Ben Affleck to star as original Superman

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Actor Ben Affleck is playing original TV Superman George Reeves in the upcoming film, "Hollywoodland," hitting theaters Sept. 8.

"The story's about the toll it took on him (Reeves), the price of ambition," said Affleck. "You talk about typecasting and that kind of frustration -- he was one of the first guys to experience that."

In the film Affleck plays Reeves, a man who is worried he will always be known as the man from Krypton. After his untimely death, which was labeled a suicide, a gumshoe detective played by Adrien Brody investigates the case on a hunch, thinking Reeve's death was no suicide, Entertainment Tonight reported Monday.

"We recreated '50s Hollywood, a time in history that's really fascinating and glamorous," said Brody, "(and) there were all these darker undercurrents that allowed that to exist."

Best known for starring in the TV series "The Adventures of Superman" in the '50s, Reeves was 45 years old when he was found dead in his bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head.

When Christopher Reeve was cast as Superman in 1978, people marveled at the coincidence in their last names.

Years later, when Reeve experienced a tragic horseback riding accident that made him a quadriplegic, many speculated whether or not he was the victim of a Superman "curse." Reeve died in 2004.