deal for the documentary to be aired on TV sometime in June, and there's a chance for a limited theatrical release. Look Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman is currently slated for a June 20 release on DVD.