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| Unseen footage of Nicolas Cage in costume for Superman Lives emerges | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Never-before-seen test footage has emerged of Nicolas Cage as Superman from an infamous abandoned Tim Burton film which would have been the director’s follow-up to Mars Attacks. | Never-before-seen test footage has emerged of Nicolas Cage as Superman from an infamous abandoned Tim Burton film which would have been the director’s follow-up to Mars Attacks. |
| The 1997 video shows Cage, with shoulder-length hair, trying on a sculpted, skintight electric blue bodysuit. The actor, who appears lean and athletic even without the figure-forming effect of the outfit, asks if the suit will “feel looser the more I wear it” as he tests the limits of the outfit by swinging his arms back and forth and reaching towards the ceiling. | The 1997 video shows Cage, with shoulder-length hair, trying on a sculpted, skintight electric blue bodysuit. The actor, who appears lean and athletic even without the figure-forming effect of the outfit, asks if the suit will “feel looser the more I wear it” as he tests the limits of the outfit by swinging his arms back and forth and reaching towards the ceiling. |
| “There’s been stills out there from this test, and the stills don’t do it justice at all,” says Superman Lives director’s assistant Derek Frey during the video. “Initially I was really struck by how he looked in the suit. His physique, it was different to what we had seen before.” | “There’s been stills out there from this test, and the stills don’t do it justice at all,” says Superman Lives director’s assistant Derek Frey during the video. “Initially I was really struck by how he looked in the suit. His physique, it was different to what we had seen before.” |
| Related: Nicolas Cage almost played a 'psychologically traumatised' Superman for Tim Burton | Related: Nicolas Cage almost played a 'psychologically traumatised' Superman for Tim Burton |
| Concept art from the abandoned project shows a Cage-like Superman with traditional short hair, so the actor’s tresses may have been for another project. The all-blue suit – the superhero’s usual external red underpants are nowhere to be seen – is one of three which Superman would have worn during the film: there was also a black outfit, and a rainbow-effect version. | Concept art from the abandoned project shows a Cage-like Superman with traditional short hair, so the actor’s tresses may have been for another project. The all-blue suit – the superhero’s usual external red underpants are nowhere to be seen – is one of three which Superman would have worn during the film: there was also a black outfit, and a rainbow-effect version. |
| Superman Lives was originally due to be released in 1998 but had a troubled production history featuring a number of rewrites. Cage eventually walked away in 2000 and there would not be another Superman film until 2006’s Bryan Singer-directed Superman Returns. | Superman Lives was originally due to be released in 1998 but had a troubled production history featuring a number of rewrites. Cage eventually walked away in 2000 and there would not be another Superman film until 2006’s Bryan Singer-directed Superman Returns. |
| The footage has been unearthed for the forthcoming documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? The crowd-funded film, which features interviews with Burton, screenwriters Kevin Smith and Dan Gilroy and costume designer Colleen Atwood, hits video on demand on 9 July. | The footage has been unearthed for the forthcoming documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? The crowd-funded film, which features interviews with Burton, screenwriters Kevin Smith and Dan Gilroy and costume designer Colleen Atwood, hits video on demand on 9 July. |
| Gilroy said in October that his take centred on an alienated Superman unaware of his identity as the last son of Krypton. | Gilroy said in October that his take centred on an alienated Superman unaware of his identity as the last son of Krypton. |
| “I was very much taken by Tim’s approach, which was that Kal-El was not told by Jor-El, before he got put in the little spaceship, who he was or where he came from,” he said. “So poor little Kal-El, when he winds up on Earth, he has no freaking idea where he came from. His biggest fear is that he’s an alien. | “I was very much taken by Tim’s approach, which was that Kal-El was not told by Jor-El, before he got put in the little spaceship, who he was or where he came from,” he said. “So poor little Kal-El, when he winds up on Earth, he has no freaking idea where he came from. His biggest fear is that he’s an alien. |
| “He can’t commit [to Lois Lane] because he doesn’t know who he is or what is going on with him. He’s hoping that he has some physiological condition that gives him these powers but that he’s still human. It becomes very apparent, though, early in the script, when Lex Luthor uncovers the remnants of the spacecraft, he suddenly realises – ‘Oh my god, I’m an alien.’ It was all about the psychological trauma of it. I loved it.” | “He can’t commit [to Lois Lane] because he doesn’t know who he is or what is going on with him. He’s hoping that he has some physiological condition that gives him these powers but that he’s still human. It becomes very apparent, though, early in the script, when Lex Luthor uncovers the remnants of the spacecraft, he suddenly realises – ‘Oh my god, I’m an alien.’ It was all about the psychological trauma of it. I loved it.” |