Variety is reporting that X-Men director Bryan Singer has signed a deal with Warner Bros. to direct the long awaited new Superman film.  While getting a director of Singer's caliber is certainly a plus for Warner Bros., it also appears that Singer will be starting over from scratch, abandoning both the J.J. Abrams (Alias) screenplay, which has been attached to the project for years, as well as the pre-production design and special effects work done by Stan Winston and others (see 'Some Action on the Superman Movie').  But in spite of these 'back to square one' moves, Warner Bros. still feels that Singer will be able to start shooting the film in Australia before the end of the year.  X-2 scribes Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris are currently in the process of writing a new screenplay featuring the Man of Steel.

According to Variety, 'It now looks likely that Singer will not do the third X-Men, even though he has an overall deal with Fox.'  If this turns out to be true, it could be a blow to Marvel's second most successful movie franchise.  Meanwhile Warner Bros., which is trying mightily to get some DC Comics projects to share in the current vogue for superhero films, is ready to release its first Twenty-First Century costumed-hero caper, Catwoman this Friday.  Next comes the Vertigo-inspired Constantine, which should hit screens this fall followed by Christopher Nolan's Batman film, which is currently in production.  After that, according to the Hollywood Reporter, comes a darkly comic take on the Green Lantern starring Jack Black.