Joe Manganiello lost out on Superman because of True Blood Schedule
This weekend at Paleyfest, Joe Manganiello finally spoke out on the reasons why he is not Superman, and it all came down to his True Blood Season 4 schedule. The actor simply did not have time to go to Warner Bros. for the screen test, where he would have put on Kal-El's infamous red, blue and yellow super suit.
"At the end of the day they wanted me to screen test and they actually asked for my measurements for the suit and everything...Their shoot date switched and it would have taken up 11 weeks out of my True Blood ' schedule. At the end of the day, we couldn't get the schedule to work so that I could go off and screen test. So, regrettably, I never go to screen test, I never got to put the suit on."
Joe Manganiello is currently in the middle of filming Season 4 of True Blood.
Man of Steel comes to theaters June 14th, 2013 and stars Russell Crowe, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Christopher Meloni. The film is directed by Zack Snyder.
Comments (42)
To leave a comment, please sign in or use
Facebook or Twitter
Mutant
You know it's not that easy to spout lines in front three people at first. It gets easier each time you do it, and its not about the lines, its about facial expressions which is the key element to getting a part.
I'll watch this for Nolan & Zack because both of them are cool enough to watch.
2 years agoby @zenderFlag
Lane
@dan1: Ha, yeah, haven't watched the show since season 1. My bad. I knew I didn't remember seeing him in it then. :P
But yes, it most certainly does. Seriously, one season of a show and he skipped out on Superman!? ... Then again, I usually tend to get a little irritated when an actor doesn't dedicate themselves to a TV project that becomes a hit for no other reason than to ditch the fans and attempt to advance their careers elsewhere. Especially when it goes NOwhere. :/
2 years agoby @lane1Flag
Dan
@lane1 Actually, Joe's only been in 1 season of True Blood. But that actually gives more credence to your argument :)
2 years agoby @dan1Flag
Lane
Would've been a much better choice than Cavill. If it later comes out that Cavill got the part simply because when he screen tested he was the only one who "looked good in the suit", based on a recent interview with Snyder, and his acting abilities were only considered afterward, I'm gonna be pissed... Especially if Cavill's performance ends up disappointing me.
If it were me, I would've just dropped out of True Blood to do the screen test (yes, just the screen test), but that's just me. To be perfectly honest, 3 seasons of any show under your belt is a good amount of time before departure from it. Then again, had he not gotten past the screen test and given up True Blood prior to doing so, or the movie and his performance turned out badly, that wouldn't go over well later on. Its really a 50/50 shot for any actor to risk taking.
2 years agoby @lane1Flag
Avrahama
NOooo... THIS guy has to play superman! Not Havill, please no more boy toys for MEN. You know what you guys have to do? Hold up the filming of Superman till this guy can play the role!! Damn.
2 years agoby @avrahamaFlag
bipolarmassive
Oh well, who wants the blood sucking twilight, true blood vampire crowd?
2 years agoby @addictionnonfatelFlag
CBF
@ejk1 I agree. The modern Superman has been great, with stories written by some great people including Geoff Johns and Richard Donner. And the Krypton origins have been fully explained now. I love that mythology, such as when General Zod broke out of the Phantom Zone and brought Ursa, Non, and a calvalcade of other Kryptonian villains with him ("Last Son"), where we learned Non was a mentor to Jor-El on Krypton until the Council lobotomized him, intimidating Jor-El to keep his mouth shut about Krypton's doom. Or when Kara's rocket ship finally crash landed in Gotham Bay and we learn she has been trapped in a Green-K (Kryptonite) meteor this whole 35 years, which put her in suspended animation and gave her Kryptonite poisoning to the point she could not remember her origins of her life on Krypton and how she got to Earth. Those are amazing stories. I am a mediocre fan of Superman at best and a HUGE fan of the modern Supergirl. Sadly, come 2013, when they take all mentions of Krypton away, I fear I will have no more reason to read them.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
Emmytt
okay then
2 years agoby @emmyttFlag
ejk1
@comicbookfan Admittedly, I'm not a huge Superman fan, but I feel bad about this whole thing. It seems like two stubborn bulls not willing to give an inch. The unfortunate thing is that this fighting comes at the detriment of the product, something that should never happen.
2 years agoby @ejk1Flag
MovieManiac
I am sorry, but i could never picture this guy as Superman. I think that it worked out for the best.
2 years agoby @moviemaniac66Flag
CBF
@ejk1 I agree. And thats why I did not spell it all out here, the disagreement goes way back to when Siegel and Shuster pitched it, DC did with the character what they wanted. Personally, I love the direction that DC took the Superman mythos in, even if they did flunk it up half the time. But post-1985, they seemed to have done it right, besides canceling out his origin cuz of losing the rights to never say anything about Krypton again. E did you notice how they hurriedly pushed out the reintroducing a modern Supergirl and World of New Krypton sagas? Its because the Siegel Estate won the right back partially in 1999, and DC knew they were soon to lose the rights of the origins, it was only a matter of time. DC is going to end up owing royalties to the Siegel Estate for every time thay have mention Krypton or Supes' true origin since 1999, up till 2013. Think of how many times that's been. DC can afford it, I mean if they could afford paying $20,000 each year to both Siegel and Shuster for the rest of their lives, yeah, this should be no sweat. But that's why those stories were done quick, and why they combined the 3 "super" books like that. I have a feeling they are going to drop 2 of them in 2013, and stick with the "Smallville"-inspired theme stuff. Which sucks, me being a huge fan of Kryptonian mythology.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
ejk1
@shuabert That wasn't this same group of people that were casting for Superman Returns. Cavill seems to have been the second choice for this upcoming movie in Nolan and Snyder's eyes. And that does taint this a little.
