12 Directors Who Blamed Studios For Failed Movies

An extremely interesting entry here, as the film was deemed by most to be a critical success- except in the mind of original director Richard Donner. The film proved to be a box office smash, but this didn't stop Donner holding some major grievances with the studio about how they had 'destroyed' his film. Donner was signed on to film the original Superman movie and its sequel back to back, but escalating costs soon lead things astray.

With the release date for the first movie approaching and some final touches still needed to be made by Donner, Richard Lester was brought in to direct the remaining scenes. Despite the sequel being nearly complete under Donner's direction, Lester deleted much of Donner's scenes and added several of his own, primarily so he could get credit as the sequel's Director. Donner was left fuming, with Gene Hackman refused to return for Lester out of respect for the original director.

After years of protests against Warner Bros. for the shoddy way he was treated, the 'warring' parties eventually came to a surprise compromise. WB allowed Donner to complete a Director's Cut of Superman 2 in 2006, choosing to embrace Donner rather than continue to fight him. Much of the slapstick from Lester's entry was removed, scenes featuring Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor were added, and there was amore epic feel to the film all round. The end result was a win-win that hopefully Warner Bros. will use as a template for dealing with Zach Snyder.