Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Template:Future film Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a 2006 film that is a re-edit of the 1980 film Superman II. It has been officially sanctioned by Warner Bros. and director Richard Donner, and stars Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman and Terence Stamp. The cut is being supervised by Donner, Tom Mankiewicz and Michael Thau, an editor who worked with Donner on the 2001 director's cut and restoration of Superman: The Movie.

Warner Bros. will release the film on DVD in November 2006, at the same time as the DVD release of Superman Returns. The film will be released seperately, and as part of a 14-disc Ultimate Superman Collection on DVD.

Unlike many “special edition” and “director’s cut” movies released over the years, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut will essentially be a completely new film, featuring entirely different and never-before seen scenes featuring Marlon Brando, Christopher Reeve and the rest of the Superman II cast. The project is being supervised by Superman: The Movie restorationist Michael Thau, in close conjunction with director Richard Donner, who will now be credited as director of the film instead of Richard Lester - the original credited director of Superman II. The film utlizes footage originally shot by Richard Donner during original principal photography from 1977-78, using footage by Richard Lester to fill in spaces that were not shot by Donner due to the halt on production for II.

History

See also: Superman II § Controversy and cut status

In 1977, director Richard Donner set about simultaneously filming an epic two part adaptation of the Superman comic book series. With approximately 75% of Superman II in the can, and after significantly going over budget and over schedule on both movies, it was decided that filming on Superman II would be suspended, and that Donner would focus on completing the first film, Superman: The Movie. Following the release of Superman: The Movie in 1978, it was widely assumed that Donner would be re-called to complete the remaining 25% of the film. However, a number of events led to Donner’s eventual replacement as director of the movie. Most importantly, the producers (Alexander and Ilya Salkind) announced that Marlon Brando’s completed scenes for Superman II would be excised from the movie in order to prevent them having to pay the actor an additional several million dollars he was now demanding for his performance in the sequel. Donner publicly lambasted this decision, announcing that he would make the film his way or not at all. The April 1978 issue of the sci-fi magazine Starburst quotes Donner as saying "That means no games...They have to want me to do it. It has to be on my terms and I don't mean financially. I mean control."

Tensions had existed between the Salkinds, and Richard Donner throughout the almost nineteen months of filming it had taken to complete Superman: The Movie. As the situation came to a head during the hiatus, the Salkinds fired Donner and replaced him with UK-based director Richard Lester. Lester had served as mediator between the Salkinds and Donner for a large part of the initial shoot. Suspicions abound at the time that Lester was being primed for taking over the film, despite Donner’s determination to complete the project at all costs and Lester’s assurances to the contrary. Donner's sacking caused a near mutiny amongst the main cast, who had all enjoyed a close relationship with the director. The April 1981 issue of Time Out magazine quotes Christopher Reeve as saying "I think it’s appalling when you cut out a major actor like Brando so you don’t have to pay him the gross...In my view the way "Superman II" was produced is the lowest you can go without actually cheating."

Lester’s main task in completing Superman II was to film cheaply and quickly and to avoid further budget or scheduling overruns. According to many of the cast and crew, this entailed a noticable drop in the quality of film-making. In June 2006, Lois Lane actress Margot Kidder told the magazine Hotdog "There were two or three cameras at once (a process synonymous with filming sit-coms)and lighting that was quick (to set up)...it was just fast and loose as opposed to the care and love that was in the first Superman." Zod actor Terence Stamp appeared to agree, telling Famous Monsters magazine in 1980 "Part two lost something as far as I was concerned...the film became a more ordinary experience...unlike the first part which had been extraordinary."

