Brett Ratner Talks 'Superman' Supporting Roles

Wearing a dark suit and a wide smile at a General Motors charity event Tuesday, Ratner revealed that he's offered roles to Anthony Hopkins ("The Silence of the Lambs"), Ralph Fiennes ("Maid in Manhattan") and Christopher Walken ("Catch Me If You Can").

"I want [Walken] to play Parry White," he said, referring to the editor of the fictitious Daily Planet newspaper where Superman works as Clark Kent. "He said he'd be interested."

Ratner directed Hopkins and Fiennes in last year's "Red Dragon," and he's reserving a suitably villainous role for his onetime Hannibal Lecter — that of Lex Luthor. He said he hopes Fiennes will come aboard as Superman's Kryptonian father, Jor-El.

"There are a lot of great actors that I've approached," he said optimistically. "But unless I get the Man of Steel, it's gonna be hard."