Red Dog

I'm pretty happy with Superman I SE I have already. Is there anything new about this one - added scenes or something?

If not, I'll probably just get the Superman II SE and the Superman II Donner Cut. Never bought III or IV and still have no desire for them. I'll definitely buy Superman Returns.

for not forcing people to get these only via a box set purchase.

bboisvert

I suppose it's possible, but I'd suspect that they would have been so far along in the process (basically done) that it wouldn't make any sense to scale back.


Personally, I think the B.O. expectations for Supe Returns were too high. The thing has made $170+ million... which seems about right to me. Maybe a little lower than I expected, but not too surprising. When your budget is over $200 million, it's always going to be a gamble, regardless of the film/genre.

digitalfreaknyc

ALERT!!! ALERT!!!

Just heard a commercial in the other room that Access Hollywood tonight will be showing "lost footage of Christopher Reeve from the Superman sequel!"

Geofferson

^ awesome

After all this talk of the SE's of I & II, I want to know what's included in III. I heard of there being 20m of extra footage floating out there somewhere -- I want to see 20m more of evil superman!!

digitalfreaknyc

Never seen the ABC cut? That's where you'll find it.

Simpson Purist

My hunch is that they'll release a 2-disc SE of Returns this holiday season and then maybe release an extended version somewhere down the line.

Personally I'm glad that they're keeping the box set to just the Chris Reeve films, though I kinda wish they'd just do a 3-disc SE of Superman II and include both Lester and Donner cuts.

digitalfreaknyc

Just saw the commercial. They showed Clark in the DP saying "Lois, What are you doing?" And then they showed Lois crawling out the window.
They also showed Superman punching Non.

Maybe I'll record it and put it on Youtube or something.

Red Dog

Maybe Donner is getting some cut from the DVD sales, which is why they totally separated it.

The Valeyard

Here's the scoop on what's on each disc:

Geofferson

Unfortunately, no. Glad to hear the cut scenes are going to be included though.

Geofferson

If you'd be so kind.

Red Dog

I can't remember - is the expanded edition on the Superman I DVD already out?

The Valeyard

Yes. It's this one:

CertifiedTHX

Totally dig the idea of the Christopher Reeve films having their own set apart from anything else. Love Superman Returns, but always wanted Reeve to stand alone. Too bad they're not doing more for Superman III or IV, though.

So what does this mean for the 14-disc set? Still happening, or have they scrapped it in favor of this 8-disc? And what does that mean for the inclusion of the Look, Up in the Sky documentary? I purposely did not buy the June 20 release; saw no reason to pay for it twice. Unless more than one set is planned, which doesn't seem likely, looks like that and the Richard Donner cut of Superman II will have to be purchased separately. But...let's wait and see what else Warner may have up its sleeve.

In any case, to a Superman collection dedicated to Chris.

--THX

Geist

So what happened to the remastered Fleischer cartoons that were supposedly part of the boxset? Are those going to be sold seperatately, or was that just a false rumor?

CertifiedTHX

According to current specs, nine of them will be sharing bit space on the fourth disc of the Superman special edition. I think 17 were planned for the 14-disc set, so I'm not sure where the other eight have gone.

--THX

Cameron

looks like the other cartoons will be on the superman II second disc

CertifiedTHX

Looks like you may be right. I noticed the information said "Fleischer Studios" and "Famous Studios," and I thought it was referring to animation from two different places. My mistake.

--THX

bluetoast

Yeah, Fleischer Studios was fired and Famous Studios were hired, and did the cartoons in the same vein. Fleischer's are more sci-fi based, whereas the Famous ones have somewhat of a political bend.

Doctor Gonzo

Here's some more info:


"Superman II" 2.0


Superman Returns sequel or no, Man of Steel fans are getting a new movie. Make that, a new old movie.


A reconstructed version of 1980's Superman II, largely featuring footage shot and ditched nearly 30 years ago, including 15 minutes worth of Marlon Brando espousing fatherly advice from "Kryp-tin," will be released on DVD on Nov. 28, Warner Home Video announced Friday.


