Man of Steel

Holy competition, Batman! Even though this year's summer movie season is packed to the hilt with caped crusaders and dinosaurs and aliens, oh my! (the continued exploits of big-screen franchises "Batman," "Jurassic Park" and "Aliens")--Warner Bros. is betting there's still room left in theaters and theater-goers' hearts for towering basketball star Shaquille O'Neal (pictured above).

In his laBODY project, titled simply "Steel," O'Neal--no rookie to film--plays John Henry Irons, a metals specialist who moonlights as the armor-clad superhero "Steel." Not surprisingly, the live-action adventure calls upon Steel to put his superpowers to the BODY by outwitting a band of high-tech criminals. (It's always the same with those superheroes--work, work, work. . . . )

As bets go, "Steel" seems a pretty good one--especially considering the phenomenal popularity of basketball in general. By most accounts the favorite team sport in the nation, basketball is now estimated to be played by a hoop-staggering one-fifth of the U.S. population. Combine that with American superhero worship, and you've got the makings of a Hollywood hit. Take that, Batman!

This article was originally published in the March 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Man of Steel.