Get Involved, Internet: Help bring the story of the ill-fated Tim Burton/Nicolas Cage/Kevin Smith Superman movie to the big screen

By Nathan Rabin | January 28, 2013 | 3:55pm

Aux Features Great Job, Internet!

The ill-fated Kevin Smith-written, Tim Burton-directed, Jon Peters-produced, Nicolas Cage-starring late-’90s Superman movie that never quite happened has long reigned as one of cinema’s biggest and most perplexing “What ifs?” According to Smith, he was hired by producer Peters to execute a series of Peters’ bizarre ideas: He wanted Superman to wear an all-black suit, fight a giant spider in the film’s climax (an idea that somehow found its way into the Peters-produced Wild, Wild West), and not fly. In other words, Peters didn’t seem too interested in Superman actually acting or behaving too much like the Superman of legend.

The film got as far as the costume-fitting stage, and tens of millions of dollars were spent on pre-production before the whole ill-fated production was shut down. Now director Jon Schnepp is raising money via Kickstarter (the classy, upscale way for artists to beg for money) to fund The Death Of Superman Lives: What Happened?, a feature-length documentary that aims to bring the whole weird, wild tale of the film’s unraveling to the big screen. According to the page, the director hopes to premiere the film at the 2013 San Diego Comic Convention, so time is of the essence if you want to help Schnepp bring this fascinating bit of superhero-movie history to the big screen for the benefit of rubberneckers and Schadenfreude enthusiasts everywhere.