Filmmaker Steven Spielberg has helmed one too many masterpieces throughout his five and a half decades old star-studded career. And for one who brought the dinosaurs from the Jurassic Park novel series from Michael Crichton to life in one of the most remarkable ways possible, he once intended to make a film on the superhero Superman as well.
This happened back in the late 1970s, when he was still one of the relatively unknown directors. But despite being one of the most brilliant up-and-coming masterminds of the time, his film on Clark Kent never came to be. And, well, thankfully so, for the brutally wild pitch for the fan-favorite character would’ve quite literally killed the Man of Steel forever!
Steven Spielberg Wanted to Helm 1978’s Superman
After Mario Puzo was done writing a 500-plus page script for Clark Kent in live-action, producer Ilya Salkind began searching for directors to supervise the movie that was 1978’s Superman. Among all the people interested in the project — which notably included William Friedkin and Francis Ford Coppola as well — Spielberg’s was yet another name.
However, he was willing to seize the chance whatever it took. As Salkind shared with Superman Homepage, although he was working on Jaws at the time, the Jurassic Park helmer still “absolutely wanted to make the film.” Why? Because, apparently, Spielberg “loves Superman, that’s his kind of stuff and he wants to do it,” as his agent said.
Thus, intending to give him a chance, Salkind checked his background and immediately knew that “this kid’s got it – this guy’s got talent.” However, his father, Alexander Salkind, wasn’t all too optimistic about this offer. If anything, he wanted to wait until Jaws came out in 1975 to confirm Spielberg’s talent as he said:
“Let’s wait until the big fish opens.”
Another reason why Alexander hesitated to cast Spielberg as the director was because he had heard that the filmmaker had gone “over-budget” on Jaws. But when the big fish finally did open, both the Salkinds knew they had lost out on a brilliant opportunity because of some baseless hesitation.
Why Steven Spielberg Didn’t End Up Helming Superman
Everyone knows what a masterpiece Jaws was. Regarded easily as his breakthrough project, it launched Steven Spielberg as one of the most brilliant mastermind directors in the entertainment industry. And with such newfound fame, there was no way he was going to go back to the film that doubted his true potential.
Thus, although he was initially more than willing to direct the film that became 1978’s masterpiece, the Indiana Jones helmer eventually ended up turning down the offer indirectly, yet in the most hilarious manner possible: With a pitch that would have killed the superhero even before allowing him to take flight in live-action.
As Ilya Salkind recalled in the interview, he already believed Spielberg was “never going to do it” because of Jaws‘ success. Nonetheless, with a ray of hope, he still contacted the director’s agent… only to be turned down. As he shared:
“I called [Spielberg’s] agent and the agent said… [he wanted] to do Superman singing and dancing, which was really a very polite way of saying [no]. And I understood it immediately.”
While it is indeed true that a film on the Man of Steel from Spielberg would have been nothing short of a true masterpiece, this wasn’t quite the pitch they were looking for to introduce the character in live-action.
Nonetheless, everything was only for the better, for Richard Donner was eventually cast as the director, which resulted in the Christopher Reeve-led masterpiece that was 1978’s Superman.
You can stream Superman (1978) on Prime Video.
