Nicolas Cage says Warner Bros. wanted Renny Harlin to direct Superman Lives

Last Updated on December 15, 2023

Nicolas Cage is invading everyone’s dreams in his new A24 film Dream Scenario. After a dark era of doing straight-to-video film after straight-to-video film, Cage is looking like he’s still finding some dramatic inspiration with his new movie. Our own Chris Bumbray glowed in his review, “Dream Scenario is a clever social satire that should do wonders for Cage’s indie cred. Along with Pig, it’s evidence that when Cage gets the proper role, nobody’s better, and while this might be more overtly hilarious than some were expecting, given how it was initially teased, it’s entertaining and oh-so timely. “ According to Deadline, the eccentric actor recently made an appearance at the Red Sea Film Festival that is taking place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he regaled an excited crowd about some details of his film career, including the infamous Superman Lives.

While much has already been talked about with Cage’s jettisoned Superman Lives and the project was able to have some sort of closure with its inclusion in this year’s The Flash, Cage spoke to the crowd about how Warner Bros. wanted Renny Harlin to direct the film. Ultimately, it was Tim Burton, who famously ushered in the early superhero craze with Batman, who had been heavily involved with the project before the studio killed it. Cage explained,

Tim was hot off Mars Attacks!, and it was a brilliant movie. They wanted Renny Harlin to direct it, but I knew if you’re gonna play that part, you have to hit the bull’s eye. We got really close, but the studio called and shut the whole thing down. I think they were afraid about how much it would cost and they would get their money back.”

The Flash wanted to seize the opportunity to give the nod to the Superman movie that got away, so in a scene where Barry Allen witnesses different universes facing annihilation. This included Christopher Reeve’s Superman and Adam West’s Batman. Then, there was an extended shot of Nicolas Cage’s Superman fighting a giant spider, a scene famously inserted by producer Jon Peters. Cage claims none of that final sequence came from what he had filmed for the cameo, “When I went to the picture, it was me fighting a giant spider. I did not do that. That was not what I did.” Then, he explained, “What I was supposed to do was literally just be standing in an alternate dimension, if you will, and witnessing the destruction of the universe.”