Donner's Superman II

Superman II
The Richard Donner version

When director Richard Donner signed his contract to work on Superman, the agreement was for the completion of two films. Because these two features were to be two parts of a single epic story, they were worked on simultaneously throughout most of the production under Donner's direction. Only when there was a great need to focus on the first film so as to finish it in time for its release date was the work on Superman II set aside. It is estimated that up to 80% of the footage needed for the sequel had been filmed by the time the decision to postpone its completion took effect.

Subsequent production difficulties found Donner no longer a part of the Superman team, and after his departure, many scenes for Superman II were rewritten and even some of those that were not were nonetheless reshot under the new director. Other significant changes were made to Richard Donner's vision of the film as well, and in the end, only some 30% of the final film contains scenes with which he was directly involved.

An analysis of the 1977 shooting script, along with photographs, storyboards, interviews, and even actual unused film footage (made available via extended versions of the film as shown on broadcast television) show that not only was the story to be radically different from SII's final cut in many respects, but that stylistically and qualitatively the film appears to have been on track as a companion piece of equal stature to it's legendary predecessor.

The purpose of this section is to present the clearest possible view of Donner's vision for Superman II: the Adventure Continues. All media content included here (photographs, video stills, storyboards, etc.) was initially created by and for the Donner-directed production of Superman II.

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