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Starting in 1977, director Richard Donner filmed SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE and SUPERMAN II simultaneously. In order to make the deadline for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, at some point in production it was decided to postpone filming the remaining scenes needed for SUPERMAN II until after SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE was finished.

However, between 50% and 80% of SUPERMAN II was already filmed by Richard Donner before he was replaced/fired by the Salkinds, the producers / financiers of the films.

And although all of his scenes had already been filed, Marlon Brando's footage as Superman's father, Jor-El, was to be cut from SUPERMAN II due to his litigation with the Salkinds and Warners.

Richard Lester took over as director for SUPERMAN II, continuing filming in July 1979. Lester actually re-shot several scenes already lensed by Donner. Donner has suggested this was a move by the Salkinds to deny Donner a director's credit; other have suggested that in order for Richard Lester to earn a directorial credit on the film, SUPERMAN II had to contain at least 51% of his footage, necessitating rewrites and reshoots.

SUPERMAN II, directed by Richard Lester and released in the US in 1981 (overseas in 1980), contained at least 30% (probably more) footage shot by Richard Donner. Although few people knew it at the time, the released version of SUPERMAN II was drastically different than what Donner originally intended. In fact, it was a completely different film than much of what had originally been filmed for SUPERMAN II.

Nevertheless, SUPERMAN II was a box office hit, a critical success, an instant classic and a cherished memory for my generation and the next. I loved the film; have seen it dozens (if not over 100) times and it will always hold a very special place in my heart.

But for almost a decade, as the Internet and Web grew, Superman fans were lobbying to see a Richard Donner Cut of S2; including ALL of the footage he (not Lester) shot. Specifically, they wanted to see Donner's original footage of Marlon Brando as Jor-El, as well as the different scenes that had been replaced / re-shot by Lester. They wanted to see Donner's vision, Donner's intended "companion piece" to SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (STM).

In 2006, that campaign paid off as Warner Brothers authorized the cut. Over nine months, editor Michael Thau located, restored, cleaned up and assembled the Donner S2 footage six tons of it - into a very different version of SUPERMAN II. Using the 1977 SUPERMAN II script penned by Donner and creative consultant

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