2006 Movie News Archives

Ilya Salkind

February 7, 2006: One-on-One Interview with Producer Ilya Salkind

By Barry M. Freiman

While every hero needs a villain, in real life the lines between altruist and antagonist often blur. Consider that moment from 1983's "Superman III" where the hero must battle his own subconscious for moral supremacy. Had a similar confrontation taken place in Producer Ilya Salkind's life (incidentally Salkind conceived the Superman versus Superman story for the sequel uncredited), Salkind believes that the good guy won just like in the movie.

"You're going to be on that white side or... on that black side and I thank God I'm now completely on the white side," Salkind joked during a recent interview.

Salkind, 58, conceived of the idea to do a big-budget "Superman" movie, and, along with his late father, Alexander, and childhood friend, Pierre Spengler, co-produced the first three "Superman" movies and "Supergirl", and also produced the television series "Superboy" (later the "Adventures of Superboy") for syndication.

Without Salkind's germ of an idea, there would never have been a "Superman" movie franchise. Christopher Reeve would likely have continued to evolve as a competent soap opera actor and Broadway staple. There would have been one less "blockbuster" in the triumvirate -- that also includes "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" -- that helped usher in a new era of film-making that respected and exalted science fiction, fantasy, and adventure stories. And the plethora of big budget comic book movies that have followed - "Batman", "Hellboy", "Daredevil", "Spider-Man", "X-Men", "Men in Black", to name a few - would never have been made (not to mention a little project called "Superman Returns").

Read the complete Ilya Salkind interview exclusively right here at the Superman Homepage!



2006 Movie News

Listed below are all the Movie News items archived for 2006 organized into various categories:

“Superman Returns” Movie News:

Christopher Reeve Movie News: Hollywoodland (George Reeves) Movie News: Direct-to-DVD Animated Movie News: Other Movie News:

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