Not a "special" or "expanded" edition, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, named after the film's original director, is billed as an unprecedented do-over.


"With this DVD release, Richard Donner has become the first director in history to be able to complete a film he left during production," Warners said in a statement.


Donner was shooting Superman II along with 1978's Superman: The Movie when, as Warners delicately put it, "creative differences...became irreconcilable." Translation: Donner was fired--after he finished Superman, but before he finished Superman II.


The Superman II that subsequently opened in theaters, played on TV, got issued on video, and reissued on DVD is credited to A Hard Day's Night's Richard Lester, who reshot, reworked and finished the movie.


Not to be pushed aside, Lester's version (which contains more than a few feet of the Donner footage, but none of the Donner-directed Brando scenes) is also getting a new DVD release.


In fact, in Lucasfilm fashion, Warners will be issuing--or, rather reissuing--all four Christopher Reeve-led Superman movies, from the original 1978 opus to 1987's Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. The films were issued separately and as a four-disc set just five years ago.


This time out, the movies will all feature commentary tracks; last time out, only Superman: The Movie did. And, this time out, there will be two Superman IIs to choose from.


"This looks like the holy grail. It does," Barry Freiman of SupermanHomepage.com said of the Donner Superman II. "From what I've seen so far, it looks like it's going to be what anybody wants."


In a recent interview with iFMagazine.com, Superman Returns director Bryan Singer said he'd seen the first 20 minutes of the Donner cut, "and it was awesome."


Singer told the site one sequence he saw was recreated using Reeve's and Margot Kidder's old screen tests for Clark Kent and Lois Lane, respectively.


"It was such an impressive thing to watch," Singer said.


According to Warners, the Donner Superman II features a different opening and ending than the Lester Superman II. The reinstated Brando appears in "three pivotal scenes," according to Superman Cinema (www.supermancinema.co.uk). And the "Lester Humour," as the fan site put it, has been "reduced or completely cut out."


Among those presumably pleased is Kidder, who last year raved about Donner's "really, really fabulous" lost film to a Canadian comic convention audience.


"So, there is somewhere, in a vault, wonderful Dick Donner Superman II scenes with Christopher and I, and I'd love you to write Warner Bros. and ask where it is," Kidder said, according to ComicsContinuum.com.


While the Donner vision is now realized, the future of the big-screen Superman franchise is unclear.


TMZ.com reported this month that Warners will pass on a Superman Returns sequel unless the movie, reported to have cost as "little" as $204 million or as much as $260 million, cracks $200 million at the domestic box office. (Like Warners, TMZ.com is part of Time Warner.) As of Thursday, per BoxOfficeMojo.com, the film stood at $171 million.

digitalfreaknyc

Sure. I'll put it up sometime tomorrow. They showed part of two sequences and compared them to the Lester version.

It will be interesting to see them in context.

Seeing the "raw" footage on Access Hollywood was....interesting. I wonder if anyone will be disappointed.

majorjoe23

At the Superman Through the Ages panel today at Comic Con they announced the date for this as Nov. 28. I would be that Superman Returns will come out the same day.

They showed two clips, the new opening, showing the missle freeing the Krypton villains, and a scene at the Daily Planet where Lois jumps out a window in an attempt to prove Clark is Superman.

THX7966

Wait until you all see this sequence with Lois jumping out the window. Richard Donner played it at Comic Con and I have to tell you, that five-minute clip has more heart and is more entertaining than ALL of Lester's Superman II. I am so stoked to see Donner's cut.

digitalfreaknyc

Donner was there?

THX7966

Yes, he joined Bryan Singer on stage during the Warner Bros. presentation. He was also part of the Warner Home Video "Superman Through The Ages" panel. He showed the scene at both and funs erupted. It's cute, it's clever, and puts Lester to shame.

Donner also announced that he will be writing Action Comics with his former intern/assistant Geoff Johns starting later this year.