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
Superman curse half-sister Cheyenne's boyfriend in 1990 and subsequent decade-long imprisonment, Brando's own admission in court he had failed his son and daughter, his daughter's 1995 suicide and his later reclusiveness. He died in July 2004, three months before his "Superman" co-star Christopher Reeve. Footage of him would later be posthumously used in 2006's "Superman Returns". Margot Kidder, who played Superman's love interest Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve, had bipolar disorder. In April 1996, she went missing for several days and was found by police in a paranoid, delusional state. Kidder dismissed the notion of a curse, remarking in a 2002 interview,