First images of Superman Brandon Routh in Cracktown and Dylan Dog

Brandon Routh has been fairly quiet the past few years, with little to nothing announced in the way of movie projects, aside from a potential Superman sequel, and a few cameos and walk-ons.

Well now it seems Routh’s career is heating up again, with a number of projects in the can, in pre-production or short-order in-development, including big budget projects like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Dead of Night, both of which are currently shooting; Unthinkable, Kambakkht Ishq (Incredible Love), Miss Nobody, Stuntmen, all four of which are in post-production; and Table for Three and Life Is Hot in Cracktown, both of which are completed, with the latter set for a limited release on June 26th, 2009, from Lightning Media.

The first photos of Routh from two of his many new projects are now online. He’ll play Sizemore in Life Is Hot In Cracktown, one of the many lost souls in a struggling community dealing with a drug epidemic, and Dylan Dog, the hero of Tiziano Sclavi’s Italian comic book, which is currently being prepped as a feature film by TMNT director Kevin Munroe.

The first two photos below are from Life Is Hot In Cracktown, which shows the gritty, hard realities of a neighborhood, as well as the struggling, proud people who try to survive them everyday.

Marybeth (Kerry Washington) works as a prostitute and lives with her lover, Benny, a small time burglar. In spite of their lines of work, they live a somewhat normal life as a married couple. Marybeth works the streets in the hopes of saving enough money for her final sex change operation, so then she and Benny can be married.

Manny (Victor Rasuk) works two jobs: the late shift in an all night bodega surrounded by young junkies, drug dealers and prostitutes, and as a security guard in a Welfare hotel. At home his wife, Concetta (Shannyn Sossamon), takes care of his sick infant son and makes their grimy rundown apartment as much of a home as she can.

Willy, ten years old, lives in the Welfare hotel with his sister, mother (Illeana Douglas) and her violent boyfriend. Willy begs on the street so he and Susie can buy some fast food to eat.
Romeo (Evan Ross), a street tough, roams the streets with his gang. Upset over the murder of his younger brother, and feeling partially responsible for not being there during the shooting, he terrorizes anyone who comes in his path.

These four stories come together in a powerful climax of love and salvation, showing that despite the obstacles of life in the inner-city, humanity and hope can still prevail. Based on Buddy Giovinazzo’s best-selling novel, Life is Hot in Cracktown, the vignettes show how crack cocaine has infiltrated the streets of urban America.

Click on the photos to see much larger versions.

You can also see additional photos from Life is Hot in Cracktown, featuring Routh, Shannyn Sossamon, Illeana Douglas, and the lovely Kerry Washington as a pre-op transsexual (if you can believe it), RIGHT HERE.

ShockTillYouDrop visited the New Orleans set of Dead of Night, where Routh is playing the character of supernatural investigator Dylan Dog, who seeks out the monsters of the Louisiana bayou. The film is based on the comic Dylan Dog, and is currently scheduled for released sometime in 2010.

Click on the image to see a much larger version at the site.

Just found another shot of Routh as Dylan Dog on IESB. Click on the pic to see a much larger version.