Following a straight-up denial that Chris Columbus was in the running to direct the next Superman movie comes new rumors of another director and a potential star. The folks at Geek Tyrant claim through their sources that Zachary Levi (Chuck) has auditioned for the part of Superman while Jonathan Nolan (aka Christopher Nolan’s brother) is said to be the film’s “unofficial” director as of right now.

 

Naturally when it comes to rumors like this we should all take it with a giant grain of salt. That said, it’s not hard to imagine the studio going after someone like Levi, who brings a mix of clumsy cuteness and fit action star to his role in Chuck, and could easily do the same for Superman. Meanwhile “the other Nolan” hasn’t directed a film yet, and so it’d be a pretty big deal if Warner Bros. put this blockbuster in his hands. However, if brother Christopher is around to help mentor him and lead the way, perhaps the studio will go for it so they can sell it as “from the team who brought you The Dark Knight.”

 

What do you think about both Levi and Nolan?

 

 

We’re not sure yet whether Warner Bros. will make some kind of official announcement for Batman 3 at Comic-Con. Probably not, seeing as the film won’t go into production until next year, and it won’t be arriving in theaters until 2012 (which means it’s much more likely to see lots of Batman 3 at next year’s Con instead). But wait! Could Warner still be beginning to ramp up the viral marketing campaign for the film once they do decide to get that process started?

 

According to io9, Warners has registered several Batman-related domain names – some of which probably have more to do with the Arkham Asylum video game than they do the next film, but then there are websites like BatmanSiegeofGotham.com, WarinGothamCity.com, WheresBruceWayne.com and BatmanGrandElusion.com. Seeing as The Dark Knight ended with Batman ditching Gotham City, it certainly leads one to believe that these sites may have something to do with the next film. Beyond that … there’s not much. Still, does this give us a glimpse at the direction the next film will be heading? Definitely possible.

 

 

With Transformers 3 filming in Detroit, a number of images and set video has arrived online featuring tons of different cars, as well as a ruined street and some explosions. Slashfilm has a good run down of what’s available to devour, while Jalopnik got hold of some interesting images from the set showing off what look like NASCAR Transformers. Not sure who these robots are or what their role in the film is, but the set video of a ruined street and cars racing through it is pretty rad.

 

Remember, Michael Bay is filming the third installment in 3D with 3D cameras. I’m more curious to see how this impacts his run-and-gun shooting style over anything else, but hopefully the end result will look better than Revenge of the Fallen. Check out video below and more over at Slashfilm.