While the horror movie Velvet Buzzsaw does not seem in any way directly related to superhero films, its creation was actually informed by Nicholas Cage's cancelled Superman film, Superman Lives.

Filmmaker Dan Gilroy, who wrote and directed Velvet Buzzsaw, revealed that his negative experiences as a writer on the planned Superman movie helped inspire his work including the Netflix original film.

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"I worked for a year and a half on that movie and it fell apart," admitted Gilroy in an interview with Gamespot. "I felt like I'd wasted my time, so I decided I was going to do this job for myself from now on. I decided to include as many personal ideas as I could so if it happens again, I can at least feel that I've grown. Whether it's a big studio film or an indie film, I just write things with ideas or themes that are important to me, so it's easier to make peace with it happening again."

After the superhero movie was cancelled by Warner Bros. due to its growing production budget, Gilroy developed the idea while reflecting on the professional setback as he sat on a beach with the seaside contemplation directly inspiring the final scene in Velvet Buzzsaw. Since Superman Lives' cancellation, Gilroy has largely worked on original screenplays, serving as a credited co-writer on licensed properties only twice in his career, on The Bourne Legacy and Kong: Skull Island.

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Velvet Buzzsaw, written and directed by Dan Gilroy, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge and John Malkovich, is available to stream now on Netflix.