Hundreds of residents and fans of the comicbook hero known to be "faster than a speeding bullet" came to the Princeton Public Library on Friday, November 18, to get a sneak preview of the upcoming film, Superman Returns. The event inaugurated the Christopher Reeve Lecture Series, which was created last year soon after the 52-year-old actor's death.
Director Bryan Singer, a graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, spoke to an audience of approximately 300, which spilled out from the community room into the Open Book Café, as well as to other areas of the library where the talk was being shown on a screen.
While known worldwide for his role as Superman, as well as for his efforts in the cause of medical research, Chris is known to the Princeton community as a friend, neighbor, and "regular guy," said Library Director Leslie Burger.
"He was and continues to be a hero....to people around the world," she said, noting that Chris began his career by acting on stage at McCarter Theatre. "This lecture series pays tribute to his life....Everything he stood for inspires each of us every day."
Planned in recognition of the entertainment aspect of Chris's life, the event was emceed by former Princeton Borough Mayor Marvin Reed, whom Ms. Burger fondly referred to as "Princeton's own Roger Ebert."
Mr. Singer, 40, apologized to his audience if he seemed out of sorts, explaining that he had just returned from a year in Australia, where the new Superman movie was being filmed and is now in post-production.
"I had never lived in Australia, but I thought it would be a good experience," he said, after noting that some of the more recent films he has directed, X-Men and its sequel, X2, were filmed in Canada.
One of the things he found interesting about filming in Australia was that although there were acres and acres of open land, they could find no farms that would work as a set for Clark Kent's farm in Kansas. "So we grew acres of corn and built a farm," he said.
Superman Returns, which is set to come out in June 2006, has a budget just slightly short of $200 million, said Mr. Singer. Describing it as "a romantic love story which also happens to have 1,400 visual effects in it," Mr. Singer said his reasoning behind making this movie after such films as Apt Pupil and The Usual Suspects, the latter of which won two Academy Awards, was because of his longtime love of both the character of Superman and what he represents.
He recalled watching reruns of the Superman television show as a child and going with his mother to see the first Superman movie.
"It was mind-blowing," he said, adding that it was only later, while attending a show at McCarter Theatre featuring Christopher Reeve, that he realized that Chris was a mere mortal.
"I remember thinking, 'Wow, Superman isn't from Krypton or Kansas; he's from New Jersey.' "
Three years ago, Mr. Singer approached the film's original director, Richard Donner, to see how he would feel about a non-traditional sequel.
"He sort of gave me his blessing," said Mr. Singer, adding that he has made the lead character, played by Brandon Routh, "a more vulnerable Superman and Clark than we've seen before."
The film's plot revolves around the idea that Superman has returned from a period of "hibernation" to discover that while the world hasn't moved on without him, the love of his life has.
Mr. Singer admitted that the biggest liberty he took was with Lois Lane, played by Kate Bosworth. Now she not only has a child, she's engaged to another man.
"It's the funniest, most romantic movie I've made," said Mr. Singer.
When asked by an audience member if he chose to make this film now because it brings society a hero in otherwise troubled times, Mr. Singer said that he hopes to bring optimism to the cynics of the world, a group in which he includes himself.
"The world is so complicated. It isn't such a clean-cut place; but he is," said the director of the hero.
One audience member described the original Clark Kent as bumbling and annoying, and asked if the new actor playing the lead role will also play the part that way.
Mr. Singer explained that Clark Kent is meant to act that way because unlike Batman, who has a mask to hide behind, Superman looks very much like his human identity, and therefore it's his everyday persona that must mask him from the public.
"This is something Christopher Reeve discovered and pioneered," he said.
After watching a clip previewing some of the scenes from the upcoming movie, Christopher Reeve's mother Barbara Johnson, a former president of the Friends of the Library, said: "When I heard there was going to be a Superman Returns, I had mixed feelings about it. But I think it's going to be wonderful."
At the conclusion of the talk, Mr. Reed announced that beginning in January library showings of one movie per month directed by Mr. Singer will lead up to the opening of Superman Returns, which is due to be released just before Fourth of July weekend.