Donner's Superman 2

Superman II
The Richard Donner version

Scenes 521 - 541, "Worldwide déjà vu"

521 EXT. SKY/SPACE - NIGHT

SUPERMAN shoots up through the night sky, heading out into space.

522 EXT. SPACE - NIGHT

SUPERMAN wheels in space, looks back down at Earth.

523 ANGLE ON EARTH - SUPERMAN'S POV

A view of the planet Earth, bright against the blackness of space. It revolves slowly on its axis.

524 BACK TO SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN stares down at the globe, suddenly takes off in a blinding flash.

525 EXT. EARTH IN SPACE

A blue blur begins to buzz around the Earth, traveling so rapidly it almost makes an incandescent ring around the planet. SUPERMAN increases his speed, flying in exactly the opposite direction to the planet's rotation.

526 INT. PERRY WHITE'S BATHROOM - NIGHT

PERRY stands in front of his bathroom mirror dressed in a robe, ready for bed. He picks up his toothbrush, starts to squeeze some toothpaste onto it.

527 CLOSE ON TOOTHPASTE

The toothpaste inches out of the tube, suddenly seems to slow down, almost as if it were being frozen.

528 INT. LOIS' APARTMENT - NIGHT

LOIS bangs out her story on the typewriter in rapid staccato, suddenly starts to slow the pace, her finger finally freezing in mid-air, poised over a typewriter key.

529 EXT. WORLD IN SPACE

The blue ring around the Earth has grown wider now, swirls in a rapid current like a circular galactic storm, headed in the reverse direction to the planet's axis. For a moment the Earth seems to stop. Then, almost imperceptibly, it begins to revolve in the opposite direction.

530 INT. PERRY WHITE'S BATHROOM - NIGHT

CAMERA CLOSE: on toothbrush: For the first time in recorded history, toothpaste actually goes back into the tube.

531 INT. LOIS' APARTMENT - NIGHT

CAMERA CLOSE on typewriter. LOIS' hand begins to move in reverse - letters start to disappear from the page of her newspaper story.

532 INSERT SHOT - WALL CALENDAR - DAY

The standard cliché wall calendar whose falling pages have always signified the passage of time in films. One page flies back on: It is yesterday.

533 EMPIRE STATE BUILDING - NIGHT

The top of the destroyed Empire State congeals in the street, rises, replaces itself on the top of the building.

534 WASHINGTON MONUMENT - DAY

The rubble of the Washington Monument reverses itself back into the proud, erect structure it once was.

535 EXT. WORLD IN SPACE

SUPERMAN continues his dizzying whirl around the Earth, which now can visibly be seen rotating in the wrong direction.

536 EXT. STATUE OF LIBERTY - NIGHT

The arm of the Statue of Liberty emerges from the sea, replaces itself on the statue.

537 EXT. CITY PARK - DAY

A mass of fallen leaves on the grass of a city park rise up in the air again, attach themselves to the limbs of the trees.

538 EXT. TIME SQUARE - NIGHT

The thousands of broken neon light bulbs, which formed the now-darkened Coca Cola sign mend themselves, fly up from the street, illuminate it brightly once more.

539 EXT. PARIS - EIFFEL TOWER - DAY

The Eiffel Tower rises up from its melted rubble.

540 INT. DAILY PLANET - NIGHT

PERRY'S office wall in the Daily Planet magically reassembles itself. CAMERA HOLDS AS WE SLOWLY DISSOLVE THROUGH TO DAY: the sound of typewriters and ringing telephones fades in gradually O.S. CAMERA PULLS BACK: PERRY sits at his desk, ranting on the phone, tossing papers around, etc. CAMERA CONTINUES BACK through his interior office window, PANS the City Room of the Daily Planet: it is a normal working day at some earlier point in time. REPORTERS mill about, type stories, drink coffee, etc.

541 CLOSE ON LOIS

LOIS sits at her desk, a blank piece of paper in her typewriter, a totally confused look on her face. She cocks her head in a fog, as if trying to remember something.

LOIS
Now what was I about to... funny...

CLARK appears by the desk, smiles down nicely.

CLARK
Hello, Lois...

LOIS
(preoccupied)
Mmm...? Oh, hi, Clark...

CLARK
(half amused)
Lois, I've seen faraway looks in my time, but with that face you might as well be up at the North Pole or something...

LOIS
(almost remembering)
The North...! No, that's silly...
(looks up)
Did you ever get the feeling that you knew something so important, but... no, you probably didn't... I mean, I feel like I'm sitting right on top of the biggest story of all time!
(hazy)
But I can't figure out what it is...
(snaps to)
Oh well. I always get foggy when I skip lunch.

CLARK
(thinking)
Now let's see... Knowing you, it must have been about Superman. Maybe how he saved the city. Or the world. Or the universe, even...

LOIS
Clark Kent, jealousy is a counter- productive attitude. After all, there are things you can do too.

CLARK
(brightening)
Oh, really? Like what?

LOIS
(quick smile)
Like getting us a pizza.

CLARK'S face falls.

Sources:
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