Kevin Spacey is Lex Luthor

The star will take a break from his tenure as artistic director of the Old Vic to star in Bryan Singer's 'Superman'.

Jan  7 2005

Kevin Spacey has been cast as the dastardly Lex Luther in Bryan Singer's upcoming 'Superman' movie.

Spacey, who reunites with Singer after their brilliant work on 'The Usual Suspects', said 'The huge attraction for me was the chance to work with Bryan again.'

And of playing 'the greatest criminal mind of our time', Spacey added 'Luther is a wonderful role.'

The 'American Beauty' star has long been rumoured to be playing the sinister slap-head in Singer's movie, but a scheduling conflict with his work as artistic director of the Old Vic had delayed casting.

However, it has now been revealed that Spacey will still star in the Old Vic's production of 'National Anthems', followed by a limited run in 'The Philadelphia Story' before heading to Fox Studios in Sydney to start work on the movie.

As for the other roles, relative newcomer Brandon Routh has been cast as the 'Man of Steel' while Kate Bosworth is in talks to play Louis Lane, although nothing has been confirmed on that front yet.

Singer meanwhile, explained that he wants his film to follow the big screen mythology created by Richard Donner's original movie and the TV series 'Smallville'.

'It's a little like 'X-Men', where the mutants existed when the movie began' he told Variety. 'It's not an origin story; I didn't want to re-make what Richard Donner did so well in the original, and didn't want to tread on the great work they're doing on 'Smalville'.

Production on 'Superman' begins on 3 March, with the film set to hit screens next summer.