A week ago, a report came in implying that James Gunn’s “Superman” was “kind of a mess” after a private screening at the Warner lot. This came after a THR piece had confirmed the screening, but was cryptic about internal reactions, going on to add that reshoots were happening on the film.
An update has come to us via The Hot Mic’s John Rocha and Jeff Sneider, and it’s not a positive one. It turns out that there have been a few screenings of the film at Warners. Sneider mentions that his source "knew multiple people who had seen Superman" and stated, "[The] buzz is not good. I'm hearing bad things. I'm hearing “you should be worried things.” It sounds like James Gunn is aware of some of the feedback."
That's supposedly why reshoots are taking place, though Gunn had quickly denied the extent by claiming it was just for “pickup shots" and “No scenes. No reshoots."
Rocha added, “Someone who's seen Superman told me it has the tone of the first Captain America movie and the Mummy films. They said Nicholas Hoult is the standout and the film is “decent” but a large chunk of the film was unfinished with only a third of the film's VFX done."
"[It has] the least amount of humor of any Gunn film but there's still humor throughout the film," he continued. "Most people will be satisfied with the movie and it should be received well enough to continue Gunn's DCU."
I strongly suspect that THR heard the same concerns that Sneider and Rocha did, but they just decided to keep their lips sealed about it, out of respect for Gunn and Warners.
Of course, this does not mean “Superman” will turn out to be a bad movie; the VFX is only 30-40% completed, and it’s still seven months away from release. Let’s not forget that Gunn’s own “Guardians of the Galaxy” had some pretty bad early buzz, and was believed to be a total dud many months before it hit theaters and became this huge success.
Plenty of hit movies have had early negative buzz due to test screenings, including Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” On the flipside, “Superman Returns” and “Man of Steel” had great early buzz, and turned out to disappoint many once they were unveiled to the public. At this point, it’s a coin toss and the fate of Gunn’s $300M+ ‘Superman’ is still impossible to predict.