The situation was further complicated by the deaths of cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth and production designer John Barry during the hiatus in filming. In order to earn a directorial credit on the film, when Richard Lester assumed the reigns, Superman II had to contain at least 51% of his footage. This meant that large portions of the film were subsequently re-written and re-shot by Lester, with much of Donner’s filmed Superman II footage excised to oblivion. Tom Mankiewicz, a key Donner ally who had re-written both Superman scripts to comply with Donner’s directive to make the features more realistic and less camp, was also removed from the project. His Superman II script was then re-written by David and Leslie Newman, authors of the earlier, purportedly “campier” drafts. This, in addition to Lester’s more comically oriented sense of direction led to a Superman II that although a huge box office and critical success, was condemned by Donner as camp and severely flawed. In 1989, Donner told Starlog magazine "Let me put it this way...all the good parts of "Superman II" are mine."

The Official Superman II

Main article: Superman II

The version of Superman II that was released combined Donner footage shot in 1977 with Lester footage shot in 1979. Approximately 30% of Lester’s Superman II is Richard Donner footage. Much of this interweaving was caused by Lex Luthor actor Gene Hackman’s refusal to return to film any further scenes with Lester. Hackman, along with many of the Superman cast were publicly disgusted by Donner’s removal. Thus, all Hackman footage in the film is Donner’s although in certain scenes, a body double was used for wide shots. The following is a list of all major Donner footage in Superman II: Template:Spoiler

• Lex Luthor in prison, including the escape by balloon.

• The three super-villains land on the moon and attack the astronauts.

• Lex Luthor at the Fortress of Solitude (Although shots of Superman’s mother were filmed by Lester. The scene was originally to feature Brando as Jor-El).

• The three super-villains attack the White House and force the president to kneel before Zod.

• A powerless Clark is beat up by a bully in a fast-food diner.

• Lex Luthor visits the super-villains in the White House.

• The villains burst into the Daily Planet and chase after Superman (some close-ups are edited-in Lester footage)

• The villains return to the Planet and decide to go to Superman’s polar fortress (some close-ups are edited-in Lester footage)

• The second part of the final scene at the Fortress of Solitude, beginning with Luthor’s belated arrival (some close-ups are edited-in Lester footage)

• Clark returns to the diner and gets his revenge on the bully.

Template:Endspoiler The rest of the film, including the opening scenes at the Eiffel Tower, the scenes at Niagara Falls, the scenes of the super-villains in Midwest America and the battle in Metropolis were all shot by Lester. Several television stations have broadcast extended cuts over the years. These have largely featured additional Donner material including footage of Superman destroying the Fortress of Solitude at the conclusion of the film, as well as extra scenes between Lois and Superman.

Superman II controversies and plot holes.

Template:Spoiler Critics of Lester’s Superman II, including Donner, have stated that Lester’s penchant for comedy undermined the integrity of the film, especially when compared to Donner’s Superman: The Movie. Examples of this trademark comedy are evident during scenes which feature Superman fighting the super-villains in Metropolis when a gust of wind blows off a man’s toupee and the same gust of wind sends a man on roller-skates rolling across the pavement etc. Specifically, Donner has also criticized the scenes featuring the confrontation between the military and the super-villains in Idaho, telling Starlog magazine in 1989 "I hated the stuff they did with the villains in the small town. It looked like an Englishman's point-of-view of what America would look like, with the Army, the jeeps, the people...there was no sense of size to it. It lost its sense of importance." Despite this, critics have noted that Superman II remains a remarkably coherent and entertaining film, and Lester’s direction of the love relationship between Lois Lane and Superman, was applauded by critics who stated that they had not seen this side of Richard Lester’s direction prior to this. In 1981, Christopher Reeve told Time Out magazine"Part of the reason that Superman II is such a good movie is due to Lester’s enormous skill as a director. If it hadn’t been for that and the major legacy left by Donner and his footage...it would have been a joke."

