The movie is big in a literal sense too: Singer's emphasis on real-world sets meant building a 200-foot burning spaceship, the facade of a five-story Daily Planet, the glass-bottomed deck of a luxury yacht, the Fortress of Solitude and a Kansas homestead (complete with cornfield) re-created in a dusty Australian plain an hour's flight from Sydney.
Asked about the breadth of the endeavor, Singer shrugged. "It has to be big, right? It's Superman."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday January 19, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 28 words Type of Material: Correction
Comic book convention -- An article in Sunday Calendar about the coming movie "Superman Returns" said the San Diego Comic-Con was held in August. It was in July.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday January 22, 2006 Home Edition Sunday Calendar Part E Page 2 Calendar Desk 0 inches; 28 words Type of Material: Correction
Comic book convention -- An article last Sunday about the coming movie "Superman Returns" said that the San Diego Comic-Con was held in August. It was in July.
REVENGE-SEEKING LUTHOR
THE most fascinating set may be the smallest. The bad guy in the film is Lex Luthor, and one of his lairs is a mansion with a spectacularly detailed model-train set. The train set comes complete with aircraft, a model of Metropolis and even a harbor that (if you look \o7really \f7closely) has figurines posed in a reenactment of the shootout from the dock scene in "The Usual Suspects," Singer's breakthrough heist film. In that film, Singer got a bravura performance from Spacey as criminal mastermind Keyser Soze; now the Oscar-winning Spacey is Lex Luthor.
"This is a darker Lex too, because he's been in prison and he wants revenge," Singer said as he prepared for a scene on the giant Arctic set. "He's not playing around."
Over his shoulder, Spacey studied script pages and adjusted his parka and goggles. With his shaved pate and jackboots, the actor seemed to channel both Daddy Warbucks and Gen. Rommel. As the scene began, Singer fidgeted with a microphone (which was decorated with a tiny red cape) and called out vague instructions for Spacey to "do it different." Spacey smiled as the director mumbled and winced and said he's enjoyed working with Singer again.
"This is really my first time in a film of this sort -- the big-budget, franchise, huge Hollywood thing -- and Bryan has shown an ability to do these and do them in an interesting way, a sophisticated way," Spacey said.
In the scene, huge fans blow fake snow into the faces of Luthor and his henchmen as they creep up on the entrance to the Fortress of Solitude. Spacey barks out insults to his bumbling assistants with such gusto that Singer and the crew have to muffle their laughter while the cameras are rolling. The movie is split between the hero and villain, and it builds to a climactic showdown -- the only time Spacey is on camera with his caped rival ("If you're Lex Luthor," Spacey noted, "you don't want to get near Superman because, well, you're not going to win if it comes down to a fistfight, are you?").
