Zack Snyder To Direct 'Superman: Man Of Steel'

Christopher Nolan plus Zack Snyder? Yeah, we're as surprised as you are, but the "Watchmen" filmmaker has landed the gig to direct "Superman: The Man Of Steel" for Warner Bros.

Following a list of contenders that included Tony Scott, Jonathan Liebesman, Duncan Jones, Matt Reeves , Darren Aronofsky, Robert Zemeckis and Jonah Nolan, Snyder has walked away with the highly coveted gig.

While the choice isn't as inspired as we hoped, we do understand the reasoning behind it. Snyder is a director Warner Bros. has worked with before and is familiar with. His last three films — "Watchmen," "The Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole" and the forthcoming "Sucker Punch" — were all done at the studio. He is a director the studio knows and is comfortable with and who has also proven himself capable of handling tentpole films with heavy effects. That said, he has absolutely no handle on how to direct emotion and frankly, while we think the film will look great, it remains to be seen if he will be able to do justice to the script based on a story by David S. Goyer and C Nolan and written by Goyer. But hopefully with Christopher Nolan godfathering the project — and presumably (hopefully) having a strong say in the talent involved — it will help the project live up to its potential.

THR notes an interesting script element. Despite the fact that early reports pegged Brainiac (and Lex Luthor) as one of the main villains — even the trades mentioned this early on — apparently General Zod from Richard Donner's "Superman II" (as played by the venerable Terence Stamp) is rumored to be part of the screenplay. The trade also reminds us all that Warners needed to kick start a "Superman" film quickly. The studio must be in production on a new picture by 2011 or risk losing certain copyrights to the heirs of creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Seigel (and that litigation is still ongoing). At one point John Byrne's version of "Superman" was said to be the starting point for this film, but who knows if that still remains true..

The film is tentatively schedule for a December 2012 release (though if "The Hobbit" is slated that month — another Warner Bros. title — expect 'Superman' to move) and with the director now lined up, let the speculation on who will play Clark Kent and Lois Lane begin. [Deadline]