SUPERMAN II - HUGELY DIFFERENT SUPERMAN II CUT RESTORES LOST BRANDO FOOTAGE

HUGELY DIFFERENT SUPERMAN II CUT RESTORES LOST BRANDO FOOTAGE

SUPERMAN II will be released in a radically different form this month (NOV06), as the director who was fired midway through filming has finally been given the chance to unveil his vision over a quarter of a century after the sequel first hit cinemas. In an episode that has passed into Hollywood folklore, RICHARD DONNER was sacked by producers ALEXANDER and ILYA SALKIND in March 1979 over fears of the follow-up's dark tone and a spiralling budget. But Warner Bros has now agreed to release Superman II, which originally came out in 1980, as Donner had intended, following an online petition signed by Man Of Steel fans around the world. The 'new' version features 15 minutes of unseen footage of MARLON BRANDO playing the father of CHRISTOPHER REEVE's Superman. It also only uses 20 per cent of the footage shot by Donner's replacement RICHARD LESTER, who received sole credit at the time. SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT, which is released on DVD on 20 November, also contains rehearsal footage of Reeve and co-star MARGOT KIDDER to make up for some scenes Donner didn't have an opportunity to shoot.