However, there was one gaping plot hole that has dogged fans over the years. This concerns a mysterious cut between a scene featuring a powerless Clark finding a green crystal at the Fortress of Solitude, and Superman’s return to the Daily Planet to fight Zod and the other two super-villains. The question of just how Superman regained his powers proved a vital catalyst for Superman fans, who were aware that a major scene featuring Marlon Brando as Jor-El, had been excised from the film, and not replaced with a convincing or coherent alternative. Template:Endspoiler Discussions about lost Donner footage have been raging for years, and with the advent of the internet, numerous letter writing and other campaigns were instigated to persuade Warner Bros. to allow Richard Donner to create his version of Superman II. A fan restored DVD featuring extended scenes shown in various television broadcasts over the years helped bring much publicity to the cause when Warner Bros. threatened legal action over the bootleg release. In early 2006, it was finally announced that a new version of Superman II was being worked on.

In a June 2006 interview with the website Amazon.com George Feltenstein, Senior Vice President of Warner Home Video's Catalog Marketing division stated "We have been getting for years and years and years letters begging us to release the Donner cut of Superman II, and this year we bit the bullet and we've created what is ostensibly a new film, although the footage is all footage that was shot years and years and years ago. But it was sitting in a lab and never assembled. And for those of us were very saddened and touched by the loss of Christopher Reeve - to see footage you've never seen of him before, and a whole different take on the Superman II story, is really thrilling. That's going to be coming out sometime around Christmas."

The Richard Donner Cut

When filming was suspended on Donner's Superman II in 1978, the director had completed almost all of the major character-based sequences in the film. All scenes in the Daily Planet and Fortress of Solitude were completed. All scenes featuring Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty and Gene Hackman were also completed. What remained to be filmed was the villains arrival on Earth, and their rampage through mid-west America as well as exteriors at Washington D.C. during which Zod announces his takeover of the Earth from the tip of the Washington Monument. Most of the battle scenes between Superman and the super-villains had yet to be shot, as well as both the interiors and exteriors at Niagara Falls. Several minor scenes including a love-struck Superman deliberately tilting over the Leaning Tower of Pisa (later adapted in Superman III) and a scene in which Superman warns off some English fox-hunters were also not filmed.

Mixed emotions invariably followed the announcement in January 2006 that a new Superman II was being worked on. This was primarily down to comments made by Richard Donner that suggested that he was having little or nothing to do with the re-edit. In a January 2006 interview with the website IGN, he stated "They're doing it. I'm not doing it...I don't even want to see it until it comes out in the theater...I'm too far away from it now."

However, it appears that these comments may have been made for tactical reasons possibly to do with negotiating a fee from Warners. In June 2006, restorationist Michael Thau finally confirmed the extent of Donner's involvment in the project. In an interview with the magazine Movie Magic, he stated "When I’d get a cut on a scene, I’d show it to Dick and he’d say, 'I don’t like that line; that reading’s not good' and so on. With Dick it’s always, 'Make it move faster.'"

On May 18th 2006, the website Supermanhomepage.com revealed that Warner Bros. had held interviews for a Christopher Reeve body- double, presumably to be used in wide-shots for new special effects sequences.

Template:Spoiler The new film will feature a number of never-before-seen scenes, which will replace scenes re-filmed by Richard Lester. These include the original opening of the film set in the offices of the Daily Planet. Thus far, this is the only part of the new version of Superman II to have been screened publically - forming part of Warners' January 2006 press announcement that Donner's re-cut was underway. At that time, the website Movieweb.com reported "...the lights we're dimmed and we were treated to Donner's original opening of Superman II...Lois Lane is reading an article on Superman. She sees Clark Kent across the room, who is standing with his arms folded, and she realizes that the two look quite similar. After drawing a hat, glasses and a suit on Superman, she and Clark are summoned into Perry White's office and informed of an assignment they will work on together in Niagara Falls. Perry soon leaves the room and Lois begins dropping hints to Clark that she thinks he's Superman. Clark of course denies this and Lois, believing he is lying, throws herself out the window. As she is tumbling in the air, Clark makes his way down to the street below. Using his "wind blowing" powers he slows up Lois's descent, and then makes an awning drop (courtesy of his "laser-like" eye power) so that Lois's fall is eventually broken by a fruit stand. Even with a temporary score and titles like "Work Test" cut into this piece, it still very much captured the spirit of what a Richard Donner cut of Superman II might have in store."

