Guest Post

In celebration of the May 30 re-release of the Superman Ultimate Collector’s Edition DVD box set, I reread the Making of Superman, a first-person account of the construction of the original 1978 blockbuster. I picked up the beaten paperback for around 20 cents at a used book sale, and since then I’ve been surprised to find its value ranging anywhere from $10 to $40 between sellers on Amazon and Ebay.

The value only added to my intrigue. Even though I had picked up the Superman Ultimate Collector’s Edition DVD set during the initial release last winter, I was sure that the Making of book would be an invaluable supplement to the movie box set, my Superman movie posters and my vinyl version of John William’s epic Superman soundtrack; I also thought it was going to be a tabloid expose on – from what I understood – only a semi-arduous shoot. Suffice to say that Petrou pulls very limited punches, if any, and relays the now only glanced-upon hardships of the production with such authenticity that it leaves you constantly wondering, even after you’ve finished reading it, how Superman was ever completed, let alone become a box office–ruling behemoth. Continue reading “The Making of Superman: The Struggle to Make a Blockbuster”