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) as the new West Coast. Knowing Superman has the capability stop his plan, Lex deduces that a meteorite found in Addis Ababa is actually part of Krypton and is radioactive to Superman. After he and his accomplices Otis and Eve Teschmacher retrieve a piece of it, Lex lures Superman to his underground lair, reveals his plan and exposes him to a mineral from the meteor piece, Kryptonite, that weakens Superman immediately. Lex further taunts him by revealing the other missile is headed in the eastbound direction toward Hackensack, New Jersey. Teschmacher is horrified because her mother lives in Hackensack, but