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What worked for Batman inThe Dark Knighttrilogy, didn’t do the trick for Zack Snyder’sMan of Steel, as reactions to Snyder’s bleak retelling of Superman’s origins were mixed. To this date, Richard Donner’s 1978Supermanremains the quintessential adaptation of the symbol of hope, and the upcoming rendition under James Gunn’s leadership will be more in line with Donner’s.
However, Donner’s expedition of respecting the source material was met with several challenges, especially from producer Alexander Salkind, which could’ve derailed the entire film.
Also read:“He did ask me to do it”: Original Superman Director Richard Donner Asked Mel Gibson to Take Over $952M Franchise
Richard Donner and Alexander Salkind Kept on Butting Heads ThroughoutSuperman’s Production
The initial draft ofSupermanthatRichard Donnerreceived from Alexander Salkind, was disparaging to the comics he grew up reading. And being a lifelong fan of the Man of Steel, the director agreed to take matters into his own hands and joined forces with writer TomMankiewicz for some heavy rewrites, which initially didn’t sit well with Salkind. PerTHR, Donner recalled,
“I was brought up on Superman as a kid. There was a whole point in my life where I read Superman. So when I was finished with it, I was like, ‘Man, if they make this movie, they are destroying the legend of Superman.’ I wanted to do it just to defend him.”
Although the producer did come to an agreement, things kept on escalating betweenThe Gooniesfilmmaker andThe Three Musketeersproducer throughout the production process.
Also read:For Kevin Feige, “The most perfect superhero movie” isn’t DCU or MCU: $300M Classic is Still Called the Godfather of the Genre
Pressure From The Salkinds Forced Richard Donner to Meet Sylvester Stallone
For the casting process, pressure from Alexander and Ilya Salkind, who wanted a name for the role, pushed Donner to meetSylvester Stallone, who was animated to don the cape. On the contrary, Donner was less than thrilled to cast theRockyStar in the role, even though he respected him. He explained,
“The Salkinds wanted a name. I met with Sylvester Stallone because of them. I tried to be nice and say, ‘This is wrong’. I liked Stallone; he turned out to be a nice guy. He wanted to do it. I remember meeting him in his manager’s office and I was as cordial as I could be. He was a big star and I’m some punk kid.”
Also read:“I’ve been left out everytime”: Sylvester Stallone Was Not Italian Enough to Even be an Extra in The Godfather
Eventually, the director landed his eyes on a young Christopher Reeve, and after witnessing his performance in an off-off-Broadway thing, in which he tackled two roles, Donner hired him on faith. And whileSupermandid go on to become a huge success, paving the way for the superhero industry, the rising tensions between the producer and Donner led him to part ways with the sequel.
Supermanis available to stream on Max.
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2539
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
