Warner Brothers have had a newly restored version of Superman II which was available for free removed from the Internet. Fans of the films had spent time restoring the full film from an overseas TV copy which was the only version to include additional footage from the original Director.
Comic Book Movies have the full story:
A “restored international cut” of Superman II which included extra footage from original director Richard Donner was free online at Superman Cinema, according to Entertainment Weekly. But by the time the issue hit newsstands, Warner Bros. had shut down its distribution.
Donner shot both Superman and its sequel at the same time in 1977 but was replaced for the sequel by Richard Lester, EW explained. Later in the 1980s, Warner Bros. put together an extended international TV version that contain previously unseen Donner footage, EW said. Thanks to fans and an anonymous team dedicated to Donner’s vision, a DVD has been put together from videotapes of that original TV broadcast. But Warner Bros. saw it as a violation of the studio’s copyright and ordered it taken down.
The website for Superman Cinema still contains a lot of details, but unfortunately not the full movie.
I’d never really taken notice of this before, I wonder if that could be because I’ve seen the overseas version before, if by overseas they might mean the UK? Has anyone had the fortune to see this? What would be the desire to get hold of a copy of this, if you want Warner Brothers to know you’re keen then comment here!
