Ben Affleck Was In The Running To Direct 'Superman'; Natalie Portman For Lois Lane?

The latest picture to be driving the rumor mill that keeps sites like ours busy is clearly the Christopher Nolan-produced "Superman;" after months of inactivity, the project sprung into life last week with Tony Scott, Jonathan Liebesman, Duncan Jones, Matt Reeves and Zack Snyder all being named as prospective candidates to direct. Darren Aronofsky joined them last night, and now two more snippets of info have come to light — one of a director on Nolan's list who now seems to have been ruled out, the other of a potential cast member.

First up, Heat Vision report that Ben Affleck, whose star is freshly reborn in a big way after the critical and commercial success of "The Town," met on the project last week in a directing capacity (although Affleck, of course, has donned the Superman gear in the past, in his excellent performances as 1950s TV star George Reeves in "Hollywoodland"). However, it seems that Affleck is "no longer pursuing" the project — which sounds like the decision came from Affleck. While he doesn't have anything lined up after the currently-filming Terrence Malick film, and who knows when that'll wrap, the hyphenate may be keen on using his new cred to makes something more personal. Perhaps a Boston-set crime drama?... (Oh, and kudos to the commenter who called this one last week)

Secondly, Moviehole report that according to their source who has recently worked for Aronofsky, not only has the director been in discussions for the project for some time, but that Warner Bros. are keen to cast his "Black Swan" star Natalie Portman as Lois Lane in the project. The source stresses that things are still early, and we reckon that is something very important to note. Right now, we'd lay even money that all of these directors are just names on a list, that Nolan and studio are going to be talking to plenty more people, and that they will take their time to find the right person with the right vision for the job. With a tentative December 2012 release date slotted, they still have some time put the pieces together.

As for Aronofsky he's also being courted by Hugh Jackman to direct the Christopher McQuarrie-penned sequel to "Wolverine," and has a biopic of Jackie Kennedy in development, to star his partner Rachel Weisz, so he's not short of options, particularly with the strong buzz on "Black Swan." Nolan's set to meet other directorial candidates this week, so it could be anyone's. But so long as we don't end up seeing Zack Snyder's "Superman: The Legends of Ga'hoole," we don't mind who lands it...