Ricard Donner, the director of Superman, has passed away at the age of 91.
Donner was a prolific producer and director throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to directing Superman, and portions of the theatrical cut of Superman II, he also directed the Mel Gibson & Danny Glover Lethal Weapon series, and The Goonies.
Under the Donners’ Company brand, both Richard and his wife Lauren, produced all of the films in Fox’s X-Men series.
In the late 1990s, writer and producer Geoff Johns worked as an assistant to Donner. They would then in 2006 team up with artist Adam Kubert to be the creative team on Action Comics. They would later pair up on Last Son, Escape from Bizarro World, and a story in Action Comics #1000.
Donner was replaced as the director of Superman II by Ricard Lester as his relationship with executive producers Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler continued to sour. The Salkinds eventually replaced Donner and reshot significant portions of the film. This led fans to lobby to see Donner’s cut of the film for years, and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut was eventually released on Nov. 28, 2006, 25 years after the theatrical release.
Donner is survived by his wife, Lauren Shuler Donner.
IMAGE SOURCE: Shutterstock – Richard Donner and Lauren Shuler Donner – DFree
