SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE released on this date

Anniversary Dept. - Released on this date--15 Dec.--in 1978, Richard Donner's SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE. Donner adapted an American classic of the page into an instant American classic of the screen; the film's poster artwork didn't even use its title, just the Superman emblem--everyone knew what that meant--and the promise that "You'll believe a man can fly," at a time when that wasn't such an easy trick to pull off. Starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder and Marlon Brando, SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE was a major milestone in comic-to-screen adaptations, boldly kicking free of the Adam West Batman mold (and stigma) to present a mature, sincere, respectful, funny, wildly entertaining, even visionary take on the source material that worked so spectacularly well that, even after all these years and all the films of that species that followed, it's arguably still the best comic-to-screen adaptation ever produced.