The Success Of House Cost Hugh Laurie His Role In Bryan Singer's Superman Returns
"Superman Returns" might not be considered the best Superman movie, but in hindsight it really wasn't bad. Its reverence for Richard Donner's 1978 "Superman" film gave it some real charm, which, after two decades of the gritty reboot trend, seems like a much more welcome prospect now than perhaps it did back in 2006. But while it made a decent $391 million, it wasn't enough for Warner Bros. to push ahead with any sequels.
Director Bryan Singer did admit years later that his movie was perhaps overly "nostalgic and romantic." These days Singer's reputation has been pretty much decimated after some truly horrific allegations of sexual assault came to light, but back in the early-aughts he was riding high, having scored hits with "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United." And when he wasn't churning out popular superhero blockbusters, he was also helping out with the acclaimed TV series "House," on which he served as one of several executive producers and directed a couple of episodes, including the pilot.
The Fox show was massively popular back in the day, thanks in large part to Hugh Laurie's masterful performance as the curmudgeonly Gregory House — a brilliant but cynical diagnostician with a Vicodin addiction. Upon seeing Laurie's audition tape, Singer, who had been shown multiple tapes from non-U.S. actors, said "I'm sick of foreigners, this is what we need," before immediately finding out that Laurie was, in fact, English. Thus, Laurie was cast and the show quickly became one of the most popular series on TV. That also made it difficult when Singer was given the green light to bring Superman back to the big screen and wanted to take Laurie with him.
House is a busy man
In the early 2000s, the Man of Steel hadn't shown up on the silver screen since 1987's "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" — a decidedly anticlimactic end to the saga started by Richard Donner. The director had struggled through a tough production to deliver a seminal superhero effort with 1978's "Superman: The Movie," which he described as the result of trying to "make a good movie about this beloved character and treat him with our greatest respect." Bryan Singer sweet-talked Donner's wife and "X2" producer Lauren Donner, pitching a movie that would pay similar respect to her husband's original vision of Supes. That unsurprisingly won over Donner, who gave Singer his blessing to ignore "Superman III" and "Superman IV" and make what was essentially a sequel to "Superman II," from which Donner had been unceremoniously booted in the early '80s.
Singer cast Brandon Routh, who bore an uncanny resemblance to original Superman actor Christopher Reeve, in the starring role opposite Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. James Marsden took the role of her fiancé and nephew of Daily Planet Editor-In-Chief Perry White. As per The Hollywood Reporter, for White himself, Singer wasted no time in asking Hugh Laurie to step in, who jumped at the opportunity. Filming was set to start in 2005, but production had to be shifted around to accommodate the busy schedule of Kevin Spacey, who played Lex Luthor.
Meanwhile, the first season of "House" became a hit and the show was quickly renewed — meaning, Laurie was suddenly very busy. As IGN reported at the time, the "Returns" producers "tried to shift the shooting schedule" for the actor but to no avail. Ultimately, Laurie would have to relinquish the role of White, leaving stage and screen legend Frank Langella to step in.
Laurie was probably better off with House
Before he had to give up the role of Perry White, Hugh Laurie was all in on "Superman Returns". In a 2005 interview with Sci Fi Wire (via KillerMovies), the actor spoke about his enthusiasm for the part, saying when Bryan Singer asked him he replied, "God, absolutely," and referring to the director as a "fascinating guy."
In retrospect, it's a good thing Laurie stuck with "House," considering he would become the highest paid actor on TV by the show's eighth and final season, making $700,000 an episode. And while the movie was by no means terrible, it's rarely talked about these days and even became a bit of a sore subject for Routh, who's career struggled in the years after "Returns." Some of that was down to how seriously he took the responsibility of being Superman, and he's since become more candid about his own missteps and ensuing career troubles. And of course, the less association Laurie had with Singer in light of the allegations that emerged, the better.
But as I said before, "Returns," taken on its own merits, isn't a bad Superman film. Richard Donner certainly had some strong opinions about how the movies would evolve after Singer's effort, preferring the director's more reverent take on the character to Zack Snyder's coldly cynical depiction. And I gotta say, I agree. "Returns" embodies the optimism Superman demands. Quite what Laurie could have brought to the role of White, I'm not sure, especially considering he played sardonic so well as Greg House. Frank Langella, on the other hand, brought a warm presence to the Daily Planet Editor, which suited Singer's universe, even if, much like Singer, allegations of misconduct would later tarnish Langella's achievements.