Sometimes the most magical thing about a movie is seeing how it came together. We can watch the final product and feel however it makes us feel, but that’s usually disconnected from all the work that went into it. You rarely think about the different takes, different conversations, and intense work that go into every single second. Especially a film’s biggest, most important emotional moment.
James Gunn’s Superman is now available to watch at home, and part of the release is a 60-minute special feature called “Adventures in Making Superman,” which features footage from on set. To show just how intimate the feature gets, Gunn shared the below nearly seven-minute clip on his social media. It’s from during the filming of the film’s emotional climax when Superman gives Lex Luthor the speech about his flaws and humanity. As you’ll see, actor David Corenswet didn’t quite connect with the words, so he and Gunn really dug into it on the day. Their conversation is almost as heartwarming as the resulting performance. Check it out.
That’s just movie-making magic right there. Actor and director, challenging each other to get on the same page. Making sure that the delivery of the speech tracks with everything that happened before. Each being totally open to what the other is saying. Even though Gunn wrote the script and is directing, he’s genuinely interested in Corenswet’s thoughts. And when they get on the same page, it nearly brings tears to the eyes of the director and his producer-fellow DC Studios president, Peter Safran.
The rest of the documentary, and several other features, are on the digital release, which is available now. And, later, people who purchase will have their download updated with a Gunn director commentary and more. We’ve got the details here.
Did you enjoy watching Gunn direct this scene? Does this glimpse behind the curtain give you a new appreciation of it? Let us know below.
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