Aside from these major scenes, the film will also feature new scenes between Lois and Clark at the Fortress of Solitude, several restored scenes which were truncated by Richard Lester and also several new special effects sequences.

The Following is a speculative list detailing how closely the new Richard Donner cut may attempt to follow the aborted 1977 Superman II script:

• Superman: The Movie reprise. This will now almost certainly feature a clip of Superman hurling the nuclear rocket into space from the end of the first film. Jor-el, excised from Lester’s reprise, will be restored. Lester’s insert showing the three super-villain’s arrest on Krypton will almost certainly be deleted.

• The super-villains are freed from the Phantom Zone by the nuclear rocket. A combination of Lester footage and new effects.

• Superman interferes with a fox hunt. This was never filmed by Donner and it is likely that this sequence will simply be scrapped.

• Exterior Daily Planet. Superman swoops into a taxi and emerges as Clark Kent (another scene later adapted for Superman III). This scene may not have been filmed by Donner and may either be scrapped or created digitally.

• Interior Daily Planet. Major new footage Lois jumps out of the window to prove that Clark is Superman. This sequence was filmed by Donner and will most likely only require a few additional effects of Clark zooming through the Daily Planet and using his super-breath to break Lois’s fall. Lester’s opening at the Daily Planet and Eiffel Tower will be deleted.

• Luthor and Otis in prison. This Donner scene featured in Lester’s Superman II. May be slightly re-edited.

• The super-villains land on the moon and attack the astronauts. This Donner scene featured in Lester’s Superman II. May be slightly re-edited. Footage of Houston control (unknown whether Donner or Lester footage) will also remain.

• Luthor’s escape from prison by balloon. This Donner footage featured in Lester’s Superman II. May be slightly re-edited.

• Niagara Falls establishing shots. Lester/stock footage will be used here.

• Niagara Falls interiors – the honeymoon couple arrive at the bungalow. A scripted scene in which Lois teases Clark to kiss her was never filmed by Donner. It is likely that Lester’s re-scripted scene, which has some similar dialogue – Lois: “...everything’s complimentary – until you get the bill.” will be used here.

• Luthor and Eve arrive at the Fortress of Solitude. Major new footage Lester’s footage of Superman’s mother and the Kryptonian elders will be removed from this Donner scene. Instead, Brando’s Jor-el will now inform Luthor of the existence of the super-villains. This scene will also most likely be extended to feature new sequences of Luthor and Eve’s arrival at the fortress, with extended dialogue throughout the sequence.

• Niagara Falls exteriors. Clark gets a hot-dog. Superman rescues a small boy. Donner never filmed these scenes, so Lester’s footage (largely similar to original script) will certainly be used here. However, Lois’s later deliberate jump into the river (to prove that Clark is Superman) will certainly be edited out (Lester footage), as this would now be a redundant duplicate of Lois’s earlier efforts at the Daily Planet.

• Exteriors. Luthor and Eve head back south in the Snowmobile, whilst Luthor plots and schemes. It is unclear whether this scene was filmed by Donner. Lester’s scenes featuring body doubles and voice-overs may be used here.

• Niagara Falls bungalow interiors. Lois fires gun at Clark who is forced to reveal his true identity, just before Lois admits she used a blank. This scene was never filmed by Donner. However, it has been confirmed that the original Reeve and Kidder screen tests, which played out this scene, will be edited together and will feature here. Lester’s sequence featuring Clark burning his hand in the fireplace will be scrapped, though some shots, including Clark’s “Now that you know, I think you should know it all.” may be inserted into the scene.

• Fortress of Solitude interiors. Major new footage Lois and Clark kiss for the first time. This scene was filmed by Donner. All of Lester’s fortress sequences from Superman II will be completely scrapped.