2 years agoby @ejk1Flag
Josh
@ejk1 Actually, Cavill was being considered for Superman way back when they were casting for what eventually became Superman Returns.
2 years agoby @shuabertFlag
Remy72883
i didnt see this working anyways time for Tom Welling to step in wishful thinking
2 years agoby @remy72883Flag
ejk1
@comicbookfan The first section of your last post made me angry, not because of anything you did, but because it's just exacerbating. It goes directly to my point of the Siegels and DC working together for the good of the character.
Also, I did some research, and apparently this division goes deeper than I thought. Siegel and Shuster, after selling the character to Detective Comics in 1938, repeatedly tried to get the rights back through the courts for the rest of their lives. Things were never pretty between the two creators and the company they sold Superman to, but again, for the good of the character, some sort of ceasefire needs to occur.
2 years agoby @ejk1Flag
tycamgamer
This is a F*cking sign, Get Tom Welling
2 years agoby @tycamgamerFlag
T.Clark
hahahaha True Blood over Superman...damn those contracts.
2 years agoby @insertusernamehereFlag
Pjwolsker
he already commited to being on True Blood. yeah most people think he shouldve quit True Blood for Superman but what would that tell people about him? that he quit a job he already was committed to for a bigger pay check? i think he did the right thing. he cant tell someone no that he already said yes to. he'll have his shot in the big leagues soon enough
2 years agoby @pjwolskerFlag
K-Man
I cant make a call on this one because I've never seen either guy act, as I've never seen TrueBlood or Tudors, therefore I haven't a clue who is better. I'm just going to assume that Snyder knows what he is doing and that Cavill will be great.
But I have to say, I'd be pretty pissed if I had to take a season of True Blood over being Superman due to contractual issues. Thats once in a lifetime stuff.
2 years agoby @k-manFlag
bruce_ha
@orionbolt Screen test doesn't = being cast as Superman.
If he had been cast, I'm sure he would make a great Superman role.
2 years agoby @bruce-haFlag
Orionbolt
So True Blood over being cast as Superman? That is an excellent choice.
2 years agoby @orionboltFlag
Pjwolsker
ha wow they were actually taking him serious. thats pretty cool
2 years agoby @pjwolskerFlag
LuxoIII
Yeah, I'm glad they went with Caville. There's just just something about Manganiello that's just...off
2 years agoby @brady1138Flag
CBF
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007269?refCatId=13
There is the original Variety article that summarizes the final word on the lawsuit. Here is a quote taken from it on what the Siegels now control, and DC/Warner has lost:
"The Siegels -- repped by Marc Toberoff of Toberoff & Associates -- now control depictions of Superman's origins from the planet Krypton, his parents Jor-El and Lora, Superman as the infant Kal-El, the launching of the infant Superman into space by his parents as Krypton explodes and his landing on Earth in a fiery crash. DC owns other elements like Superman's ability to fly, the term kryptonite, the Lex Luthor and Jimmy Olsen characters, Superman's powers and expanded origins."
@ejk1 Hope this next quote answers your question, though to say for sure, I have no idea what they plan on doing. If it were me, DC would have most of the rights, what are Shuster and Siegels kids gonna do, ya know?
"The Shuster estate originally did not participate with the Siegels' case because Shuster has no spouse or children. But his estate later won a ruling of a recapture identical to the Siegels, which will be effective in 2013. At that point, the Siegels and Shusters will own the entire copyright to Action Comics No. 1. That will give them the chance to set up Superman pics, TV shows and other projects at another studio."
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
ejk1
@comicbookfan Okay, now here is another question: What do the Siegels plan on doing with their gains? Because it seems to me that by taking their ball and going home, they are doing Jerry and his great creation a huge disservice. Are they planning anything?
2 years agoby @ejk1Flag
Bawnian©-Dexeus
@comicbookfan I did not know that
2 years agoby @bawnian-dexeusFlag
CBF
@ejk1 Yes. The relations are so strained that DC and WB are not able to use anything from Action Comics #1, past a certain date, different for both mediums, which includes his origin and all the Krypton stuff. This is why DC retconned the explanatory 12-issue "Superman: Birthright" out of modern canon and replaced it with the 6-issue "Superman: Secret Origin", which told nothing about Krypton and who he is or why/how he arrived on Earth, and only focused on the 'Smallville' aspects, even throwing some things in from the popular hit TV show, instead of sticking with classic comic lore. How that can replace a huge book that explains Superman's entire backstory is beyond me. Especially when they tried for many decades to get it right, a la John Byrne and others. "Superman: Birthright" is the finest example of Superman's real origin anywhere, and is an awesome read, but because of the Siegels, DC had to say, darn, we can't reference this anymore, we can't say it's Superman anymore. So they canceled it out. I'm afraid WB is about to do the same with the film. Cancel out his true history. I know the date for DC Comics to stop using anything from Superman's first appearance is 2013, but am unsure of the films. If memory serves right, WB had to have a film in production by 2011. I'm sure you can easily find the MovieWeb article from last year or two that covers the details on the Siegel Estate lawsuit.
2 years agoby @comicbookfanFlag
CUPID
@bawnian-dexeus An idiot thats who.
2 years agoby @cupidFlag
Bawnian©-Dexeus
Would any one choose the role of a wolf over the man of steel?
2 years agoby @bawnian-dexeusFlag
thedude-abides
Contractual obligations aside, he essentially chose True Blood over Superman (assuming he would have gotten the part). Hhm...
2 years agoby @thedude-abidesFlag