Superman in film the script, giving it a serious feel with Christ-like overtones. Christopher Reeve was cast as Superman, having initially failed to impress the Salkinds before bulking up. Brando meanwhile, despite spending less than two weeks on the shoot, and not even reading the script until then, earned $3.7 million up front, plus 11.75% of the gross profits from the film. The film was a success both critically and commercially, being released during the Christmas season of 1978; it did not have much competition, leading the producers to believe that this was one factor in the film's success. Shooting of the two
Christopher Reeve went to New Mexico to shoot "Speechless", co-starring Michael Keaton who, like Reeve, also portrayed a famous DC Comics superhero on film: Batman. Reeve then went to Point Reyes to shoot John Carpenter's film "Village of the Damned", a remake of a 1960 British movie of the same name. Both of these films with this title were based on the 1957 novel "The Midwich Cuckoos" by John Wyndham. Shortly before his accident, Reeve played a paralyzed police officer in the HBO movie "Above Suspicion". He did research at a rehabilitation hospital in Van Nuys and learned how to use a