• A love-struck Superman does cartwheels in the air and deliberately straightens out the Leaning Tower of Pisa. These sequences were not filmed by Donner. Lester footage from Superman III could be used here. However, due to the way that Christopher Reeve ultimately portrayed Superman, these sequences may appear out of character, and will therefore probably be scrapped. Lester’s footage showing Superman picking a flower from a rainforest will probably be deleted.

• Fortress of Solitude Interiors. Major new footage Superman and Lois make a soufflé. This scene was filmed by Donner. (This scene was also re-filmed by Lester, but deleted from the final cut of his Superman II).

• Lester’s scene featuring Zod landing in a lake and walking on water may be scrapped. The villains arrive in Midwest America and meet the rangers. Donner never filmed this scene, thus Lester footage will likely be used here. The scene will probably be edited differently from the original. In Lester’s version, part of the dialogue intended for this scene was transferred to the army general in the small town. It is unclear how this will be addressed.

• Fortress of Solitude interiors. Major new footage Superman explains his origins to Lois. Lois and Superman make love for the first time.

• Major new effects footage? The original script features Zod at the Washington monument proclaiming his takeover of the earth. The dialogue is similar to that spoken by Zod in Lester’s version in the small town (“...your very lives will be given over to me...”). Computer technology may help to transfer this footage. Otherwise, most of Lester’s footage of the villains in the small town (including the bar fight sequences, Zod levitating a boy’s father and the military attack on the super-villains) will almost certainly be scrapped. Additional scripted scenes featuring the destruction of the Kremlin, Eiffel Tower and Mount Rushmore (the latter possibly filmed by Donner) may be constructed with new effects footage.

• Fortress of Solitude Interiors. Major new footage Jor-el warns Superman of the dangers of falling in love. Superman gives up his powers and becomes a mortal. Lester’s re-shoot of this scene will be scrapped entirely.

• The villains attack the White House and force the president to kneel before Zod. This Donner-filmed scene featured in Lester’s Superman II. May be substantially re-edited.

• Exteriors. Lois and Clark drive towards the diner. In Lester’s version, this scene featured Donner’s footage of the remote controlled car crashed by Lex Luthor in Superman: The Movie, combined with new voice-over dialogue. Since this scene was never filmed by Donner, it will likely play the same way.

• Clark is beaten up inside the diner and hears the president relinquish his powers to Zod. This Donner-filmed scene featured in Lester’s Superman II. May be slightly re-edited.

• Luthor visits the villains inside the White House and offers them the son of Jor-el. This Donner-filmed scene featured in Lester’s Superman II. May be slightly re-edited and may include new effects footage.

• A bruised Clark arrives at the Fortress of Solitude and screams for his father. Jor-el appears and dies to restore his son’s powers. Major new footage Lester’s partial re-shoot of this scene will be scrapped. An earlier Lester scene showing Clark trying to hitch-hike to the North poll will possibly be deleted.

• Daily Planet interiors. Lois, Perry and Jimmy wait for Superman. The villains burst into the Daily Planet and Superman finally appears. These Donner scenes featured in Lester’s Superman II, though certain shots were re-filmed by Lester. Thus, this sequence will likely be substantially re-edited.

• Superman and the super-villains fight in Metropolis. Superman flees the city. Most of these scenes were never filmed by Donner. The new cut will combine Lester footage (re-edited to remove slapstick sight-gags), original Donner footage and new special-effects sequences. Lester scenes featuring Lois leaning out of the office window with a rather insensitive female co-worker will certainly be scrapped.

• The super-villains return to the Daily Planet. Luthor offers them Superman’s home address. These Donner scenes featured in Lester’s Superman II, though certain shots were re-filmed by Lester. Thus, this sequence will likely be re-edited.

• The villains head north with Lois and Luthor on their backs. It is likely that Lester’s footage featuring a body-double for Lex Luthor will feature here as in Lester’s Superman II.

• The group arrives at the Fortress of Solitude. The super-villains break through its defenses. Rare new footage This Donner footage has only ever been seen in rare extended television cuts.

