Amidst the chatter over Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) winning the Directors Guild Award and the box-office top ten, a bit of a mega casting news bomb was dropped this morning as Henry Cavill (“The Tudors”) was cast as the lead character in Zack Snyder’s Superman: Man of Steel.
Cavill is probably best known to the ladies from “The Tudors” or to others for his bit roles in Tristan and Isolde or even The Count of Monte Cristo, but to most he’s likely to be rather unknown or merely a recognizable face in the crowd, which, if you ask me, makes him a very good casting decision. I remember him from “The Tudors” and thought he was great in that flick and even at the time remember thinking he may have a career outside of the sex-filled Showtime series.
The announcement came via press release of which included the picture of Cavill you see in this post as well as a statement from Zack Snyder saying, “In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen… I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.”
The statement actually makes it sound like Snyder didn’t have the ultimate final word in the casting in the way it’s worded, but nevertheless I think it’s a good choice.
Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.
Superman: Man of Steel is expected to hit theaters December 2012, but you’ll first be able to see Cavill in the lead role as Theseus in Tarsem Singh’s Immortals from Universal on November 11, 2011. That film, as it turns out, may actually be my most anticipated of 2011.
