Lee, who will return as executive producer of the film, hosted "Superman Returns" director Bryan Singer and producer Jon Peters at a wide-ranging discussion with ACM students today at UH.

Singer and Peters are in Honolulu this week to celebrate Lee's birthday, and to begin planning the next Superman film, which will likely begin production mid- to late next year in a location yet to be determined. "Superman Returns" was shot in Sydney, Australia, with four ACM students serving as interns.

Singer acknowledged that he has also been approached to direct the next "X-Men" movie — he directed the first two well-received films before turning over the reigns for the third installment to Brett Ratner — but said he wouldn't have time to take on another large-scale project before the next Superman gets underway. He is interested, however, in seeing the script for the "X-Men" spinoff "Wolverine."