Has Warner Bros. selected the guy who made 'Home Alone' as the director of the new 'Superman' movie?

Chris Columbus (back, and to the left--like JFK) may be helming the new Superman

You may not be familiar with Chris Columbus' name as a big-shot director, but you've almost certainly seen his work: the guy made Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire. He's probably not the most beloved of film directors-- owing largely to films like the aforementioned I Love You Cooper, Bicentennial Man, and Stepmom-- but he's certainly capable of delivering a big-budget, feel good comedy for whatever studio he's working for. But is he really up to the task of filming the next Superman movie, which Warner Bros. has reportedly hired him to direct? Let's look at the details below, my gentle Examiner readers...

The last time we saw Chris Columbus, he was unleashing I Love You, Beth Cooper on an unsuspecting public. That film bombed mercilessly, but Columbus has enough hits on his resume not to be too worried about it. This is the guy that gave us Home Alone-- one of the biggest movies ever-- in addition to the first Harry Potter and Mrs. Doubtfire. Columbus might not always churn out the best films you might see in a year, but he knows how to deliver hits for the studio...which is probably why Warner Bros. is considering him for the big Superman project they've been desperately trying to get off the ground. Here's Superman's Homepage:

As we know, Warner Bros. are aiming to have a new Superman movie released to cinemas before the end of 2012. A source inside the studio has revealed to the Superman Homepage that an "offer has been sent out to Chris Columbus to direct the 3D Superman reboot for December 2012".

Columbus, who directed the first two "Harry Potter" films for Warner Bros., is reportedly considered "the right fit" for the Man of Steel by those within the WB and Legendary Pictures. Christopher Nolan will be producing the film, from a script written by David Goyer.

We've known for awhile now that Chris Nolan-- he of the brilliant new Batman films-- would be onboard in a production capacity with his Dark Knight co-hort David Goyer, but until now there's been no word on who might be directing the project. At first glance, Columbus seems ill-fitted for the material, but upon closer inspection...well, he still doesn't seem like the right guy for the job, does he? Here's a dude who's made a career on big comedies and high-concept family films, not on special effects extravaganzas. And, yes, I know that's precisely what the Harry Potter movies were, but those first two flicks were all Rowling's work and very little of Columbus' vision (in my opinion, of course). What else can Superman's Homepage tell us?

"David Goyer really wanted to direct but nobody from either studio think he's good in that arena," reveals the studio insider. "He's great at coming up with story and ideas, like George Lucas. It's his execution where he's weak which is why people like Chris and Jonathan Nolan and Guillermo Del Toro have had the best results with his scripts."

See, now, David Goyer sounds like a much better fit, especially if Warner Bros. is interested in giving us a Superman that's a little darker, something more in the vein of The Dark Knight than the films that starred Christopher Reeve. Frankly, putting Columbus at the helm sounds more like a decision that would be made by Fox, who have trouble matching solid directors with big genre projects. Or small genre projects, for that matter.

The last Superman was directed by Bryan Singer, the dude that gave us The Usual Suspects (which means we're all still beholden to him), and even he-- who made the two best X-Men movies-- couldn't make a Superman film that excited audiences. In Singer's version, we spent a lot of time with what people dubbed an "Emo Superman", and the film was heavier on exposition-laden dialogue rather than balls-out action. Placing Columbus at the helm of this new project sounds like Warner Bros. may be trying to offset some of the darkness that's likely to arrive with a Nolan/Goyer pairing, but I can't imagine that he'll be better at the job than Singer was. Then again, he'll be working from a Goyer script, so maybe that's not out of the question.

It's too hard to call this one just yet. Too much depends on the script, what the storyline's going to be, who Goyer's bringing in as the villain, and who they get to play Superman (I've heard they're moving away from Brandon Routh, who played the role in Singer's version). Columbus doesn't seem like he's right for the role, but I'll be pleased as punch if he proves me wrong. I'd like to see a compelling Superman film, but so far, Hollywood hasn't cracked the code on such a thing just yet. Stay tuned for more on this project as it becomes available, my precious snowflakes.

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