Imagine Superman played by Robert Redford. Not right, right? As Superman director Richard Donner explained it, Redford’s name, along with Paul Newman’s, was on the table for the role originally, but Donner wanted an up-and-comer. “I wanted an unknown because I thought it’d be pretty tough convincing an audience to see Redford in a Superman suit flying. Not that he’s not a great actor, but I figured an unknown could make it work,†said Donner. Cue Reeve. “And when we met Chris Reeve, you’d never think of him as Superman cause he was 20 or 30 pounds lighter than he was when he played the role and he had honey brown hair. But he was an actor and he convinced me that he could do it.†Superman made more than $300 million worldwide when it debuted in 1978. [Wrap]