 superman (also known as superman: the movie) is a 1978 british-american superhero film directed by richard donner. it is based on the dc comics character of the same name and stars marlon brando, gene hackman, christopher reeve, margot kidder, glenn ford, phyllis thaxter, jackie cooper, trevor howard, marc mcclure, terence stamp, valerie perrine, and ned beatty. the film depicts superman's origin, including his infancy as kal-el of krypton and his youthful years in the rural town of smallville. disguised as reporter clark kent, he adopts a mild-mannered disposition in metropolis and develops a romance with lois lane, while battling the villainous lex luthor. several directors, most notably guy hamilton, and screenwriters (mario puzo, david and leslie newman, and robert benton) were associated with the project before donner was hired to direct. tom mankiewicz was drafted in to rewrite the script and was given a "creative consultant" credi
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