Superman visits another dimension

"Today's announcement is a culmination of a great film, a great filmmaker, a great studio, and great technology--all working together to produce the most powerful and immersive cinematic experience available to moviegoers worldwide," IMAX co-Chairmen and co-CEOS Richard Gelfond and Bradley Wechsler said in a statement laden with the promise of a grand cinematic event to come.

Revolutionary IMAX Experience? or no, hold-your-breath suspense has already been built into the 21st-century Superman experience, with a different actor donning the famous "S" insignia on the big screen for the first time in almost 20 years.

After a small Rolodex's worth of names, including Nicolas Cage, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ashton Kutcher and Brendan Fraser, were floated for the title role, Singer decided on relative newcomer Brandon Routh, who to date only has one feature film--Karla, costarring Laura Prepon--under his big yellow belt.

Maybe Routh looked the cutest in the Clark Kent glasses.

The 26-year-old actor might need the strength of a locomotive to shoulder the hype that Superman Returns is generating. Warner Bros. reportedly has had the project in the works, in some form or another, for the past 10 years.

In 1998 it was Tim Burton who was going to plot Superman's flight plan. Then Brett Ratner came onboard, but subsequently left and become the man behind the mutant superheroes in X-Men: The Last Stand, which is due in May. Next Charlie's Angels director McG stepped in. And after he stepped out, along came X-Men director Bryan Singer.

This latest chapter in the story of Metropolis finds our hero returning to Earth after a mysterious absence, only to find that Lois Lane has moved on and evil nemeses abound. Kate Bosworth is on hand as Superman's sweetie and Kevin Spacey seems like a great choice to fill Lex Luther's smarmily nefarious shoes.