• Superman tries to lull Zod into the 'de-powering' chamber. The villains threaten to tear Lois apart. Major new footage This scene was filmed by Donner. Lester sequences featuring Superman throwing a giant “S” at Zod as well as the villains and Superman playing a cat and mouse disappearing act will be scrapped.

• Superman tricks the villains into losing their powers. Superman crushes Zod’s hand. Lester’s Superman II, contained this Donner footage. Will be slightly-re-edited to remove Lester inserts (Lois Lane has noticeably different hair and make-up in the Lester re-shoots).

• Luthor and the super-villains are taken away by the arctic patrol. Rare new footage This Donner footage has only ever been seen in rare extended television cuts.

• Superman destroys the Fortress of Solitude. Rare new footage This Donner footage has only ever been seen in rare extended television cuts. New effects will likely be created.

• Outside the Fortress, Lois and Superman agree to end their relationship. Rare new footage This Donner footage has only ever been seen in rare extended television cuts, but will certainly be trimmed and re-edited.

• Superman takes a weeping Lois home. This flying sequence may never have been filmed.

• Lois’ roof-terrace. Superman says a final goodbye to Lois. Rare new footage This Donner footage has only ever been seen in rare extended television cuts, but will certainly be slightly re-edited.

• Superman turns back time to avoid the devastation of the planet caused by the super-villains. This sequence may be scrapped entirely in the new cut. Certain scenes that were filmed by Donner for this sequence are thus likely to be put in a deleted scenes section on the DVD release.

• Daily Planet interiors. Major new footage?? Lois has a feeling she may have missed something. Clark gets Lois a pizza. This scene was filmed by Donner, although if the above sequence is scrapped Lester’s “super-kiss” sequence (otherwise very similar to the original scripted scene) may be used instead.

• Daily Planet interiors. Clark bumps into Jimmy, then into a rude man, reminding him of unfinished business. Rare new footage This Donner footage has only ever been seen in rare extended television cuts.

• Clark gets his revenge on the bully in the diner. This Donner-filmed scene featured in Lester’s Superman II. May be slightly re-edited.

• Superman repairs the damage done to the leaning tower of Pisa. This sequence, never filmed by Donner, may be scrapped. Lester footage of Superman apologizing to the president will also likely be deleted.

In a recent interview with the British magazine Hotdog, restorationist Michael Thau confirmed that the new cut will feature less than 25% Richard Lester footage, and that this footage would be edited to reflect Donner’s vision of the film, specifically to remove many of Lester’s trademark sight-gags, which Thau stated “undercut the tension” of the film.

The project remains cloaked in a veil of secrecy and several key issues remain the subject of much speculation. Foremost amongst these is whether the film will be subjected to a new sound mix and new dialogue-looping (a process in which sound is re-dubbed in a sound studio). Many of the original scenes were never re-looped, and thus the soundtrack could potentially be of poor quality. Gene Hackman (whose original Superman II scenes were looped by a voice-double), Terence Stamp and other surviving Superman II stars could conceivably contribute new dialogue loops, but it remains unclear whether this will happen. Further, it has been noted that many Lester scenes feature poor quality audio looping, most famously during scenes which feature background extras (notably “Are you all right buddy?” spoken as a soldier emerges from a flaming car in Idaho as well as several other examples during the Metropolis fight scenes). Questions relating to how the new scenes will be scored musically also remain a mystery.

Another issue is whether Thau and Donner will only re-edit new Donner footage, rather than Donner footage featured in the original Lester version. Commentators have pointed out that Donner scenes in the Lester version, specifically scenes featuring the attack on the White House and scenes of the villains on the moon, were edited to reflect Lester’s rather than Donner’s film-making style and that these should also be re-edited in the new version. The original Superman: The Movie contained (and Superman II was to contain) a directorial style that combined long, intricate shots shot by Donner with the sharp editing style of editor Stuart Baird. However, it remains unclear whether Baird has been involved in this project.

