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The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?

Play trailer Poster for The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? 2015 1h 44m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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77% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Jon Schnepp delves into the story behind the proposed film to be directed by Tim Burton, with Nicolas Cage starring as Superman.

Critics Reviews

View All (13) Critics Reviews
Stephen Farber Hollywood Reporter Despite [some] lapses and a padded running time, this film does burst with fascinating inside lore. Jul 28, 2015 Full Review Chris Stuckmann ChrisStuckmann.com This well-researched documentary provides a fun and intriguing answer to one of cinemas strangest questions: What if Nicolas Cage had portrayed Superman? Rated: B+ Jul 16, 2015 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...ultimately feels too much like a rough cut of what could (and should) have been a far shorter and more cohesive endeavor... Rated: 2/4 Jun 4, 2023 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A talky behind the scenes look at the Tim Burton proposed adaptation of Superman Lives. Rated: C+ Oct 31, 2016 Full Review Alex Leadbeater What Culture A must-see for any superhero movie fan. Rated: 4/5 Nov 6, 2015 Full Review Mark Ellis Schmoes Know Insightful, funny and powerful...and the actual test-footage featuring Cage as the man of steel is remarkable Rated: 4.5 Sep 27, 2015 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Marc Z This movie is an intriguing look at the never completed Superman movie starring Nicolas Cage. It is a fascinating convergence of.movie making and comic books. More than that it is a look at how difficult it is to get a movie made in Hollywood and how the compromises and egos, as well as budgets can get in the way of artistic expression. The movie's premiss, the making of an alternative perspective on Superman's story as told by Tim Burton would never have happened had he not defied the odds with the unlikely success of his Michael Keaton Batman film. That shows how quickly leverage can rise and fall in Hollywood. The behind the scenes, and test footage, as well as the interviews make this a fun and unusual ride. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Some of the additional quirky stuff felt like it was a bit much but overall, "The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?" is an insightful documentary about a superhero movie that remained stuck in development hell with the chance to see test footage of Nicolas Cage as Superman, intriguing concept art that might have indicated that Tim Burton's take on the Man of Steel might have been a bit too ambitious for its own good, original miniclips based off of the screenplay and aforementioned concept art that make one wonder why this project isn't revisited as perhaps one of DC's direct-to-DVD animated movies and people whom all remain professional about what happened back in the '90s without being bitter with Warner Bros. about what happened. An attention-grabbing superhero documentary that offers a fascinating look at what could have been. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member The Death Of Superman Lives is a awesome documentary that truly dives deep into this story of a cancelled movie and what it could have been. This is in my opinion one of the most thought out documentary's I have ever seen, Thanks to the late and great Jon Schnepp. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A fascinating documentary on the ill-fated SUPERMAN LIVES production. The late Jon Schnepp and his fiancee Holly Payne obviously have deep love for their work and in the end, they made a really well done & informative doc filled with tons of interviews, pics, notes & production footage. If you can, seek out the extremely HTF blu-ray with copious amounts of extras. As a cinephile, I found this to be easily one of the best independent documentaries/blu-ray releases I've ever come across. Bravo! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/27/20 Full Review Audience Member In this insanely interesting documentary we learn pretty much everything we need to learn about "Superman Lives" from its concept (including glimpses of the costumes, the concept art, set designs) to its pre-production (interviews with many of the crew who were involved in the films creation) But of course we all crave to see just what Nicolas Cage would look like as the Man Of Steel and we do see that. Its fascinating to see footage of Nicolas wearing various incarnations of the suit and I have to say, whilst many people might scoff at the idea of Cage as Kal-El. By the end of the documentary I wished that Superman Lives had made it into theaters so that I could know whether it was as impressive as I think it would have been. Whether you are a fan of Superman or not. This documentary is definitely one to watch, its fantastic to see some of the crazy ideas that nearly made it on screen (giant spider anyone???) to see how ideas are hatched, nurtured and then stomped on in the world of $140 million dollar filmmaking is both fascinating and worrying. For those creatives out there (me included) This is a must watch and should watch. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Pretty interesting story on how a movie got canceled. I enjoyed it. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/25/18 Full Review Read all reviews
The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Jon Schnepp delves into the story behind the proposed film to be directed by Tim Burton, with Nicolas Cage starring as Superman.
Director
Jon Schnepp
Producer
Jon Schnepp, Holly Payne, Ryan Christopher Pierce, Heather Marie Piper
Screenwriter
Jon Schnepp
Production Co
Super Skull Ship
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Runtime
1h 44m