- Superman was director Bryan Singer's favorite
superhero.
- The first contemporary feature film about Superman, Richard
Donner's
Superman: The Movie, starring the late actor
Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel and film legend Marlon Brando
as his father, Jor-El, was released in 1978.
- Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns is the considered
by the studio to be the spiritual descendent of Superman:
The Movie and Superman II and utilizes actual
elements of Marlon Brando’s performance as Jor-El.
- Because Kevin Spacey had an intensive schedule doing theater
work at the Old Vic in London, Superman Returns filmmakers were
forced into a very confined amount of time for him to be in
Australia for filming. Singer recalls that they had just six
weeks to work with him in order for him to get back to his next
project in London.
- Singer had previously directed Kevin Spacey to his first
Academy Award (for Best Supporting Actor) for his performance
as Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects.
- To bring Lex Luthor back into the story, it was written into
the plot that Lex has spent the last five years in prison, but
is released when Superman misses his parole hearing.
- When trying to decide on which actress would play Lois Lane,
the answer came by way of Singer’s old friend and collaborator
Kevin Spacey. In 2004, Spacey directed and starred in a biographical
film about 1950s singer Bobby Darin that co-starred Kate Bosworth
as Sandra Dee.
- Principal photography began near Breeza, Australia, on a rural
piece of farm land that had been transformed into a working
back lot. Six miles of road constructed by the production company
provided access to the “base camp” for the cast
and crew.
- For three weeks, the Superman Returns filming crew
relocated to New South Wales in order to shoot the Kent Farm
set which was built near the little country town of Tamworth.
- After filming the Kent Farm sequences, the production returned
to Fox Studios Australia, which became the base of operations
in Sydney. The production occupied all even soundstages and
kept to an around-the-clock set construction schedule.
