The Script

I read the shooting script yesterday (ordered it from Amazon). These things are always interesting, because you can see the changes, what they cut out from the film and what they added during shooting that didn't make it into the printed script.

Deletions included:

• a sub-story about Martha telling Clark that she's selling the farm and moving to Montana with Ben Harper
• an implication that Lex planted the story about Krytpton being found to get rid of Superman
• of course the entire opening sequence of Superman being almost killed by green kryptonite as he gets to the remains of Krypton
• young Clark having an X-ray vision experience in the barn and finding his cradle/ship with the "father" crystal
• a scene in which Clark finds 5 years worth of Daily Planets in the barn and reads them in seconds
• a scene in which Clark stashes his suitcases in a closet at the Daily Planet and opens one to see his Superman suit hidden within his Clark clothes (I've seen a still of this shot)

They played a number of scenes slightly differently in the movie from the script, including the bar scene with Jimmy and Clark, the piano scene, the Lex in the Fortress of Solitute scene and a few more. The thing with Superman going into the flaming gas line tunnel isn't in the shooting script, although the chaos of the crack in the Earth is.

It's also interesting to see how cutting even a line can make a huge difference in how the scene is played. In the closing scene between Superman and Lois, in the script he says "thank you" and he doesn't in the movie. Much better without it.

Anyway, I enjoyed reading the script and especially the interviews with Bryan and the writers that were included in the book.