Superman (1978 film) finish writing duties. George MacDonald Fraser was later hired to do some work on the script, but he says he did little. Their script was submitted in July 1976, and carried a camp tone, including a cameo appearance by Telly Savalas as his "Kojak" character. The scripts for "Superman" and "Superman II" were now at over 400 pages combined. Pre-production started at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, with sets starting construction and flying tests being unsuccessfully experimented. "In Italy," producer Ilya Salkind remembered, "we lost about $2 million [on flying tests]." Marlon Brando found out he could not film in Italy
Superman (1978 film) week of December 22–28, it set an all-time U.S. weekly record of $18,517,515. In its third weekend it grossed $13,135,498 for the four day holiday weekend setting a record 18 day gross of $43,697,365. It went on to gross $134.21 million in North America and $166 million internationally, totaling $300.21 million worldwide. "Superman" was the second-highest-grossing film of 1978 (behind only "Grease"), and became the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time after its theatrical run. It was also Warner Bros.' most successful film at the time. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 62 reviewers gave "Superman" a positive review, with an