9 Last-Minute Changes That Ruined Movies

9. Superman II - Dropping Richard Donner

Richard Donner did a great job bringing Superman to the big screen in 1978, so it was no surprise that the studio retained his services for the sequel which began shooting the following year, but the relationship between the two parties would soon sour.

There are conflicting reports regarding whether Donner quit or was fired, but the result would have been the same regardless: he left Superman II with the project 75% completed, so the studio brought in Richard Lester to refilm most of it.

Unfortunately, Lester seemingly graduated from the same school of superhero filmmaking as Joel Schumacher as much of the goofball tomfoolery in the sequel's cinematic cut was his handiwork. That includes the slapstick shot of the ice cream hitting that guy in the face, and Supes throwing that cellophane S at Non.

Donner revealed to the world the version of Superman II that should have been in 2006 when he released his director's cut on DVD. It could easily have been called Superman II: Good Version, though, unfortunately, some of the movie was cobbled together from scrapped footage and it really shows.