Both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter have confirmed that Charlie's Angels' helmer McG (aka Joseph McGinty Nicol) will not be directing a new Superman film for Warner Bros.  McG wanted to film Superman with New York City backgrounds, telling Variety: 'I became enamored with our greatest American city.  It was clear to me that this was Metropolis.  As a filmmaker I felt it was inappropriate to try to capture the heart of America on another continent,' but Warner Bros. wants to save money by making the new Superman film in Australia.  However, a choice of location wasn't McG's only problem; the studio and the director weren't able to agree on the crucial casting of the Man of Steel or on the details of a mammoth budget, which reportedly comes close to $200 million.

 A few weeks ago it looked like the Superman film was finally getting off the ground (Warners had hired an effects house and begun pre-production work on the film, see 'Supes Movie Inches Forward' & 'Some Action on Superman Movie'), but McG's departure returns the project to Hollywood's 'Development Hell.'  However, if Warners can find a director (and Variety mentioned that McG's resignation clears the way for Armageddon's Michael Bay, while other reports have Warners offering the gig to X-Men director Bryan Singer), shooting on the Superman epic could still begin by the end of this year.  Stay tuned for the next chapter in this long-running backlot soap.