Super/Man, which charts the life of Christopher Reeve, has reportedly sparked a bidding war at what has been a pretty quiet Sundance so far.
Whilst some talented actors have tried, with some even making a pretty good fist of it, nobody has ever embodied the role of Superman like Christopher Reeve.
The beloved actor is the subject of an upcoming documentary called Super/Man that certainly sparked our interest when we first heard about it last month. Unsurprisingly, it looks like we weren’t alone in thinking that such a project could be a fascinating watch: the film has reportedly sparked a bidding frenzy, with bids currently reaching up to $10m.
Whilst Sundance is renowned for bringing brilliant documentaries to the attention of the world, that’s still a sum which is somewhat surprising. To put that number into context, at this year’s festival, we’ve seen the promising Jesse Eisenberg film A Real Pain sell for $10m whilst Greg Jardin’s It’s What’s Inside has been bought for $17m. Steven Soderbergh’s Presence has also been picked up by Neon, but we don’t know how much the distributor paid for that one.
To see a documentary film spiral up towards those figures (and it could yet go higher) is an indication of just how highly regarded the project is. The film – which has been written and directed by Peter Ettedgui – was given opening night status at the festival and has sparked something of a buzz, it seems.
Given that we haven’t seen too many high-profile acquisitions at this year’s festival, the documentary could end up being one of this year’s Sundance films to keep tabs on, not least because a documentary honouring the life of a real-life superhero is a project that we can easily get behind. We wait to see who emerges with the distribution rights.
In the meantime, we’ll leave you with the synopsis for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.
Never-before-seen home movies and extraordinary personal archives reveal how Christopher Reeve went from unknown actor to iconic movie star as the ultimate screen superhero. He learned the true meaning of heroism as an activist after suffering a tragic accident that left him quadriplegic and dependent on a ventilator to breathe.
