Looks like the Donner cut of Superman II may have jumped through its legal hurdles!!! - Page 4

I can't tell if doug is being facetious or not.

doug, what is the difference from what you are want with IV to what others want with II.

i petition is a good thought but will it really do anything?

i have to side with robert.
but it is nearly impossible to convey being sarcastic or facetious without tone of voice.

Facetious? Sir, that's insulting. While you guys sit around pontificating about something that will never happen, potential cinematic gold awaits in the vaults of Warners. I'm tired of cutrate releases of Superman IV. I get so tired of defending the movie. I see potential greatness in it. Is that so wrong?

Fine, don't sign my petition if you don't want to, but please don't question my sincerity.

I think you're the only one.

Any potential greatness I saw in IV got lost at the script stage.

Seriously, I wonder why, at the least they have not made an E! True Hollywood Story about "Superman" It would be way more interesting than most of the THS out there and with the recent deaths of Brando and Reeve and a new Superman film in production, you would think that this would be a perfect time to do it. I would love to see a full blown documentary on the story (as saddening as it would be)

Doug, the demand is out there from many Superman fans around the world to see a new SE of "Superman II" with all of the lost Richard Donner footage restored and presented for the first time in an official capacity. The primary indicator of that is the popularity of the Salkind international cut, which remains the one source for much of the Donner footage that was included for television release and is a fan favorite to this day.

Warner Bros. execs have expressed their interest in such a project, and this came from a top-level exec last year. It's now a matter of getting everyone to agree on the project, most importantly Ilya Salkind, Pueblo Film Licensing (who is the current legal receivor of anything Salkind-connected), Mr. Donner, Richard Lester, all of the surviving actors and contributors, the Brando estate, and the Reeve family. Most everyone is willing to participate in the project, and I have it on good word that the Reeve family would most certainly give their blessings to the project. Obviously, it's a race against time before we lose anyone else and before all of the footage is lost forever.

Whether the project results in a new Donner-completed version of II, a cut similar to Kino Video's recent assembled version of "Metropolis" (complete with new music, new intertitle cards and photographs or storyboards replacing scenes that were not filmed or were not located), a cut similar to the Salkind international cut, something similar to the upcoming SE of "Titanic" (with the Donner footage presented in a branching featurette format), or simply a separate section of deleted/alternate scenes, that remains to be decided.

Obviously, the leading decision to have a fully completed all-Donner version of II, much in the aforementioned style of the DVD version of "Star Trek: TMP", is the one most cited by fans. And it could certainly be done, with CGI and new footage completed for the film. This is where brilliant people like Mike Matessino (who oversaw the restoration to the Rhino "Superman" CD release - has it been five years already since it came out?), David C. Fein (who worked with Robert Wise and Mike on the ST:TMP DVD), and Michael Thau and Jonathan Gaines (who led the work on the "Superman" SE DVD project) come in. However, finding a replacement to complete the necessary scenes Christopher Reeve would have been involved in (I'm thinking the main battle sequence is the one key sequence he would have had to complete - hey DC, clarification, good buddy!) would be necessary and a difficult task - perhaps Brandon Routh would be willing to do some work for it, if Bryan Singer allowed him to.

Don't be quick to dismiss the demand for a new version of II just yet. It's not a lost cause, not in the eyes of many who view it as one step closer to reality.

As for a fully completed SE of "Superman IV", I for one would love to see it occur, but at the same time I'm not holding my breath on the project. Again, it would take time, effort, participation from all parties (most importantly Sidney Furie, Golan and Globus, and the WB), and restorationists to complete and/or clean up the visual FX for the film. It would also take the location and restoration of Alexander Courage's full music score - and there's 105 minutes of music that he did. And it would also require the location of the missing footage. Unfortunately, it's been reported that the 42 minutes of film was destroyed just after the sneak preview screening. Whether the footage was cut and then stored in a film vault, that's not been verified. Again, it would take a lot of demand to the WB to get the project off the ground.

Let's take it one project at a time and see what happens. The success of a new SE of "Superman II" could lead to a new SE of "Superman IV", if properly handled right and if sales on the DVD go really well.

A hint as to Doug's intentions, from his petition:

"It's an insult to one of the greatest directors of our time. We're talking about the director of Iron Eagle!"

DJ

So I guess the jig is up! I was kinda wondering how long it would take someone to click on the link to my blog. I'm sorry guys, I just couldn't help it. But it's not like I didn't leave any clues. I asked for a Lowry restoration and Mark Pillow commentary for cryin' out loud! Just imagine how insightful a Nuclear Man commentary would be. I wonder if they would have Hackman dub the commentary too?

