This is it, the big one. The main reason I wanted to start this blog series. Superman, directed by Richard Donner, is a very significant movie. It featured what was then groundbreaking visual effects, its massive success proved that superhero movies could be blockbuster hits, and it features a number of iconic moments that still influence superhero movies today. Its success, along with Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind in the previous year, is often credited as helping launching a reemergence of large market science fiction films, after the genre became largely niche in the 50’s and 60’s.
Development for this movie began in 1973 with Mexican film director Ilya Salkind conceived the idea for the film. Negotiations for the film rights were long and difficult, but after about a year, he purchased the film rights along with his father Alexander and their partner Pierre Spengler. DC wanted a list of actors to be considered for the role of Superman, and approved a list that included Muhammad Ali (the boxer), Al Pacino, James Caan, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood and Dustin Hoffman. They also went through a number of writers before landing on Mario Puzo.
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