10 Movie Auditions That Changed Cinema Forever

When Warner Bros. was first putting 1978's Superman together, they were looking at the likes of Muhammad Ali, Al Pacino, James Caan, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood and Dustin Hoffman to play the Man of Steel.

But then along came a little-known actor called Christopher Reeve, who despite being deemed too skinny by the film's producers, was granted a screen test in the Superman costume.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Reeves' phenomenal screen test immediately confirmed that he had what director Richard Donner was looking for, and for all of the film's sharp writing and outstanding special effects, it's Reeves' soulful performance which made millions believe a man could fly.

But that fateful audition didn't merely ensure Superman's success - it proved the viability of superhero movies as Hollywood blockbusters, more than a decade before Tim Burton's Batman came along, and over 20 years before X-Men ushered in the comic book movie boom of the 2000s.

If Superman didn't hit, who knows where the genre would've gone?