“Superman II” may simply be the perfect Superman film ever made, however that did not cease followers from clamoring for Richard Donner’s unique reduce. Michael Thau had labored as Donner’s assistant earlier than changing into an editor and director, and in a 2006 IGN interview, Donner defined how Thau advised him there had been “so many requests to Warner Bros.” for his unique reduce of “Superman II” that the studio had signed off on the challenge. Donner gave the “good little editor” his blessing to supervise recutting the footage, and work on “The Richard Donner Lower” started.

The method kicked off when six tons of movie had been shipped from London, the place they’d been saved within the Technicolor vaults, to California the place Thau was set to work on the recut. In a making-of featurette, Donner defined how Thau got here to supervise the challenge:

“Sooner or later Michael Thau known as me and mentioned, ‘Pay attention, there actually is a web motion afoot that they wish to see your reduce.’ I mentioned, ‘I would not know the place to begin,’ and he mentioned, ‘Effectively, I might like to do it.’ I mentioned, ‘Hey, of all of the individuals you are the correct man, go do it.'”

As soon as the newly-unearthed footage had gone by way of an in depth cataloging course of, Thau began chopping scenes collectively, working from roughly 70% of what Donner had shot for “Superman II” earlier than Richard Lester took over — the remainder of this unique footage had been misplaced within the a long time since. Throughout that technique of enhancing, Donner, who’d by no means really seen “Superman” in full earlier than it premiered and had just about remained faraway from the saga after he was changed, most popular to keep up his distance considerably.