It's Just Movies

— by SEAN GERSKI —

I’m usually not big on writing about Internet rumors. It’s not necessarily because I don’t think there is any value in it (although there usually isn’t), but it’s because it is rarely worth the effort. With as fast as news travels these days, it usually doesn’t take long before the rumor is debunked and writing the story was a waste of time.

Having said that, occasionally something catches my eye and seems worth the effort. And that’s the case with the idea that the next Superman movie could be called “Kal-El.” Sure the source couldn’t be sketchier, but it’s an idea worth thinking about.

Bleeding Cool recently was investigating a story in The Sun (and, of course, any story from The Sun needs to be investigated). The Sun’s story says the next James Bond movie will be called “Red Sky at Night” (which itself is an interesting tidbit). In the course of its investigation, Bleeding Cool came across the following message on the forum at www.ajb007.co.uk:

Hi, new here guys, nice to find such a cool site. Im close friends with an art director in the film industry, i wont mention his name but he has worked closely with production designer Michael Carlin and is about to start work in Canada on Kal-El, the next Superman movie. He was busy in 2010 on Bond 23 before it went into hiatus. He told me that the movie for a while had the code name Red Shadow, but when official documentation and the script arrived it contained the title Red Sky At Night and as such was reffered to as this by Sam Mendes, Michael Carlin and the producers and the studio etc. I think its a pretty cool title myself though out of the two Red Shadow is better i think though Red Sky At Night has a classic Bond Movie ring to it. he also said that filming would have been done in Ontario, Canada and there was a large stunt involving the Ontario Tower as well as a huge hockey game and skiing/winter sports sequences. What do you guys think?

In journalism terms, forum posts rank below Wikipedia when it comes to credibility. However, interesting items do make their way onto forums and I think this is one of those cases.

From what I have read, the next Superman movie, for the most part, has gone by three names: “Superman”; “Superman: Man of Steel”: or “Man of Steel.” Each of the three has merits and all make sense. Before the overwhelming success of “The Dark Knight,” it would have been crazy to imagine the movie’s title wouldn’t include the word “Superman.” If you have one of the most recognizable superheroes in the world in your movie, you might want to mention that.

However, “The Dark Knight” proved that you don’t need to do so. In fact, some have pushed the theory that not including “Batman” in the movie’s title was a good thing, as more adults would go to a movie named “The Dark Knight” than they would to “Batman: The Dark Knight.” Personally, I don’t buy it. The quality of the movie trumps all. I think a great name won’t help a poor movie and a bad name won’t kill a great movie.

As for “Kal-El,” I don’t think it’s a great name. Now, if the majority of the movie takes place on Krypton, it works better. But if that’s the case, I would prefer a simple “Krypton.”

In the end, however, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the title be “Man of Steel.” Any connotation would “The Dark Knight” is a positive. The only downside is that naming a movie after the hero’s nickname seems to make sequel title awkward. “The Man of Steel Rises,” anyone?

What name do you prefer for the next Superman movie? Leave your preference in the comments at right.

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Follow Sean Gerski on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DoubleDown44.