Hey, lay off Furie, pal. He's one of my favourite directors (seriously), if only for his work on The Ipcress File.

Only problem with this statement is that Singer went on the record talking about how he was thinking about using footage from the earlier films "but not in the way you think". The way I read it at the time was that he was saying it would not be used in montage or anything to set up the new film. The Brando rumor came sometime after this interview and from a source that was right about a lot of other things that were initially rebuked.

I don't see how those two statements are mutually exclusive at all. If anything, the fact that they limited it to just the Brando thing would suggest that they're not denying what Singer said, just the Brando rumor.



Well, I'll always say take anything the IMDb posts with a grain of salt, but I'd still take WB's word as more official than your optimistic interpretation of one specific statement by the director. Not set-in-stone official, of course, just *more* official.



I dunno, it seems like every story stems from The Latino Review, and they don't seem particularly more dependable than any other website which makes its money by pumping the rumor mill and getting fanboys excited. But I don't know them, I've never heard of them prior to the publicity they've gotten from this "scoop", so I don't know whether they're dependable or not. I just think it's a bit early to take one rumor (which, at best, is unconfirmed and, at worst, has been officially denied) as evidence that we'll finally be getting the Donner cut of 'Superman II'. I think it's premature to get excited, that's all.

Donner did shoot the Niagara Falls sequence. Here's a behind the scenes still (confirmed by Christopher Reeve) of Donner's crew filming it.



Whether Donner's footage is usable or not is another matter, of course!

Well, seeing as how his editor/composer John Ottman was completely sure that this film had no relationship to the original series DESPITE Singer's public comments, how do we even know that Warner has any idea what's going on? Singer was saying in that interview about the footage that he was "talking" about using some, but who's to say that the rumor hitting the net didn't come directly from someone in Singer's personal camp before it even went through the approval process at the studio?

Again, a lot of the stuff coming from that Latino Review source seems to be pretty instant and secured news from Singer's mouth. I'm just saying that I think we overestimate the lines of communications sometimes when it comes to the Internet. After all, in the comic book industry many pros find out they are fired from the Internet before they hear it from their bosses.

That's a fair point, Dharmesh. But Christopher Reeve positively identified that picture as the Superman crew shooting Lois Lane at Niagara Falls.

It's clearly not from Lester's shoot, as her clothes are completely different. So who's shoot was it from, if not Donner's?

As you know, David Petrou's book doesn't cover the whole period of shooting, and some of the magazine articles at the time of Superman The Movie's release do mention that filming took place at Niagara Falls.

He says it on that old Swap Shop interview.

At least Warner confirmed they were still looking into it as of their official chat. I would just love to hear if there is any progress is finding the footage.

Judging from everything Warner has said (official response to write-in campaign, DVD mag article, chat, etc.), they plan on doing at least that much. But with the special editions of Batman (including director's cut of Forever)... and their eager willingness to do all these massive restorations lately (silly Blade Runner legal issues!)... there's a very good chance that Superman 2's complete restoration will happen.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if they did two different cuts for the first two films followed by new documentaries chronicaling the controversy over II and updating the Christopher Reeve comments on the supplements for the first movie. I hope they get Mark McClure back, as he added a real heart to the behind-the-scenes material. I also wouldn't be surprised if some Superman Returns PR was included. Either way, it's pretty much a guarantee that we're getting a few SE 2-discs around June next year!

Some interesting links regarding restoring Superman II:

Links deleted by moderator. DO NOT REPOST.

I hope that reference to the alternate fate of the Kryptonian villains, if it's being carted off by the police, has not been restored in this cut. The interviews I have state that Lester shot that version for the Salkinds as an open ending if they wanted to bring them back for sequels. I don't believe it had anything to do with Donner.

I really love the DVD Artwork!

I hate the artwork! Superman, what does manage to resemble him, looks angry and that women behind him is unrecognizable!

But that's minor. I'm gonna try my best to get this DVD.

Well, I'm confused. Am I correct in thinking this is not planned to be released?

The links and info are referring to bootlegs, which I thought was verboten on this forum...

Indeed. This is a fan-made "international cut", not any kind of official product.

That original ending as seen in the extended version is, in fact, a Donner clip, and for one obvious reason: Gene Hackman. All of the Hackman footage for II was shot by Richard Donner, as Hackman filmed nothing for Lester. Plus, compare the hair styles of Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve in that sequence - they are consistent with what Donner shot. Anything that appears otherwise, with Kidder's hair frizzy and the S curl on Reeve's forehead softer and less prominent, is a Lester shot.