Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a 2006 re-edited director's cut of the 1980 superhero film Superman II. It is a sequel to Richard Donner's 1978 film Superman, based on the DC Comics superhero of the same name, and stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, and Marlon Brando, the later whose scenes were removed and entirely re-shot with actress Susannah York for the theatrical release. This alternate cut was edited by Michael Thau and was overseen and completed by Donner himself, along with the film's original uncredited screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz (who remains credited as the film's "creative consultant"), and features a significant amount of discarded footage, alternate takes, and story elements not featured in the theatrical version.
In 1979, after the tense nineteen month-long shoot on Superman, executive producer Alexander Salkind removed Donner from production on the sequel and replaced him with director Richard Lester. Lester completed the remainder of the film for its theatrical release, but also re-wrote and re-shot a substantial portion of Donner's footage in order to receive full director's credit. While the sequel was a critical and financial success upon release, interest in Donner's cut of Superman II became well known after a community of online fans began petitioning for Warner Bros. to release Donner's vision. However, due to legality issues over Marlon Brando's unused footage, the task seemed impossible. After Brando's death in 2004, his family estate allowed for Warner Bros. to feature archival footage of the late actor in the 2006 film Superman Returns, thus granting the studio permission to restore Donner's version of Superman II.
Since Donner never completed Superman II in its original form, certain key scenes filmed by Lester, along with newly created visual effects shots by Thau and an early screen test of one pivotal scene featuring Reeve and Margot Kidder, had to be added to the film in order to create a completed work. The film also features an early developed alternate opening and ending that were both envisioned before the theatrical release of Superman, in which the sequel's original ending was re-worked as the finale to the first film. Donner stated that had he finished the film in 1980, he would have shot a different ending. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut was released on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD on November 28, 2006 to positive reviews and is dedicated to Reeve's memory.
Category:Films