Richard Donner has publicly conceded that his own film-making style has changed considerably over the years. In February 2006, when asked about the new Superman II cut, he told the website Dark Horizons "I would never shoot like that now in a million years, I mean it was a different way, a different style, different interpretation."

This has led to fears that this new version may well fail to capture the essence of the original 1977 shoot. Further, several fans were highly critical of Thau and Donner’s choices made during the restoration of the extended cut of Superman: The Movie in 2001. Specifically, they pointed to the apparently poor editing of a new scene featuring Superman’s father Jor-El talking with Superman, as well as several other apparently redundant additions including Superman’s earth mother repeatedly yelling “Clark, wake up!” at a young Clark early in the film. Template:Spoiler There are also concerns that the narrative of the film may struggle to make sense. The main reason for this concerns the original scripted ending for Superman II, which featured Superman travelling back through time to avoid the wide-scale destruction of the Earth created by the super-villains. This idea was then lifted and used in Superman: The Movie instead. It remains unclear whether a new ending was conceived before Donner was fired. However, a scene was filmed by Donner, in which, at the end of the film Lois Lane tells Clark that she has a feeling that a big story might have happened, but that she feels she is missing it (i.e. it never happened because Superman reversed time). Further, Donner also filmed several scenes to be played backwards as Superman traveled back in time, including Perry White in the bathroom and his toothpaste squeezing back in to the tube. Thus, it is unclear how these scenes can or will be used in the new cut without the film repeating the story device used by the first film. Ultimately, Donner may favour using the "super-kiss" sequence filmed by Richard Lester in which Superman erases Lois’ memory.

Also, because the way that the film was re-scripted under Lester, continuity may prove a problem. The afformentioned opening scene at the Daily Planet, was naturally not alluded to in the Lester script. Thus when Lois and Clark walk along the banks of the Niagara Falls, (Donner never filmed this scene, so Lester footage will have to be used) there is naturally no mention of the fact that the last time we saw her Lois jumped out of the window of the Daily Planet because she thought Clark was Superman (In Lester's version she jumps into the river).

Another concern surrounding the restoration of any new Superman II, relates to a scene which was to have taken place in the bungalow in Niagara falls. Whereas in Lester’s version, Clark trips over a fire-place, and reveals his identity when he is not burnt despite retrieving his glasses from a burning fire, Donner’s version was to have played very differently. There was to be a scene in which Lois (far more intuitive and shrewd in Donner’s version) fires a gun at Clark, who admits he is Superman, just before Lois admitted she used a blank. Template:Spoiler Despite statements to the contrary, it has now been confirmed that Donner never filmed this scene. However, it did form part of the original Reeve and Kidder screen-tests and these will now feature in the new cut. An earlier scripted scene in the bungalow (in which Lois teases Clark), was never filmed at all, and it is unclear how this has been addressed.

The very final scene in Tom Mankiewicz's Superman II script is an exact mirror of the conclusion of Superman III. Superman, no longer love-struck repairs the damage he initially did to the Leaning Tower of Pisa:

BACK TO SOUVENIR STAND

The SHOPKEEPER gapes. The Tower is now the Leaning Tower 
again - all his wares are useless. Hysterical, he smashes 
his shelves to the ground, makes violent obscene gestures 
at the CAPED HERO above, weeping.

SHOPKEEPER
Cretino! Super, stronzo! ...
(and other expletives deleted)

EXT. SKY - DAY - CLOSE ON SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN flies majestically home, the setting sun behind 
him, soaring toward the blue horizon, magnificent in his 
power. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a 
locomotive, able to leap tall buildings at a single bound. 
Look - up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! 
It's SUPERMAN!

THE END

It seems highely unlikely that the new Donner cut will incorporate this scene, as Donner would have to use material from Richard Lester's Superman III. Ultimately, the Richard Donner cut, rather than fully bringing to life Donner's original vision is almost certainly going to be part compromise and part innovation.

External links

• Donner's Superman II
• James Christie / Hotdog - "The Fight For Superman II; A tale of two Dicks"
• Superman 2
• Capedwonder.com