Brett Ratner had signed onto direct a Superman movie back in the early 2000s, before Bryan Singer came along.  At the time, he was going after Josh Hartnett for the title role, but after Hartnett turned him down, Ratner left the project, Singer came along, and Ratner took on the newly Singer-less X-Men franchise.  It’s all Hollywood history.

However, Singer’s Superman Returns ended up being a disappointment (it garnered lukewarm reviews, and to add insult to injury, X-Men: The Last Stand outgrossed it by about $35 million), and talk of a follow-up has stalled in the years since.  Over the past year, rumors have come out of Warner Bros. that instead of doing a Returns follow-up, they’d just re-boot the Superman franchise yet again.

They finally showed their cards today via a press release which I’ve excerpted below:

Warner Bros. announced today plans for a brand-new Superman franchise with the first film, SUPERMAN ADVENTURES, to be helmed under the guidance of Brett Ratner (RUSH HOUR, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND).

“Brett’s work ethic and adherence to our strict set of studio guidelines is what made us choose him to shepherd this new franchise to the world,” said Gary Ullsman, senior VP of Warner Bros.  “We knew he could pump out a Superman movie in two years flat, which is exactly what we wanted.”

While the press release didn’t contain any casting information, the current rumor is that Ratner wants Shia LaBeouf to play the Man of Steel.  Ratner reportedly told Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily last week that “LaBeouf embodies everything I’d want an indestructible alien to look like.”

When asked about the screenplay, Ratner apparently looked at Finke blankly, said “What about it?”, and went back to texting someone on his BlackBerry.