This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.
However, on the other side of the coin, loads of moviemakers have snubbed such offers.
Scheduling conflicts and creative differences are cited a lot, as well.
But he wasnt the producers first choice.
What do you think you know about movies?
Guy Hamilton came awfully close, too.
In the end, it was the success ofThe Omenthat brought Donner onto the Salkinds radar.
The Salkinds and Donner would part company withSuperman IIstill far from completion.
He eventually parted with the project.
Alex Cox was offered the job after the success ofRepo Man, but he declined.
It wasPee-wees Big Adventureand thenBeetlejuicethat eventually led to Burton landing the gig.
Next, John Landis showed an interest, and brought his own writers in to hone the script.
Then Walter Hill came on board, putting together a more violent version than the film we ultimately got.
He approached Beatty to star, but they pair couldnt agree on the tone.
They both left, and Richard Benjamin was attached to helm a lower-budget iteration.
In the end, Beatty bought the rights to the property and made the film his own way.
Before deciding to direct it himself, he considered offering the job to Martin Scorsese.
Rodriguez was already working onThe Faculty, though, so he had to turnSuperman Livesdown.
But he was fond of Smiths script, apparently.
Ralph Zondag, Michael Bay, Shekhar Kapur, Brett Ratner, and Martin Campbell all turned it down.
William Wisher then wrote another draft of the script, which Oliver Stone turned down.
Abrams lobbied to direct it himself, but Warner Bros threw out the script instead.
(Abrams didnt exactly turn it down, then, but its still interesting.
)Then Bryan Singer came in andSuperman Returnswas born.
After the Burton/Schumacher Bat-franchise ended, Darren Aronofsky and Joss Whedon both pitched their takes on Batman.
Of course, Christopher Nolan ultimately ended up with the gig.
But disagreements with the studio put paid to that.)
Watchmen
Multiple directors also circled the adaptation ofWatchmen, which ultimately wound up with Zack Snyder.
Famously, Terry Gilliam was attached for a considerable time, but was shackled with a tiny budget.
He claimed the comic was un-filmable, and ended up departing the project.
Tim Burton is one person that did, apparently, flat out reject an offer to board the project.
Man Of Steel
Speaking of Mr. Snyder, he also madeMan Of Steel.
However, other directors were considered ahead of him.
He was committed toAt The Mountains Of Madnessat the time, a H.P.
Lovecraft novel-to-movie adaptation that ultimately wasnt made.
Robert Zemeckis was also offered theMan Of Steeldirectors chair, but he rejected it too.
That shortlist presumably got binned around the same time that Snyder was approached.
Both directors reportedly passed on the project.
According toScreen Crush,The Raids Gareth Evans andA Most Violent Years J.C. Chandor have also turnedGambitdown.
Wyatt apparently left over creative differences, while Liman chose to focus on DCsJustice League Darkinstead.
Rick Famuyiwa then came and went in a similar fashion.
Recent rumors have linked the aforementioned Robert Zemeckis toThe Flash, as well as Matthew Vaughn and Sam Raimi.
You have to be all the way in.
I was never a comic book guy.
I like the movies when I see them, especially the origin stories.
For me, Id be copycatting and not inventing.
Ive never said yes to one.
It remains a mystery which superhero movies Mr Howard has turned down.
Theres no doubt he could handle the spectacle.
The character he was asked about, specifically, was Aquaman.
I had my team.
I had my family there.
We made the movie we all wanted to make.
Thats not so much what Im good at.
Im more of a ground up kinda guy.
James Wan ended up taking the gig.
Instead, shes lined up the Disney novel adaptationA Wrinkle In Time.
So it was a question of, is this important enough for me to do?
Thats how the conversations continued, because thats what I was interested in.
But everyones interested in different things.
What my name is on means something to me (my bodies of work) are my children.
This is my art.
This is what will live on after Im gone.
So its important to me to be true to who I was in this moment.
And if theres too much compromise, it really wasnt going to be an Ava DuVernay film.
Creeds Ryan Coogler ended up taking the job.
He talked about it all in a lengthy interview withForbes.
James Gunn (DC movies)
James Gunn is no stranger to superhero movies.
But Gunn has also turned down opportunities to work on comic book films.
This makes a certain amount of sense, given that hes firmly entrenched in the MCU at this stage.
Perhaps, one day, he will switch sides and have a crack at a DC property.
Just dont expect it any time soon.
Were not in that business.
Its very easy to blow peoples minds in Hollywood, added Jay.
Its yet to be revealed which movies they turned down.
Something more comedic likeSpider-Man: HomecomingorAnt-Man(or DCs Ezra MillerFlashmovie!)
would be my guess… but what do I know?
That was a very smart move, in hindsight.
Tarantino eventually opted not to press ahead with it though, for reasons he later explained toNerdist… And I could see them both, but it was like I think Fish would be better.
It should be something I create rather than venture to fit in.
That movie ultimately never happened, with Fox selling the rights to New Line Cinema.
And the rest is history…
