EXCLUSIVE
It didn't take long for newly named "Superman" director Zack Snyder to address the fate of "Superman Returns" star Brandon Routh, saying the actor's return to the comic book franchise is "not likely."
So what does the former soap star have lined up now that "Superman" will be flying in a different direction?
Routh closed a deal late last night to star in the indie film "Missing William," TheWrap has learned.
Not only will the romantic drama give Routh the opportunity to flex his acting muscles, but he'll be joined onscreen by his real-life wife Courtney Ford, who is in final negotiations for the lead female role.
The couple previously co-starred in the 2008 drama "Fling."
In "Missing William," Ford will play an artist living in Rhode Island who is forced to care for her husband after he's tragically injured in a bar fight. As she attempts to nurse him back to health, her childhood sweetheart and unrequited love (Routh) tries to coax her back into living her life again. A complicated love triangle ensues, with the woman torn between the brain-damaged husband she loves and the hunky former flame who got away.
The part of the husband is still being cast.
Kenn Macrae directs from a script by Daniel McKinnon, while John Santilli ("Loosies") and Kendra Robichaud ("Locked In") are producing the project, which starts shooting next week in Rhode Island.
Macrae is a former copywriter who went on to direct commercials before winning the Australian iteration of Project Greenlight with his brother, Simon. The siblings co-directed the dramedy "The View from Greenhaven" in 2008.
Routh was last seen on the big screen playing one of Ramona Flowers' seven evil ex-boyfriends in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World." He appeared on the last season of NBC's "Chuck," and next stars in Kevin Munroe's "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night" as a supernatural private eye. Coincidentally, the horror-thriller co-stars Sam Huntington, who played Clark Kent's co-worker Jimmy Olsen in "Superman Returns."
Ford has guest starred in more than a dozen popular TV shows, including recent episodes of "Human Target," "Grey's Anatomy," "NCIS" and "The Vampire Diaries." However, she's best known for playing homicidal journalist Christine Hill on the previous season of Showtime's "Dexter."
Ford will soon be seen alongside Orlando Bloom and Taraji P. Henson in the indie thriller "The Good Doctor," and she also stars in the upcoming indie drama "Sironia," which co-stars Jeremy Sisto, Tony Hale and Blake Lively's older half-sister Robyn Lively.
Routh is represented by UTA and Main Title Entertainment, which also represents Ford along with Gersh.
